Ruhr Basin. History and geography of the region

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

The Ruhr Basin is often mentioned in connection with the remarkable experience of gentrification of industrial areas. The federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia is known in Germany for the historic mines that have produced coal over the past few centuries. However, in the second half of the 20th century, the coal industry began to decline, and the Ruhr Basin of Germany turned into a symbol of the outgoing industrial era.

History with geography

In the 19th century, the Ruhr basin served as an almost inexhaustible source of fuel for the booming industry of Western Europe. This largest coal basin in Europe has long provided stable economic growth for Germany and France.

For the first time on an industrial scale, coal was mined in this region back in the 13th century, but intensive development began in 1839. By 1900, more than 8,000,000,000 tons of coal had been mined in the Ruhr basin. By the middle of the 20th century, however, production had been greatly reduced due to falling demand for products.

Administrative structure of the Ruhrarea

Today, one of the largest agglomerations-conurbations in Europe is located on the territory of the Russian Basin. The core of this urban agglomeration consists of two equal parts - the cities of Dortmund and Essen. Each of the cities has about 500,000 inhabitants.

Speaking about the administrative division of the region, it should be borne in mind that the modern structure of the region appeared in the 19th century and was caused by the rapid industrialization of Germany. Today, the highest administrative body of the region is located in the city of Essen and is called the regional union "Ruhr". It should be noted that all the borders passing in the region are historically determined. Most of the local areas, lands and urban districts got their design back in the Middle Ages.

Demography and identity

Despite the fact that the territory of the Ruhr region is a little more than 1% of the total area of the Federal Republic of Germany, in terms of population it is one of the most densely populated lands. It is believed that 6.3% of the German population lives on its territory.

Although the authorities are making significant efforts to reorganize the economy and social sphere of the region, since the beginning of the 2000s, the population of North Rhine-Westphalia has decreased by almost 1%.

Historically, the inhabitants of the region spoke a Low Frankish-Low Saxon dialect. Today, the vast majority of the local population speaks pure German. Only occasionally in small towns can you hear a slight Westphalian or Low Rhenish accent.

Economy of the region

Starting from the middle of the 20th century, when the industry of the region underwent serious structural changes, the inhabitants of the region were forced to start changing their specialization.

Today, the largest German corporations are located in the Ruhr Basin, which means that they pay taxes in this area. Today, the region where the Ruhr Basin is located is going through difficult times economically. The federal authorities are making every effort to ensure that the local population adapts to the new conditions of existence.

Despite the fact that the Ruhr region is still considered weak in the market, it houses the offices of many large companies, primarily logistics. This situation is due to the favorable geographical position of the region.

Transport, including public transport, plays a special role in the city's economy. The polycentricity of the urban agglomeration implies the active movement of citizens during the day. For the convenience of traveling in the city, there are well-developed tram and bus networks. There is also a unified metro system.

The social policy of the federal authorities in the region is aimed at creating the maximum number of new projects in the field of culture and art, which, according to the idea, should attract tens of thousands of tourists annually.