shares_border_with breckerfeld
___MASK28___ is the capital and the largest city of ___MASK77___ ___MASK27___ well ___MASK27___ one of its constituent 16 states . With a population of approximately 3 . 5 million people , ___MASK28___ is the second ___MASK76___ populous city proper and the seventh ___MASK76___ populous urban area in the ___MASK30___ . Located in northeastern ___MASK77___ on the banks of rivers Spree and Havel , it is the centre of the ___MASK28___ - Brandenburg Metropolitan Region , which has about 6 million residents from more than 180 nations . Due to its location in the European Plain , ___MASK28___ is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate . Around one - third of the city ' s area is composed of forests , parks , gardens , rivers and ___MASK8___ . A republic ( from ) is a sovereign state , country , or government which is organized with a form of government in which power resides in elected individuals representing the citizen body and government leaders exercise power according to the rule of law . In modern times , the definition of a republic commonly refers to a government which excludes a monarch . Currently , 147 of the world ' s 206 sovereign states use the word " republic " ___MASK27___ part of their official names ; not all of these are republics in the sense of having elected governments , nor do all nations with elected governments use the word " republic " in their names . ___MASK73___ ( Swabian : " Schduagert "), often nicknamed the "" Schwabenmetropole "" in reference to its location in the center of ___MASK45___ and the local dialect spoken by some natives , is the capital and largest city of the German state of ___MASK98___ - Württemberg . It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley locally known as the " Stuttgarter Kessel " an hour from the Swabian ___MASK63___ and the Black Forest . ___MASK73___ ' s name comes from the Old High German word "" Stuogarten "," or " stud farm "  a reference to the city ' s founding in 950 AD as a stud farm . ___MASK73___  s urban area has a population of 623 , 738 , and a further making it the sixth largest city in Germany , 2 . 7 million people live in the city  s administrative region , and another 5 . 3 million people in its metropolitan area , making it the fourth largest metropolitan area in Germany . The euro ( sign : €; code : EUR ) is the official currency of the eurozone , which consists of 19 of the member states of the ___MASK30___ : Austria , Belgium , Cyprus , Estonia , Finland , France , Germany , Greece , Ireland , Italy , Latvia , Lithuania , Luxembourg , Malta , the Netherlands , Portugal , Slovakia , Slovenia , and Spain . The currency is also officially used by the institutions of the ___MASK30___ and four other European countries , as well as unilaterally by two others , and is consequently used daily by some 337 million Europeans . Outside of Europe , a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency . ___MASK75___ ( also in British English ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of ___MASK24___ , on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps . ___MASK75___ is the third largest city in Germany , after Berlin and Hamburg , and the 12th biggest city of the European Union , with a population of above 1 . 5 million . The ___MASK75___ Metropolitan Region is home to 5 . 8 million people . ___MASK36___ is a university city in the Ennepe - Ruhr - Kreis ( district ) in ___MASK65___ Rhine - Westphalia , ___MASK77___ . It is the home of the ___MASK36___ / Herdecke University , the first private university in ___MASK77___ . ___MASK86___ is a town in the district of Ennepe - Ruhr - Kreis in the administrative region of Arnsberg within the state of North Rhine - Westphalia . Westphalia is a region in northwestern ___MASK77___ and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine - Westphalia . It has an area of 7 , 802 sq mi ( 20 , 208 km² ) and 7 . 9 million inhabitants . ___MASK3___ ( Low Franconian , Ripuarian : " Düsseldörp " ) is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine - Westphalia and the seventh most populous city in Germany . ___MASK3___ is an international business and financial centre , renowned for its fashion and trade fairs . The city is headquarters to one Fortune Global 500 and two ___MASK90___ companies . Messe ___MASK3___ organises nearly one fifth of premier trade shows . ___MASK51___ is an independent city in ___MASK65___ Rhine - Westphalia , ___MASK77___ . It is in the middle part of the state and is considered to be the administrative , commercial and cultural centre of the eastern Ruhr area . Its population of 581 , 612 ( 2015 ) makes it the 8th largest city in ___MASK77___ . Moreover , ___MASK51___ is the largest city by area and population in the Ruhr Area , an urban area with some 5 . 