Frankfurt Rhine-Main

{{Infobox settlement | name = Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region | native_name = ''Rhein-Main-Gebiet'' |image_skyline = {{Photomontage |color = #ffffff |photo1a = Frankfurter Altstadt mit Skyline 2019 (100MP).jpg{{!}}Aerial view of Frankfurt am Main |photo1b = Offenbach am main from drone.jpg{{!}}Aerial view of Offenbach am Main |photo2a = Wiesbaden Luftbild Rathaus Landtag Marktkirche Wilhelmstraße Kurhaus Neroberg Opelbad Griechische Kapelle.jpg{{!}}Wiesbaden |photo2b = P2250381 Darmstadt in Frankfurt-Rhein-Main.jpg{{!}}Darmstadt |spacing = 2 |border = 0 |size = 260 }} |image_caption = {{hlist|From top, left to right: Aerial view of Frankfurt am Main|Aerial view of Offenbach am Main|Wiesbaden|Darmstadt}} | image_map = Metropolregion FRM.jpg | mapsize = 200px | map_caption = Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region (in green) | image_dot_map = | dot_mapsize = | dot_map_captio = | dot_x = | dot_y = | image_map1 = | mapsize1 = | map_caption1 = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|Germany}} | subdivision_type1 = States | subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Hesse}} {{flag|Rhineland-Palatinate}} {{flag|Bavaria|striped}}

---- | government_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.planungsverband.de/index.phtml?La=1&mNavID=1.100&object=tx%7c1169.342.1%7c1169.2.1 |title=Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain / |author=Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain |work=planungsverband.de}}{{dead link |date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> | government_type = Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Conurbation Planning Association | leader_party = CDU | leader_title = Verbandsdirektor | leader_name = Thomas Horn | established_title = | established_date = 1 April 2001 | subdivision_type3 = Largest cities | subdivision_name3 = Frankfurt am Main Wiesbaden Mainz Darmstadt | population_metro = 5907863 | area_metro_km2 = 14755 | area_metro_sq_mi = | population_total = | population_note = | population_as_of = 2022 | population_footnotes = <ref name="statistik">{{cite web|title=Statistik-Viewer Metropolregion|periodical=|publisher=|url=https://service.region-frankfurt.de/ia/metropolregion/bevoelkerung/atlas.html|url-status=live|access-date=2024-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623183254/http://service.region-frankfurt.de/ia/metropolregion/bevoelkerung/atlas.html|archive-date=2024-06-23|last=|date=2022-12-31|language=de|pages=|quote=}}</ref> | population_density_metro_km2 = auto | population_density_metro_sq_mi = | demographics_type2 = GDP | demographics2_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |title=Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) in den Metropolregionen* in Deutschland im Jahr 2021|url=https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/603802/umfrage/bruttoinlandsprodukt-in-den-metropolregionen-in-deutschland/|language=de}}</ref> | demographics2_title1 = Metro | demographics2_info1 = €300.868 billion (2021)  | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | latd = | latm = | lats = | latNS = | longd = | longm = | longs = | longEW = | elevation_footnotes =  | elevation_max_m = | elevation_max_ft = | elevation_min_m = | elevation_min_ft = | website = [https://www.region-frankfurt.de/ region-frankfurt.de] | official_name = }}

The '''Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region''', often simply referred to as '''Frankfurt Rhine-Main''', '''Frankfurt Rhine-Main area''' or '''Rhine-Main area''' (German: ''Rhein-Main-Gebiet'', ''Frankfurt/Rhein-Main'' or ''FrankfurtRheinMain'', abbreviated '''FRM'''), is the third-largest metropolitan region in Germany after Rhine-Ruhr and Berlin-Brandenburg, with a total population exceeding 5.9 million. The metropolitan region is located in the central-western part of Germany, and stretches over parts of three German states: Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Bavaria. The largest cities in the region are Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Darmstadt, Offenbach, Worms, Hanau, and Aschaffenburg.

The polycentric region is named after its core city, Frankfurt, 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 {{convert|13000|km2|sqmi|sp=us}}.

The region is the 4th biggest by GDP in the European Union.

==Subdivisions== Although Rhine-Main is considered to be a polycentric metropolitan region, 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 the area encompassing the cities of Frankfurt and Offenbach and their directly neighboring districts.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

The Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt of the state of Hesse could be seen as the next administrative division, for it lies entirely within the metropolitan region and further includes the cities of Darmstadt and Wiesbaden along with 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 adjoining federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adams |first1=Tracy |title=The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria |date=2010 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |id={{Project MUSE|477|type=book}} |isbn=978-1-4214-2799-7 }}{{pn|date=July 2024}}</ref>

