North Rhine-Westphalia's location in Germany
North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen, usually shortened to NRW, official short form NW) is the westernmost, the most populous, and the most economically powerful state of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia has a population of approximately 18 million inhabitants 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 in the southwest and the Netherlands in the west and northwest. It has borders with the German states of Lower Saxony to the north and northeast, Rhineland-Palatinate to the south and Hesse to the southeast.
The capital city is Düsseldorf, and the largest city is Cologne (Köln). Other major cities are Dortmund, Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen, Krefeld, Iserlohn, and Neuss.