Frankfurt Rhine-Main

Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region

*Rhein-Main-Gebiet*
Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region Rhein-Main-Gebiet
	Downtown Frankfurt
	Location of Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region in Germany
Country	Germany
States	Hesse; Rhineland-Palatinate; Bavaria
Largest cities	Frankfurt am Main; Wiesbaden; Mainz; Darmstadt
Government
• Type	Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Conurbation Planning Association
• Verbandsdirektor	Thomas Horn (CDU)
Area
• Metro	14,800 km2 (5,700 sq mi)
Population (2022)
• Metro	5,907,863
• Metro density	400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
GDP
• Metro	€300.868 billion (2021)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
Website	Planungsverband.de

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 or Frankfurt/Rhein-Main, abbreviated FRM), is the third-largest metropolitan region in Germany after Rhine-Ruhr and Berlin-Brandenburg, with a total population exceeding 5.8 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 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 sq mi).

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]}

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.^[4]

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.

Urban zone	Major cities	Population	Area
Frankfurt am Main urban zone^[5]		2,729,562	4,305 km²
	Frankfurt am Main	773,068	248 km²
	Offenbach am Main	134,170	45 km²
Wiesbaden urban zone		462,098	1,015 km²
	Wiesbaden	283,083	204 km²
Darmstadt urban zone		439,084	781 km²
	Darmstadt	162,243	122 km²
Mainz urban zone		403,849	704 km²
	Mainz	218,578	98 km²
Rhine-Main		5,808,518	14,755 km²

Cities and districts

Picture	City or district	Area	Population
	Frankfurt am Main	248 km²	750,000
	Offenbach am Main	45 km²	118,245
	Landkreis Offenbach	356 km²	337,986
	Main-Kinzig-Kreis	1,397 km²	411,956
	Wetteraukreis	122 km²	142,191
	Hochtaunuskreis	482 km²	233,427
	Main-Taunus-Kreis	122 km²	142,191
	Darmstadt	122 km²	142,191
	Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg	659 km²	289,102
	Landkreis Groß-Gerau	453 km²	253,502
	Wiesbaden	204 km²	275,489
	Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis	98 km²	196,784
Subtotal	Hesse	7,445 km²	3,778,689
	Mainz	98 km²	196,784
	Mainz-Bingen	606 km²	201,451
	Worms	109 km²	81,784
—	Landkreis Alzey-Worms	588 km²	124,758
Subtotal	Rhineland-Palatinate	1405 km²	604,777
	Aschaffenburg	63 km²	68,646
—	Landkreis Aschaffenburg	699 km²	173,946
	Landkreis Miltenberg	716 km²	130,009
Subtotal	Bavaria	1,478 km²	372,601
Total	Frankfurt Rhine-Main metropolitan region	14,800 km²	5,800,000

Economy

Frankfurt Airport serves as a major gateway and logistical hub for the area and is Germany's busiest airport.

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.^[6]

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 and pharmaceutical firms. 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.^[7] Darmstadt and Wiesbaden are the site of headquarters and major offices for insurance firms.

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

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.