Western Germany

Not to be confused with West Germany.

Western Germany (German: Westdeutschland) is a region in the west of Germany. The exact area defined by the term is not constant, but it usually includes North Rhine-Westphalia. The Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate are also sometimes included but are usually considered Southwestern. Hesse is often considered as Central Germany (together with Thuringia).

West of the Harz in Central Germany, or the line Hamburg-Munich, is the western part, but again, these distinctions must only be considered very loosely, especially, not in a political sense.

Politically, Germans often still identify the term Westdeutschland with the Bonn Republic, the Cold War West Germany. Therefore, the English-language distinction between "West Germany" and "Western Germany" is rarely made in German. However, the latter can be specified as der Westen Deutschlands, "the West of Germany."

Major cities

Where a city has different names in English and German, the English name is given first.

State capital

Rank	City	Pop. 1950	Pop. 1960	Pop. 1970	Pop. 1980	Pop. 1990	Pop. 2000	Pop. 2010	Area [km²]	Density per km²	Growth [%] (2000– 2010)	surpassed 100,000	State (Bundesland)
1.	Cologne / Köln	594,941	801,142	849,451	976,694	953,551	962,884	1,007,119	405,17	2,486	4.59	1852	North Rhine-Westphalia
2.	Frankfurt am Main	532,037	675,009	666,179	629,375	644,865	648,550	679,664	248,31	2,737	4.80	1875	Hesse
3.	20px Düsseldorf	500,516	697,891	660,963	590,479	575,794	569,364	588,735	217,22	2,710	3.40	1882	North Rhine-Westphalia
4.	Dortmund	507,349	640,802	640,642	608,297	599,055	588,994	580,444	280,71	2,068	−1.45	1894	North Rhine-Westphalia
5.	Essen	605,411	729,462	696,419	647,643	626,973	595,243	574,635	210,32	2,732	−3.46	1896	North Rhine-Westphalia
6.	Duisburg	410,783	503,641	452,721	558,089	535,447	514,915	489,599	232,83	2,103	−4.92	1904	North Rhine-Westphalia
7.	Bochum	289,804	362,490	343,809	400,757	396,486	391,147	374,737	145,66	2,573	−4.20	1904	North Rhine-Westphalia
8.	Wuppertal	363,224	421,378	417,694	393,381	383,660	366,434	349,721	168,39	2,077	−4.56	1884	North Rhine-Westphalia
9.	20px Bonn	115,394	146,889	275,722	288,148	292,234	302,247	324,899	141,22	2,301	7.49	1934	North Rhine-Westphalia
10.	Bielefeld	153,613	174,527	168,609	312,708	319,037	321,758	323,270	257,92	1,253	0.47	1930	North Rhine-Westphalia
11.	20px Münster	118,496	180,871	198,878	269,696	259,438	265,609	279,803	302,96	924	5.34	1915	North Rhine-Westphalia
12.	20px Wiesbaden	220,741	257,293	250,715	274,464	260,301	270,109	275,976	203,93	1,353	2.17	1905	Hesse
13.	Aachen	129,811	170,367	175,451	243,947	241,861	244,386	258,664	160,84	1,608	5.84	1888	North Rhine-Westphalia
14.	Mönchengladbach	124,879	152,414	151,085	258,424	259,436	263,014	257,993	170,45	1,514	−1.91	1921	North Rhine-Westphalia
15.	Gelsenkirchen	315,460	388,608	347,074	304,386	293,714	278,695	257,981	104,94	2,458	−7.43	1903	North Rhine-Westphalia
Rank	City	Pop. 1950	Pop. 1960	Pop. 1970	Pop. 1980	Pop. 1990	Pop. 2000	Pop. 2010	Area [km²]	Density per km²	Growth [%] (2000– 2010)	surpassed 100,000	State (Land)

See also

• Central Germany
• Eastern Germany
• Northern Germany
• Southern Germany