=== 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.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;" ! Urban zone ! Major cities ! Population ! Area |- | scope="rowgroup" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"| Frankfurt am Main urban zone<ref>[http://www.region-frankfurt.de/Regionalverband/Region-in-Zahlen?&La=1 Die Region Frankfurt Rhein-Main in Zahlen und Fakten] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201172044/https://www.region-frankfurt.de/Regionalverband/Region-in-Zahlen?&La=1 |date=2019-02-01 }} (in German)</ref> | 2,729,562 | 4,305 km2 |- |rowspan="2" style="border-top:hidden"| | style="text-align:left;"|Frankfurt am Main | 773,068 | 248 km2 |- | style="text-align:left;"|Offenbach am Main | 134,170 | 45 km2 |- | scope="rowgroup" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"| Wiesbaden urban zone | 462,098 | 1,015 km2 |- |rowspan="1" style="border-top:hidden"| | style="text-align:left;"|Wiesbaden | 283,083 | 204 km2 |- | scope="rowgroup" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"| Darmstadt urban zone | 439,084 | 781 km2 |- |rowspan="1" style="border-top:hidden"| | style="text-align:left;"|Darmstadt | 162,243 | 122 km2 |- | scope="rowgroup" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"| Mainz urban zone | 403,849 | 704 km2 |- |rowspan="1" style="border-top:hidden"| | style="text-align:left;"|Mainz | 218,578 | 98 km2 |- ! colspan=2|Rhine-Main ! 5,808,518 ! 14,755 km2 |}

== Cities and districts == {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 100%; width:80%; text-align: center" ! valign=bottom class="unsortable" | Picture ! valign=bottom | City or district ! valign=bottom | Area ! valign=bottom | Population |- | 620px|Frankfurt | Frankfurt am Main | 248 km2 | 750,000 |- | 620px|Offenbach port | Offenbach am Main | 45 km2 | 118,245 |- | | Landkreis Offenbach | 356 km2 | 337,986 |- | 620px|Schlüchtern in Main Kinzig Kreis | Main-Kinzig-Kreis | 1,397 km2 | 411,956 |- | 620px|Lohrberg | Wetteraukreis | 122 km2 | 142,191 |- | 620px|Bad Homburg | Hochtaunuskreis | 482 km2 | 233,427 |- | [[File:Blick vom Großen Mannstein am Staufen.jpg|620px|Kelkheim and further towns of Main-Taunus-Kreis]] | Main-Taunus-Kreis | 122 km2 | 142,191 |- | 620px|Darmstadt | Darmstadt | 122 km2 | 142,191 |- | 620px|Darmstadt | Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg | 659 km2 | 289,102 |- | 620px|Rüsselsheim | Landkreis Groß-Gerau | 453 km2 | 253,502 |- | 620px|Wiesbaden | Wiesbaden | 204 km2 | 275,489 |- | 620px|Rüdesheim am Rhein | Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis | 98 km2 | 196,784 |- | colspan="1" | '''Subtotal''' | '''Hesse''' | '''7,445 km2''' | '''3,778,689''' |- | 620px|Mainz | Mainz | 98 km2 | 196,784 |- | 620px|Bingen am Rhein | Mainz-Bingen | 606 km2 | 201,451 |- | 620px|Worms | Worms | 109 km2 | 81,784 |- | — | Landkreis Alzey-Worms | 588 km2 | 124,758 |- | colspan="1" | '''Subtotal''' | '''Rhineland-Palatinate''' | '''1405 km2''' | '''604,777''' |- | 620px|Aschaffenburg | Aschaffenburg | 63 km2 | 68,646 |- | — | Landkreis Aschaffenburg | 699 km2 | 173,946 |- | 620px|Miltenberg | Landkreis Miltenberg | 716 km2 | 130,009 |- | colspan="1" | '''Subtotal''' | '''Bavaria''' | '''1,478 km2''' | '''372,601''' |- | colspan="1" | '''Total''' | '''Frankfurt Rhine-Main metropolitan region''' | '''14,800 km2''' | '''5,800,000''' |}

==Economy== [[File:Merck KGaA 01.jpg|thumb| Headquarters of Merck Group in Darmstadt, the world's oldest operating chemical and pharmaceutical company, as well as one of the largest pharmaceutical companies globally.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Merck: Das älteste Chemieunternehmen der Welt|language=de|url=https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/a-438352.html|date=21 September 2006|access-date=6 July 2023|website=Manager Magazin}}</ref>]]

With its central location in southwestern Germany, the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region has been an important industrial and transport center since industrialization began in the mid-19th century. The region is a major financial center of both Germany and Europe, with the European Central Bank headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. In 2018, about 7.9% of Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) was generated in the region, as well as over three-fourths of the state of Hesse's GDP.<ref>{{cite web|title=Frankfurt Rhein-Main in Zahlen|trans-title=Frankfurt Rhein-Main in Figures|periodical=|publisher=IHK Frankfurt am Main|url=https://www.frankfurt-main.ihk.de/standortpolitik/konjunktur_statistik/wirtschaftsstruktur/rhein-main/index.html|url-status=|access-date=|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=|date=|year=|language=|pages=|quote=}} (in German)</ref>

