What is "ruhr"

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The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany ( North Rhine-Westphalia), a right tributary (east-side) of the Rhine.

The Ruhr (, ), or the Ruhr district, Ruhr region or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km² and a population of eight and a half million, it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany, and third-largest in the European Union. It consists of several large, industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west, and Lippe to the north. In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land. It is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 12 million people, which is among the largest in Europe.

From west to east, the region includes the cities of Duisburg, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Herne, Hagen, Dortmund, and Hamm, as well as parts of the more "rural" districts of Wesel, Recklinghausen, Unna and Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis. The most populous cities are Dortmund (approx. 572,000), Essen (approx. 566,000) and Duisburg (approx. 486,000). The Ruhr area has no administrative center; each city in the area has its own administration, although there exists the supracommunal " Regionalverband Ruhr" institution in Essen. Historically, the western Ruhr towns, such as Duisburg and Essen, belonged to the historic region of the Rhineland, whereas the eastern part of the Ruhr, including Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Dortmund and Hamm, were part of the region of Westphalia. Since the 19th century, these districts have grown together into a large complex with a vast industrial landscape, inhabited by some 7.3 million people (including Düsseldorf and Wuppertal).

For 2010, the Ruhr region was one of the European Capitals of Culture.

Ruhr may refer to

• Ruhr (river), a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
• Ruhr or Ruhr district (German Ruhrgebiet), an urban and industrial area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
• Ruhr (film), 2009, by director James Benning
• Ruhr, a German term for Dysentery, an inflammatory disorder of the intestine
• Ruhr (A 64), a former Rhein class replenishment ship of the German Navy
• "Ruhr of India", valley of the Damodar River

See also

• Rur, a river that flows through The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany
• Rur (disambiguation)

Ruhr is the name of a département of the Grand Duchy of Berg, a satellite state of the First French Empire, in present day Germany. It was named after the river Ruhr, which flows through the département.

The capital was Dortmund.