North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen, usually shortened to NRW, official short form NW) is the westernmost and - in terms of population and economic output - the largest Federal State of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km² (13,158 square miles). North Rhine-Westphalia is situated in the Western part of Germany and shares borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. It has borders with the German states of Lower Saxony to the North and Northeast, Rhineland-Palatinate to the Southwest and Hesse to the Southeast.
The capital city is Düsseldorf. The largest city is Cologne (Köln). Other major cities are Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, Oberhausen, Aachen, Bielefeld, Bonn, Bochum, Münster, Paderborn, Gelsenkirchen and Wuppertal.