In addition to banking and finance, the chemical industry has had a long established presence in the metropolitan region, with the ''Industriepark Höchst'' (Höchst Industrial Park) in the southwestern outskirts of Frankfurt am Main being one of the largest industrial parks in Germany and host to over 90 chemical, pharmaceutical and healthcare firms. Other such firms like Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Group, Biontech, Fresenius and Fresenius Medical Care are spread all over the Rhine-Main area. The automobile, construction, and real estate sectors also contribute to a significant sector of the regional economy, with the latter two accounting for 18% of the GDP.<ref>[http://www.frankfurt-main.ihk.de/standortpolitik/metropolregion/zahlen_fakten/immobilienstudie/ ''Bau- und Immobilienstudie'' (Construction and Real Estate Study)], IHK-Forum Rhein-Main. (in German)</ref> Darmstadt and Wiesbaden are the site of headquarters and major offices for insurance firms.

[[File:AirportFrankfurt terminal1.jpg|thumb|Frankfurt Airport serves as a major gateway and logistical hub for the area and is Germany's busiest airport.]] Geographically situated in the middle of the European continent, Frankfurt Rhine-Main is one of the largest logistics hubs in the world, with major connections provided by Frankfurt Airport, Germany's and one of the world's busiest air hubs, and an extensive road and rail system. The Frankfurter Kreuz and Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof are among the busiest road and rail interchanges in Europe respectively. Other major rail stations include Mainz, Frankfurt Süd, and Frankfurt Airport.

==Transport== [[File:DSCI0058 Flughafen Frankfurt Squaire.jpg|thumb|ICE 3 departing westward from Frankfurt Airport long-distance station underneath The Squaire]] [[File:Westbahnhof Hochbahnsteig.jpg|thumb|S-Bahn Rhein-Main: Class 423 approaching Frankfurt West station]]

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.

The S-Bahn network extends from Wiesbaden and Mainz in the west to Hanau in the east, and from Friedberg in the north to Darmstadt and Riedstadt in the south.

==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 region's three public research universities, the

* Goethe University Frankfurt * Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz * TU Darmstadt

make up the Rhine Main Universities alliance. Private universities in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main metropolitan region are

* EBS University of Business and Law * Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.

Notable colleges and universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen) include: * Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences * Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences * RheinMain University of Applied Sciences * Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts * Städelschule * University of Applied Sciences, Mainz * Catholic University of Applied Sciences, Mainz

== See also == * Global city

==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="120"> Image:FFM HBF Frankfurt.jpg|Frankfurt is the most important city of the Rhein-Main area Image:Assmannshausen Hoellenberg.jpg|Rheingau Image:Mainz altstadt.jpg|Old town of Mainz Image:Aschaffenburg Schloss Johannisburg.jpg|Castle of Johannisburg in Aschaffenburg Image:Goldschmiedehaus Hanau.jpg|German House of Goldsmiths in Hanau Image:Nierstein Luftbild 098.jpg|Rhenish Hesse Image:Albin-Müller-Becken mit Hochzeitsturm und Russischer Kapelle - panoramio.jpg|Darmstadt Artists' Colony Image:20206021 Michelstadt-14.tif|Town Hall of Michelstadt </gallery>

== References == <references/>

== External links == {{Commons category|Rhein-Main}} {{Wikivoyage|Rhine-Main}} *[http://www.pvfrm.de/ Planungsverband Ballungsraum Frankfurt/Rhein-Main ''Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Conurbation Planning Association''] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060620082015/http://www.region-frankfurt-rheinmain.de/RheinMain/englisch/e_home.html Region Frankfurt RheinMain online - Gateway to Europe] *[http://www.airportcity-frankfurt.com/ Frankfurt International Airport] *[http://www.rmv.de/ Rhein-Main Metropolitan Transit] *[http://www.wirtschaftsfoerderung-frankfurt.de/ Frankfurt Economic Support] *[http://www.planungsverband.de/media/custom/1169_819_1.PDF Frankfurt/Rhein-Main 2020 – the European metropolitan region]{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} *[http://www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/media.php/738/Imagebrosch%C3%BCre%20Region2007.pdf One region - Boundless possibilities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190547/http://www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/media.php/738/Imagebrosch%C3%BCre%20Region2007.pdf |date=2016-03-03 }} *[https://www.regionalpark-rheinmain.de Regionalpark Rhein-Main] {{Metropolregion Germany}} {{Cities in Germany}} {{coord|50.1|N|8.7|E|scale:1000000_region:DE|display=title}}

Category:Geography of Frankfurt Category:Geography of Wiesbaden Category:Geography of Mainz Frankfurt Category:Geography of Hesse Category:Geography of Rhineland-Palatinate