Subdivisions
The largest cities in the Rhine-Ruhr area are Cologne, with over 1 million inhabitants, followed by Düsseldorf, Dortmund and Essen, which each have a population of over 500,000.
There are many different sub-definitions of what belongs to the Rhine-Ruhr area, but the metropolitan area itself has officially defined borders with Hamm in the east, Mönchengladbach in the west and Bonn in the south and the small city Wesel as its northernmost point. The northern border is similar to the border of the Ruhr Area.
The table below shows an unofficial summary of regions. In the official definition the metropolitan area is much smaller.
| Region | major cities | area | population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruhr Metropolitan Region | 4,435 km² | 5,172,745 | |
| Dortmund | |||
| Essen | |||
| Duisburg | |||
| Düsseldorf Metropolitan Region | 2,404 km² | 2,944,700 | |
| Düsseldorf | |||
| Neuss | |||
| Mönchengladbach | |||
| Wuppertal | |||
| Cologne/Bonn Metropolitan Region | 2,920 km² | 2,818,178 | |
| Cologne | |||
| Bonn | |||
| Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region | 9,759 km² | 10,935,623 |
Eurostat's Urban Audit splits the Rhine-Ruhr region into six Larger Urban Zones (LUZ). These six Urban Zones do not cover the cities of Remscheid and Solingen nor the district of Rhein-Kreis Neuss.
| Larger Urban Zone | major cities | area | population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruhr Larger Urban Zone | 4,434 km² | 5,172,745 | |
| Dortmund | |||
| Essen | |||
| Duisburg | |||
| Düsseldorf Larger Urban Zone | 1,200 km² | 1,525,774 | |
| Düsseldorf | |||
| Neuss | |||
| Ratingen | |||
| Mönchengladbach Larger Urban Zone | 170 km² | 258,251 | |
| Mönchengladbach | |||
| Wuppertal Larger Urban Zone | 168 km² | 351,050 | |
| Wuppertal | |||
| Cologne Larger Urban Zone | 1,627 km² | 1,899,930 | |
| Cologne | |||
| Bonn Larger Urban Zone | 1,295 km² | 918,248 | |
| Bonn | |||
| Rhine-Ruhr Region | 8,894 km² | 10,125,998 |
Read more about this topic: Rhine-Ruhr