1 million ( 2011 ) inhabitants which is the largest urban agglomeration in ___MASK77___ . The Rhine (, , ) is a European river that begins in the Swiss canton of ___MASK82___ in the southeastern Swiss Alps , forms part of the Swiss - Austrian , Swiss - Liechtenstein , Swiss - German and then the Franco - German border , then flows through the Rhineland and eventually empties into the North Sea in the Netherlands . The largest city on the river Rhine is Cologne , Germany , with a population of more than 1 , 050 , 000 people . It is the second - longest river in Central and Western Europe ( after the Danube ), at about , with an average discharge of about . ___MASK65___ Rhine - Westphalia (, commonly shortened to NRW ) is the ___MASK76___ populous state of Germany , with a population of approximately 18 million , and the fourth largest by area . Its capital is ___MASK3___ ; the ___MASK76___ populous city is Cologne . Four of Germany ' s ten largest cities  Cologne , ___MASK3___ , Dortmund , and ___MASK22___  are located within the state , as well as the largest metropolitan area on the European continent , Rhine - Ruhr . A parliamentary republic is a republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch ( the government ) derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature ( the parliament ). There are a number of variations of parliamentary republics . ___MASK76___ have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state , with the head of government holding real power , much like constitutional monarchies . Some have combined the roles of head of state and head of government , much like presidential systems , but with a dependency upon parliamentary power . ___MASK92___ ( local pronunciation ; Low German / Low Saxon : " Hamborg " ), officially " Freie und Hansestadt ___MASK92___ " ( Free and Hanseatic City of ___MASK92___ ), is the second largest city in Germany and the eighth largest city in the ___MASK30___ . It is the second smallest German state by area . Its population is over 1 . 7 million people , and the wider ___MASK92___ Metropolitan Region covers more than 5 . 1 million inhabitants . The city is situated on the river Elbe . A capital city ( or simply capital ) is the municipality exercising primary status in a country , state , province , or other region , usually ___MASK27___ its seat of government . A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of its respective government ; the status ___MASK27___ capital is often designated by its law or constitution . In some jurisdictions , including several countries , the different branches of government are located in different settlements . In some cases , a distinction is made between the official ( constitutional ) capital and the seat of government , which is in another place . The Ennepe is a river and a left tributary of the Volme in Northern Sauerland , ___MASK77___ . It gave its name to the town ___MASK7___ and the district Ennepe - Ruhr - Kreis . An ___MASK20___ is a type of rock that contains sufficient minerals with important elements including metals that can be economically extracted from the rock . The ores are extracted from the earth through mining ; they are then refined ( often via smelting ) to extract the valuable element , or elements . The ___MASK30___ ( EU ) is a political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe . It has an area of , and an estimated population of over 510 million . The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states . EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people , goods , services , and capital within the internal market , enact legislation in justice and home affairs , and maintain common policies on trade , agriculture , fisheries , and regional development . Within the Schengen Area , passport controls have been abolished . A monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002 , and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency . FOREST ( short for " Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco ") is a ___MASK62___ political pressure group which campaigns against tobacco control activity . ___MASK22___ ( Latin : " Assindia ") is a city in North Rhine - Westphalia , Germany . Its population of approximately 589 , 000 makes it the ninth - largest city in Germany . It is the central city of the northern ( Ruhr ) part of the Rhine - Ruhr metropolitan area and seat to several of the region ' s authorities . ___MASK68___ is the largest city in the German federal State of North Rhine - Westphalia and the fourth - largest city in ___MASK77___ ( after Berlin , ___MASK92___ , and Munich ). It is located within the Rhine - Ruhr metropolitan region , one of the major European metropolitan regions and the largest