Baltimore is an independent and most populous city in the US state of Maryland. The city is located in the center of the state, next to the Patapsco River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. Often, Baltimore is called Baltimore City to distinguish it from Baltimore County. Founded in 1729, Baltimore is an important port center and is the East Coast port closest to the Midwest markets. The inner harbor of Baltimore was, in the past, the second port that received the largest volume of immigrants in the United States and an important manufacturing center. It is currently home to Harborplace, a commercial, tourist and entertainment center. And the National Aquarium of Baltimore.
After the decline of manufacturing, Baltimore's economy shifted to the service sector. Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital have the largest number of workers in the city. In 2008, the population of Baltimore was 636,919 inhabitants, while the Metropolitan Area of Baltimore was 2,668,056 inhabitants, the 20th largest in the country. The combined statistical area associated with Baltimore has about 8.3 million inhabitants. The city is named after Lord Baltimore, of the Irish House of Lords and founder of the British colony of Maryland. Baltimore took its name from a place in the parish of Bornacoola, in the counties of Leitrim and Longford, Ireland, Baltimore is the Anglicized form of the Irish Baile an Ti Mhóir, which means "City of the Big House".
With Baltimore, in the County of Cork, whose name in Irish is Dún na Séad.