Middlesboro (local /ˈmɪdəlzbɜrə/) is a home rule-class city in Bell County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 10,334 at the 2010 U.S. census, while its micropolitan area had a population of 69,060. It is located 1 mile west of the Cumberland Gap and is the largest city in southeastern Kentucky. It is located entirely between Pine Mountain and the Cumberland Mountains in the Middlesboro Basin, which geologists believe to be an enormous meteor crater (one of three known astroblemes in the state).