Franklin County /

Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1795 from parts of Woodford, Mercer and Shelby counties. As of 2007, its population was 48,183. Its county seat is Frankfort, the state capital. It was named after the American inventor and statesman Benjamin Franklin. Franklin County is part of the Frankfort micropolitan area. According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 212.11 square miles (549.4 km), of which 210.46 square miles (545.1 km) (or 99.22%) is land and 1.65 square miles (4.3 km) (or 0.78%) is water. Franklin County's voter registration is overwhelmingly Democratic. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a ratio of more than 4 to 1. . However, in national elections the county has supported both Democrats and Republicans. In 2000 Democrat Al Gore won 50% of the vote to Republican George W. Bush's 47%. In 2004, Bush won 50% of the vote to Democrat John Kerry's 48%. In 2008 Republican John McCain defeated Democrat Barack Obama 49.47% to 48.87%, a difference of only 144 votes. As of the census of 2000, there were 47,687 people, 19,907 households, and 12,840 families residing in the county. The population density was