in ___MASK77___ , with more than ten million inhabitants . The Ruhr , or the Ruhr district , Ruhr region , Ruhr area or Ruhr valley , is a polycentric urban area in ___MASK65___ Rhine - Westphalia , ___MASK77___ . With a population density of 2 , 800 / km² and a population of eight and a half million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in ___MASK77___ , and third - largest in the ___MASK30___ . It consists of several large , industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south , Rhine to the west , and Lippe to the north . In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land . It is considered part of the larger Rhine - Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 12 million people , which is among the largest in Europe . The Sauerland [] is a rural , hilly area spreading across ___MASK76___ of the south - eastern part of North Rhine - Westphalia , in parts heavily forested and , apart from the ___MASK54___ valleys , sparsely inhabited . For these reasons , it has been chosen as the first place in Germany to reintroduce the Wisent ( European bison ). Breckerfeld is a town in the district of Ennepe - Ruhr - Kreis , in ___MASK65___ Rhine - Westphalia , ( ___MASK77___ ) . It is located in the southeastern - ___MASK76___ part of the Ruhr area in northern Sauerland . The town is a member of Regionalverband Ruhr ( association ) . The Ennepe - Ruhr - Kreis is a district in the center of ___MASK65___ Rhine - Westphalia , ___MASK77___ . It is part of the southern Ruhr urban area and has ca . 324 , 000 inhabitants ( 2012 ). The district ' s seat ( capital city ) is ___MASK86___ ; the largest of its nine towns is Witten . The Rhine - Ruhr metropolitan region is the largest metropolitan region in ___MASK77___ with over 11 million inhabitants . It is of polycentric nature and the only megacity in ___MASK77___ . It covers an area of 7 , 110 square kilometers and lies entirely within the federal state of North Rhine - Westphalia . The Rhine - Ruhr metropolitan region spreads from Dortmund - ___MASK44___ - ___MASK22___ - Duisburg ( Ruhr Area ) in the north , to the urban areas of the cities of Mönchengladbach , Düsseldorf ( the state capital ), Wuppertal , Leverkusen , Cologne ( the region ' s largest and ___MASK77___ ' s fourth largest city ), and Bonn in the south . The location of the Rhine - Ruhr at the heart of the European blue banana makes it well connected to other major European cities and metropolitan areas like the Randstad , the Flemish Diamond and the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region . ___MASK32___ am Main is a metropolis and the largest city in the German state of ___MASK46___ and the fifth - largest city in Germany , with a 2015 population of 731 , 095 within its administrative boundaries , and 2 . 3 million in its urban area . The city is at the centre of the larger ___MASK32___ Rhine - Main Metropolitan Region , which has a population of 5 . 8 million and is Germany ' s second - largest metropolitan region after Rhine - Ruhr . Since the enlargement of the ___MASK30___ in 2013 , the geographic centre of the EU is about to the east of ___MASK32___ ' s CBD , the Bankenviertel . ___MASK32___ is culturally and ethnically diverse , with around half of the population , and a majority of young people , having a migration background . A quarter of the population are foreign nationals , including many expatriates . ___MASK6___ is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia . ___MASK6___ is bordered by the ___MASK64___ to the north , the Atlantic Ocean to the ___MASK29___ , and the ___MASK26___ to the south . To the east and southeast , ___MASK6___ is generally considered as separated from ___MASK11___ by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains , the Ural River , the Caspian and Black Seas , and the waterways of the Turkish Straits . Yet the non - oceanic borders of ___MASK6___  a concept dating back to classical antiquity  are arbitrary . The primarily physiographic term " continent " as applied to ___MASK6___ also incorporates cultural and political elements whose discontinuities are not always reflected by the continent ' s current overland boundaries . ___MASK77___ , officially the Federal Republic of ___MASK77___ , is a federal parliamentary republic in central - western Europe . It includes 16 constituent states , covers an area of , and has a largely temperate seasonal climate . With about 82 million inhabitants , ___MASK77___ is the ___MASK76___ populous member state of the ___MASK30___ . After the United States , it is the second ___MASK76___ popular immigration destination in the world . ___MASK77___ ' s capital and largest metropolis is Berlin . Other major cities include Hamburg , Munich , Cologne , Frankfurt , Stuttgart and Düsseldorf .