The Cologne Bonn Region (German: ''Region Köln/Bonn'') is a

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

(NRW),

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, covering the cities of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and Leverkusen, as well as the districts of Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis,

Oberbergischer Kreis The Oberbergischer Kreis (, ) is a ''Kreis'' (Districts of Germany, district) in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Ennepe-Ruhr, Märkischer Kreis, Olpe (district), Olpe, Altenkirchen (district), Altenkirchen, ...

, Rhein-Erft-Kreis and

Rhein-Sieg-Kreis The Rhein-Sieg-Kreis () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the south of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Oberbergischer Kreis, Altenkirchen (district), Altenkirchen, Neuwied (district), Neuwied, Ah ...

. The region covers an area of 3,839 km² with 3.13 million inhabitants (population density 815/km²). The city centres of Cologne and Bonn are 24 kilometres apart as the crow flies. At the outer city limits, there are only 8 kilometres between Cologne-Libur and Bonn-Geislar. The Cologne/Bonn Region was established by local governments within the Cologne Government Region in 1992, to promote common policies in regional and urban planning, traffic management, environment and investment. Among the most prominent co-operative projects are the Cologne/Bonn Airport, the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg and the former Bonn–Cologne Railway Company. Also the Stadtbahn of both cities are connected, so there are

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

trains from Cologne Stadtbahn in Bonn and the Bonn Stadtbahn in Cologne. The largest local banks, ''Sparkasse KölnBonn'' and ''Volksbank Köln Bonn'', operate in both cities. Both cities are directly connected by the

autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

A555. The Cologne/Bonn region lies within the larger

Rhine-Ruhr The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region () is the Metropolitan regions in Germany, largest metropolitan region in Germany, with over ten million inhabitants. A wikt:polycentric, polycentric conurbation with several major urban concentrations, the reg ...

region, and forms a counterbalance to the more integrated

Ruhr area The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

, which also lies within the Rhine-Ruhr. Since 2008, studies have been undertaken to incorporate cities of the Lower Rhine region (most notably the city of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

) into the alliance, in order to form a ''Rhineland metropolitan region'' (Metropolregion Rheinland).

Larger Urban Zones

Eurostat's ''Urban Audit'' splits the Cologne/Bonn region into two

Larger Urban Zones The functional urban area (FUA), previously known as larger urban zone (LUZ), is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan and surrounding areas which may or may not be exclusively urban. It consists of a city and its commuting zo ...

(LUZ). These two Urban Zones do not cover the district of

. Population figures for 2012 File:Kölner Rhein.jpg,

File:Zepper-sunrise-over-the-niveous-city-of-bonn.jpg,

File:Bonn Kreuzbauten Post Tower.jpg, Bonn with Cologne's skyline File:Bayer AG in Leverkusen, Luftaufnahme.JPG, Leverkusen

References

External links

Region Köln/Bonn

Regional Marketing Cologne Bonn Ltd
Geography of Cologne Bonn Leverkusen Rhineland Metropolitan areas of Germany Regions of North Rhine-Westphalia {{Cologne-geo-stub

Larger Urban Zones

See also

References

External links