"City of Splendors" & "Crown of the North" - perhaps the most important city in all of Faerûn and largest city (~2 million population) on the Sword Coast. It unified nearly all races and cultures, attracting the most talented artisans, artists, scholars, traders, travelers, musicians, teachers, bankers, engineers, (and unfortunately criminals) from across the realms. It connected to other cities via the (northward) High Road to Neverwinter and Luskan, the (northeastward) Long Road inland to Amphail, Triboar, Longsaddle and Mirabar and the (southward) Trade Way to Daggerford, Baldur's Gate, and beyond.
Built on the site of an ancient elven settlement, spreading along the bottom of Mount Waterdeep, and above the halls of the vast Undermountain. Waterdeep's minted currency (1 Gold Dragon = 20 Electrum Sambar = 100 Silver Shards = 1000 Copper Nibs).
See: Interactive Map of Waterdeep.
(See also: wiki)