Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine. It is also the principal city of the Bangor, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Bangor and all of Penobscot County. As of 2008, Bangor is the third-largest city in Maine, as it has been for more than a century. The population of the city was 31,473 at the 2000 census. The population of the Bangor Metropolitan Statistical Area is over 148,000. The population of the five-county area for which Bangor is the largest market town, distribution center, transportation hub, and media center, is over 325,000 people. Bangor is approximately 30 miles from Penobscot Bay up the Penobscot River at its confluence with the Kenduskeag Stream. It is connected by bridge to the neighboring city of Brewer. Other suburban towns include Orono (home of the University of Maine campus), Hampden, Hermon, Old Town, Glenburn, and Veazie.