Frankfurt is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.26 million in 2001. The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine Main Region which has a population of 5.3 million and is Germany's second largest metropolitan area. In English, this city's name translate as "Frankfurt on the Main". A large early tribe in the area was the Franks and in German "Furt" means a river crossing. Thus, in medieval times, "Frankfurt" meant the Franks' river crossing.