Stuttgart Metropolitan Area

Stuttgart Region (Baden-Württemberg, Germany) is a metropolitan area in Germany and consists of the city of Stuttgart and the surrounding districts of Ludwigsburg, Esslingen, Böblingen, Rems-Murr and Göppingen (each 10–20 km from Stuttgart city center). About 2.7 million inhabitants live in that area (3,700 km²). In fact, with 708 people per square kilometre, the Stuttgart Region is one of the most densely populated areas in Germany. Stuttgart Region is governed by a directly elected parliament.

Situated at the heart of Baden-Württemberg and Europe, the Stuttgart Region is the hub of economic, scientific, and political life in Southwest Germany. The area currently has Germany's highest density of scientific, academic and research organisations, and tops the national league for patent applications. The Gross Domestic Product for Stuttgart Region was recorded at about €35,000 per capita and about €64,000 per employed person. The unemployment rate is only 4.8 per cent. Stuttgart Region is one of Europe's most important and most successful economic centres. This is due not only to the influence of leading international companies, such as Daimler, Porsche, Robert Bosch, Celesio, Hewlett-Packard and IBM (all of whom have their world or German headquarters here), but also to the influence of world-renowned medium-sized enterprises such as Behr, Dürr, Kärcher, Märklin, Stihl, Festo, TTS Tooltechnic Systems, GEZE and Trumpf. In total, approximately 150,000 companies are located in the Stuttgart Region. 24 per cent of employees in the Stuttgart Region work in the high-tech sector – a European record.

Administrative District of Stuttgart
Stuttgart Region shouldn't be confused with the Administrative District of Stuttgart.

The German state of Baden-Württemberg is sub-divided into four districts:


 * Administrative District of Stuttgart
 * Administrative District of Tübingen
 * Administrative District of Karlsruhe
 * Administrative District of Freiburg

Stuttgart Region is part of the "Administrative District of Stuttgart" (Regierungsbezirk Stuttgart, 4 million inhabitants, 11,000 km²).

Stuttgart Metropolitan Area
The Stuttgart Metropolitan Area (pop. 5.3 million), according to the definition of the European Union, is neither identical with the "inner" Stuttgart Region nor with the Administrative District of Stuttgart.

The Stuttgart Metropolitan Area consists i.a. of the following larger cities (approx. 50 km from Stuttgart City Center):

and their surrounding counties.
 * Stuttgart Region, 2.7 million inhabitants
 * Heilbronn, 120,000 inhabitants, Administrative District of Stuttgart
 * Schwäbisch Gmünd, 65,000 inhabitants, Administrative District of Stuttgart
 * Tübingen, 85,000 inhabitants, Administrative District of Tübingen
 * Reutlingen, 115,000 inhabitants, Administrative District of Tübingen
 * Pforzheim, 115,000 inhabitants, Administrative District of Karlsruhe

Maps
map of Baden-Württemberg Left: Stuttgart Region - Right: Stuttgart Administrative District