North Rhine-Westphalia

Administrative region (German Land) in northwestern Germany, bordered to the north and northeast by Lower Saxony, to the east by Hesse, to the south by the Rhineland-Palatinate, and to the west by Belgium and the Netherlands; area 34,079 sq km/13,158 sq mi; population (2003 est) 17,986,700. A highly industrialized region, it contains the largest industrial concentration in Europe (Ruhr), with one of the largest mining and energy-producing areas in Europe. The capital is Düsseldorf, and other major towns include Cologne, Essen, Dortmund, Gelsekirchen, Münster, and Mönchengladbach.