Frankfurt Rhine-Main

Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region

Map of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main metropolitan region
Country  Germany
States

 Hesse
 Rhineland-Palatinate
 Bavaria

Largest Cities Frankfurt am Main
Darmstadt
Mainz
Offenbach
Wiesbaden
Government[1]
 • Type Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Conurbation Planning Association
 • Verbandsdirektor Heiko Kasseckert (CDU)
Area
 • Metro 14,800 km2 (5,700 sq mi)
Population
 • Metro 5,821,523
 • Metro density 391.89/km2 (1,015.0/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
GRP 2012
Nominal €172/ $222 billion (6th in EU)
Website Planungsverband.de

The Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area (German: Frankfurt/Rhein-Main. abbreviated FRM) is the third largest metropolitan region in Germany (after Ruhr and Berlin), with a total population exceeding 5.8 million. The metropolitan region is located in the central western part of Germany, and stretches over parts of three federal states: Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria, as well as the cities of Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Offenbach, Mainz, Darmstadt and Aschaffenburg.

The polycentric region is named after its core city Frankfurt am Main and the two rivers Rhine and Main. The Frankfurt Rhine-Main area is officially designated as a European Metropolitan region by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs and covers an area of roughly 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 sq mi).

Subdivisions

Rhine-Main is a polycentric metropolitan region, but the economic size and political weight of the city of Frankfurt sets it into a very monocentric relation with her commuter belt. Since the early 1970s the Frankfurt am Main metropolitan area (German: Ballungsraum Frankfurt/Rhein-Main) is defined as an area encompassing the cities of Frankfurt and Offenbach and their directly neighboring districts.

The Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt of the state of Hesse could be seen as the next administrative division, as it lies entirely within the metropolitan region and further includes the cities of Darmstadt and Wiesbaden and a number of larger districts. Only on a level further, the metropolitan region also includes the cities and districts of Mainz and Aschaffenburg in the two adjoing federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria.

Metropolitan region and larger urban zones

Eurostat's Urban Audit splits the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region into four Larger Urban Zones (LUZ). These zones do exclude a number of districts in the metropolitan area.

Hierarchy of planning bodies Major cities Area Population Refs
Frankfurt am Main 248 km² 670,095 —
Offenbach am Main 45 km² 118,245 —
  • Frankfurt am Main urban area
 4,305 km² 2,517,561 [2]
Wiesbaden 204 km² 275,489 —
Darmstadt 122 km² 142,191 —
  • Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt
7,445 km² 3,778,689 —
Mainz 98 km² 196,784 —
Aschaffenburg 63 km² 68,646' —
  • Frankfurt Rhine-Main metropolitan region
 14,800 km² 5,821,523 —
Larger Urban Zone Major cities Area Population Refs
  • Frankfurt am Main
4,305 km² 2,517,561 [3]
Frankfurt am Main 248 km² 670,095 [4]
Offenbach am Main 45 km² 118,245 [5]
  • Wiesbaden
1,015 km² 459,633 [6]
Wiesbaden 204 km² 275,489 [7]
  • Darmstadt
781 km² 430,993 [8]
Darmstadt 122 km² 142,191 [9]
  • Mainz
704 km² 386,173 [10]
Mainz 98 km² 196,784 [11]

Cities and districts

Picture City or district Area Population
Frankfurt am Main 248 km² 670,095
Offenbach am Main 45 km² 118,245
Landkreis Offenbach 356 km² 337,986
Main-Kinzig-Kreis — —
Wetteraukreis 122 km² 142,191
Hochtaunuskreis — —
— Main-Taunus-Kreis 122 km² 142,191
Darmstadt 122 km² 142,191
Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg 659 km² 289,102
Landkreis Groß-Gerau 453 km² 253,502
Wiesbaden 204 km² 275,489
Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis 98 km² 196,784
Subtotal Hesse 7,445 km² 3,778,689
Mainz 98 km² 196,784
Mainz-Bingen 606 km² 201,451
— Worms 109 km² 81,784
— Landkreis Alzey-Worms 588 km² 124,758
Subtotal Rhineland-Palatinate 1405 km² 604,777
Aschaffenburg 63 km² 68,646
— Landkreis Aschaffenburg 699 km² 173,946
Landkreis Miltenberg 716 km² 130,009
Subtotal Bavaria 1,478 km² 372,601
Total Frankfurt Rhine-Main metropolitan region 14,800 km² 5,800,000

Traffic

The growth of the area is chiefly to be traced to the favorable communications, that promoted an early industrialization. Today however, the importance of industrial concerns has to a great extent been replaced by banking, trade and logistics. Frankfurt lies within the populous Blue Banana region of Europe, which here runs along the Rhine valley, and the city is also a stepping stone from and to various parts of Switzerland and Southern Germany. The Rhine-Ruhr is accessible via a one-hour trip on the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line, and the air route Frankfurt-Berlin is the busiest in German domestic air travel.

Frankfurt Airport is the busiest airport by passenger traffic in Germany and one of the three busiest airports in Europe. Thereby, along with a strong railway connection, the area also serves as a major transportation hub.

Education

The Frankfurt/Rhine-Main metropolitan region is home to five universities and over 20 partly postgraduate colleges, with a total of over 200,000 students. The largest university is the Goethe University Frankfurt and the oldest is the University of Mainz (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz), originally founded in 1477 AD. Other universities include:

Notable colleges and universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen) include:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain. "Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain /". planungsverband.de.
  2. ↑ Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain. "Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain /". planungsverband.de.
  3. ↑ "City Profiles".
  4. ↑ "Frankfurt a.M. - Städtestatistik im Internet". staedtestatistik.de.
  5. ↑ "Umlichen_Ebenen_des_UrbanAudit" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "City Profiles".
  7. ↑ "Wiesbaden, LH - Städtestatistik im Internet". staedtestatistik.de.
  8. ↑ "Country Code".
  9. ↑ "Darmstadt - Städtestatistik im Internet". staedtestatistik.de.
  10. ↑ "Country Code".
  11. ↑ "Mainz, LH - Städtestatistik im Internet". staedtestatistik.de.
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Coordinates: 50°06′N 8°42′E / 50.1°N 8.7°E / 50.1; 8.7

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