Mittlerer Neckarraum
Situated at the heart of Baden-Württemberg and Europe, the Mittlerer Neckarraum is the hub of economic, scientific, and political life in Southwest Germany. It is also the centre of a flourishing economy with its own administrative structure (Verband Region Stuttgart) and elected assembly.
The Mittlerer Neckarraum comprises the City of Stuttgart (the state capital) and the surrounding counties of Böblingen, Esslingen, Göppingen, Ludwigsburg, and Rems-Murr, with a total of 179 local authorities. Covering an area of 3,650 square kilometres (about 1,400 square miles), the region is only slightly larger than Luxembourg, but at 2.6 million, its population is six times larger. In fact, with 708 people per square kilometre, the Mittlerer Neckarraum is one of the most densely populated areas in Germany.
The Mittlerer Neckarraum enjoys a strong economy. The region 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 the Mittlerer Neckarraum was recorded at 31,590 € per capita in 1999. The unemployment rate is only 4.8 per cent.
The Mittlerer Neckarraum 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 DaimlerChrysler, Porsche, Robert Bosch, 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 and Trumpf. In total, approximately 150,000 companies are located in the Mittlerer Neckarraum.