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North Rhine-Westphalia Map

Every district, city and town in North Rhine-Westphalia on one zoomable map, with its main highways, rivers and lakes. Switch on towns and districts above the map and zoom in for every name; tap a district to see its population, area and largest towns.

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Printable maps of North Rhine-Westphalia

Free to print for class and home: North Rhine-Westphalia with its cities and towns, a map of its districts, and a blank outline map. PDFs fit one A4 or US Letter page.

North Rhine-Westphalia map with cities

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North Rhine-Westphalia districts map

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Blank map of North Rhine-Westphalia

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Key facts

Capital
Düsseldorf
Largest city
Cologne (1,025,523)
Population
17,986,214 (2025)
Area
34,112 km² (13,171 sq mi)
Districts of North Rhine-Westphalia
53
Most populous district
Cologne (1,025,523)
Largest district by area
Hochsauerlandkreis, 1,960 km² (757 sq mi)
Map of North Rhine-Westphalia with its largest cities
Map of North Rhine-Westphalia with its largest cities

About North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia has 53 districts and about 17,986,214 people (2025) on 34,112 km² (13,171 sq mi). The capital is Düsseldorf; the largest city is Cologne, with 1,025,523 people. It borders Lower Saxony, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Belgium and Netherlands.

Cologne is the most populous district (1,025,523 people) and Remscheid the least (113,333); Hochsauerlandkreis is the largest by area (1,960 km²) and Herne the smallest (51 km²).

Largest cities in North Rhine-Westphalia

The 25 most populous cities and towns. All 392 are on the map above: switch on Towns and zoom in to see them.

#CityDistrictPopulation
1CologneCologne1,025,523
2DüsseldorfDüsseldorf619,444
3DortmundDortmund600,880
4EssenEssen573,618
5DuisburgDuisburg500,810
6BochumBochum358,880
7WuppertalWuppertal357,243
8BielefeldBielefeld331,419
9BonnBonn323,587
10MünsterMünster306,368
11MönchengladbachMönchengladbach267,176
12GelsenkirchenGelsenkirchen266,199
13AachenStädteregion Aachen263,703
14KrefeldKrefeld230,738
15OberhausenOberhausen213,178
16HagenHagen189,983
17HammHamm179,108
18Mülheim an der RuhrMülheim an der Ruhr171,674
19LeverkusenLeverkusen168,299
20SolingenSolingen164,621
21HerneHerne156,266
22PaderbornPaderborn155,906
23NeussRhein-Kreis Neuss153,767
24BottropBottrop118,482
25RecklinghausenRecklinghausen114,851

Populations are the Federal Statistical Office's population on 31 December 2025, carried forward from the 2022 census, counted in the municipalities of that day; a district's population and area are the sums of its municipalities', and the districts add up to the state's 17,986,214. Towns are whole municipalities (Gemeinden), so a city's figure stops at its boundary.

Districts of North Rhine-Westphalia

All 53 districts. Select one to show it on the map.

Districts of North Rhine-Westphalia. Select a column heading to sort; select a name to show it on the map.
Kreisfreie Stadt331,419259
Kreisfreie Stadt358,880146
Kreisfreie Stadt323,587141
Kreis379,5611,421
Kreisfreie Stadt118,482101
Kreis227,1681,112
Kreisfreie Stadt1,025,523405
Kreisfreie Stadt600,880281
Kreisfreie Stadt500,810233
Kreis279,492941
Kreisfreie Stadt619,444217
Kreis313,003410
Kreisfreie Stadt573,618210
Kreis201,6361,249
Kreisfreie Stadt266,199105
Kreis362,443969
Kreisfreie Stadt189,983160
Kreisfreie Stadt179,108226
Kreis263,507628
Kreis253,431450
Kreisfreie Stadt156,26651
Kreis259,1761,960
Kreis138,1561,201
Kreis320,3681,233
Kreisfreie Stadt230,738138
Kreisfreie Stadt168,29979
Kreis346,2121,246
Kreis405,1641,061
Kreis489,147407
Kreis319,4911,152
Kreisfreie Stadt267,176170
Kreisfreie Stadt171,67491
Kreisfreie Stadt306,368303
Kreis273,368919
Kreisfreie Stadt213,17877
Kreis131,265712
Kreis314,5271,247
Kreis618,865761
Kreisfreie Stadt113,33375
Kreis476,913705
Kreis455,615576
Kreis603,4561,153
Kreis283,775437
Kreis272,5091,133
Kreis298,4571,329
Kreisfreie Stadt164,62190
Städteregion583,325707
Kreis451,0041,796
Kreis392,266543
Kreis297,193563
Kreis281,8721,319
Kreis457,0201,043
Kreisfreie Stadt357,243168

Quizzes and worksheets

Printable maps of GermanyCountries Bordering Germany QuizFind German States on the MapGerman State Capitals Quiz

Sources

  • Districts, states and Germany's border: Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Verwaltungsgebiete 1:250 000 (VG250), the boundaries of 1 January 2026, daten.gdz.bkg.bund.de (dl-de/by-2-0).
  • Populations, areas and town locations: Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) for the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder, Gemeindeverzeichnis (GV-ISys), all municipalities on 31 December 2025, population on the basis of the 2022 census.
  • Autobahns, rivers and lakes: BKG, Digitales Landschaftsmodell 1:1 000 000 (DLM1000), daten.gdz.bkg.bund.de (dl-de/by-2-0).