Geography.
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Image: nrw.de |
NRW is Germany´s largest state by population and with an area of about 34.086 km² it’s the fourth largest federal state of Germany by area, making it a little larger than the US state of Maryland or half the size of Scotland. From North to South it spans 243 kilometres, from West to East 252 kilometres.
The centre of NRW , with the coordinates 51° north and 7° east, lies to the South of Dortmund Aplerbeck. NRW borders on Belgium, the Netherlands, the federal states of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony.
The state is divided into three distinct areas: the Rhineland, Westphalia and the Lippe region. The North of NRW is characterized by the lowlands of Westphalia and the Lower Rhine Region with its green meadows and small woods. The South is marked by the hilly regions of the Sauerland, Bergisches Land, Siegerland and by part of the Eifel.
North Rhine-Westphalia has a moderate climate and is home to a typical continental European vegetation. The annual average of temperature is 5° Celsius and the average rainfall about 1450 millimetre. The heart of the state is the Rhine-Ruhr agglomeration with its twenty cities, one of the largest urbanized areas in the world. Forty-four rivers run through the State, of which the Rhine, Ruhr and River Lippe are the most important. Of its two-hundred mountains the Kahler Asten (841,9 m) is NRW’s largest and one of the most well-known in Germany, due to its weather station.
