Mobile is the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama. The population within the city limits was 195,111 as of the 2010 United States Census making it the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama, the most populous in Mobile County, and the largest municipality on the Gulf Coast between New Orleans, Louisiana, and St. Petersburg, Florida.
Alabama’s only salt water port, Mobile is located at the head of the Mobile Bay and the north-central Gulf Coast. It is the principal municipality of the Mobile Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 412,992 residents which is composed solely of Mobile County and is the third largest metropolitan statistical area in the state. Located at the junction of the Mobile River and Mobile Bay on the northern Gulf of Mexico, the city is the only seaport in 
Alabama. The Port of Mobile has always played a key role in the economic health of the city beginning with the city as a key trading center between the French and Native Americans down to its current role as the 12th-largest port in the United States. As one of the Gulf Coast’s cultural centers, Mobile has several art museums, a symphony orchestra, a professional opera, a professional ballet company, and a large concentration of historic architecture,Aerospace, steel, ship building, retail, services, construction, medicine, and manufacturing are Mobile’s major industries.
Some of Mobile’s Largest Employers:
Mobile County Public School System 
Infirmary Health Systems
University of South Alabama
Wal-Mart
Austal USA
Providence Hospital
City of Mobile
ST Aerospace
Spring Hill Medical Center
Boeing
Local Area Attractions:
USS Alabama (BB-60), a South Dakota-class battleship, was the sixth ship of the United States Navy named after the US state of Alabama. Alabama was commissioned in 1942 and served in World War II in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Alabama citizens formed the “USS Alabama Battleship Commission” to raise funds for the preservation of Alabama as a memorial to the men and women who served in World War II. The ship was awarded to that state on 16 June 1964, and was formally turned over on 7 July 1964 in ceremonies at Seattle. The ship was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
Visitors are allowed to view the inside of the main gun turrets and anti-aircraft guns. The powder magazine was opened to the public through some holes that were cut, and stairs put in. The bunk of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Feller is marked for those touring. Feller served on Alabama for several years during World War II, serving as Gun Captain by the end of the conflict.
The Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center is a non-profit, mission based, science center that promotes science learning through a variety of inquiry-based educational and entertaining activities, including exhibits, IMAX films, demonstrations, workshops and teacher professional development. The Exploreum is home to three permanent exhibits: My BodyWorks, Hands On Hall, and the Wharf of Wonder.
The Dauphin Island Sea Lab is Alabama’s primary marine education and research center. DISL is the home site of the Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium and was founded by an act of the Alabama State Legislature in 1971. It also has a public aquarium specializing in estuarine organisms, the George F. Crozier Estuarium.