Ithaca is a city and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named after the Greek island of Ithaca. A college town, Ithaca is home to Cornell University, an Ivy League university routinely ranked among the world's best universities, and Ithaca College.