Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine. It is one of the major commercial and cultural centers in the state. It is also the principal city of the Bangor, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population at the 2010 census was 35,473. It is the third most populous city in the state.

Bangor is the largest market town, distribution center, transportation hub, and media center for the five county area, comprising Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock, Aroostook, and Washington.

The Bangor Public Library has over 500,000 volumes, and regularly records one of the highest circulation rates in the country. Other cultural centers include the University of Maine Museum of Art, the Maine Discovery Museum, the Bangor Museum, and a few more. The Bangor Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1896, is the oldest continually operating symphony orchestra in the country. The Collins Center for the Arts, located at the nearby University of Maine, hosts a wide variety of touring performing artists and events. The University of Maine is located close to Bangor (9 miles away) and adds to the cultural vibrancy of the area.

A number of areas within the city are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. A municipal Historic Preservation Commission has been in operation since the 1980's to preserve the old buildings and cityscape.

The architechture here is famous, and there are numerous public art installations as well.

The Bangor region has a large number of media outlets for an area its size. The city has an unbroken history of newspaper publishing extending from 1815. It also has more than a dozen radio stations and seven television stations.

Bangor or its alter ego Derry are the fictional settings for a number of novels and stories by Stephen King. Bangor finds mention in many books, poems and other media.

Where Have All the Honeybees Gone?

  Written by : Lee Ann Rush Since 2006, a strange phenomenon has been occurring in the United States, Europe, and other countries across the globe:  the honeybee population is disappearing.  Opinions vary regarding the root cause of this mass die-off of honeybees, known as colony collapse disorder; some blame parasites, bacteria, loss of natural habitat, poor nutrition or genetic issues.  The primary..