Geography of North Rhine-Westphalia

Situation in Germany

Topography and landscapes of North Rhine-Westphalia

The determining feature of the geography of North Rhine-Westphalia is the location of the northern part of the state in the North German Plain and the southern part in the low mountain ranges . The north of North Rhine-Westphalia in the flat lowlands is poorly forested, is used intensively for agriculture and is densely populated. The mountainous south is more forested and less populous. The climate in the lowlands is much milder and drier than in the mountainous parts of the country. The Rhine and Weser flow through the country from south to north . The Lippe and Ruhr flow towards the Rhine from east to west . The Ems runs north of it .

Location and topography

Landscapes and rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia

The Langenberg is the highest mountain in the country.

At the Porta Westfalica , the Weser leaves the low mountain range and flows into the North German lowlands

North Rhine-Westphalia is located in the west of the Federal Republic of Germany. The planimetrically determined center of North Rhine-Westphalia lies in the south of Aplerbeck in the Aplerbecker Mark ( 51 ° 28 ′ 42 ″  N , 7 ° 33 ′ 18 ″  E ).

The westernmost point is near Selfkant on the Dutch border, the easternmost near Höxter on the Weser and the southernmost near Hellenthal in the Eifel in the southwest of the country. The north point of North Rhine-Westphalia near Rahden is located in the north-east of the country in the North German Plain, only about 100 km south of the North Sea coast . The largest west-east extension is around 235 km.

The largest north-south extension is around 190 km. The maximum extent from southwest to northeast is around 260 km. The total area of ​​North Rhine-Westphalia is around 34,098 km². North Rhine-Westphalia is the fourth largest state in the Federal Republic in terms of area, representing around 10 percent of the area of ​​the federal government. The westernmost settlement in Germany, Isenbruch in the municipality of Selfkant, and the westernmost mainland point in Germany, a point marked at Isenbruch on the local road 1 on the border with the Netherlands, are in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The deepest natural depression is in the Zyfflich district of Kranenburg at 9.2  m above sea level. NHN in the northwest of the country. However, the deepest point above ground was created by mining. The Hambach opencast mine reaches a depth of 267  m below sea level near Niederzier .

About half of the country is in the relatively flat regions of the Westphalian lowlands and the Lower Rhine lowlands . The Münsterland occupies the core area of ​​the Westphalian Bay. There are a few isolated mountain ranges in the lowlands, including the Haltern Mountains ( Haard , Hohe Mark (with Rekener Kuppen) and Borkenberge ), the Beckum Mountains , the Baumberge and the Stemmer Mountains . The Lower Rhine Bay (also known as the Cologne Bay ) extends in the south to the state border with Rhineland-Palatinate, where the Rhine has cut deep into the mountains and flows through the Middle Rhine Valley .

The terrain rises in the south and east of the country. There the country has a share in the German low mountain range regions . These include the Weserbergland with Eggegebirge , Wiehengebirge , Weser Mountains and Teutoburg Forest in the east, the Sauerland , Bergisches Land , Siegerland and Siebengebirge in the south and the Eifel on the left bank of the Rhine in the southwest of the country. The Rothaargebirge in the border area to Hesse has elevations of over 800  m above sea level. NHN on. The highest among these mountains is the Langenberg at 843  m above sea level. NHN . The left and right bank mountain ranges in the south and south adjacent areas in neighboring countries form the Rhenish Slate Mountains , the subunit Süderbergland turn corresponds approximately to the right of the Rhine located North Rhine-Westphalia part in it.

Adjacent areas

North Rhine-Westphalia borders in the north and northeast on Lower Saxony , in the southeast on the Hessian administrative districts of Kassel and Gießen , in the south on Rhineland-Palatinate and in the west on the Belgian region of Wallonia (including the settlement area of ​​the German-speaking Community of Belgium ) and the Dutch provinces of Limburg , Gelderland and Overijssel . The border length between North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony is 583 km, the Netherlands 395 km, Rhineland-Palatinate 312 km, Hesse 272 km and Belgium 99 km.

division

The country can be structured differently depending on the concept used. A classification based on several socio-cultural, historical, natural and landscape references is particularly common. Accordingly, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is initially to be divided into its three parts of North Rhine (northern Rhineland , usually simply referred to as Rhineland ), Westphalia and Lippe , which were merged to form the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1946/1947. There are significant historical and cultural differences between Lippe and Westphalia on the one hand and the Rhineland on the other. The third part of the state, Lippe, which only joined the already existing state of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1947/48, is also part of the Westphalian cultural area, but as a former German federal state is usually viewed as an independent region and part of the state. A rough further subdivision could be made depending on the selected features as follows:

Central mountain region in the Sauerland

View from Vogelsang Castle to the Urft reservoir in the Eifel

• Rhineland
  • Bergisches Land
  • Eifel
  • Aachen region
  • Lower Rhine
  • Rhine rail
  • Cologne / Bonn region
• Westphalia
  • Münsterland
  • Minden-Ravensberg
  • Paderborn Monastery
  • Hellwegbörden
  • Sauerland
  • Siegerland
  • Tecklenburger Land
• lip
  • Lipper Land , the region of the former Free State

Special regions that cannot be classified in the above scheme are essentially:

• the Ruhr area belongs historically and culturally to the Rhineland and Westphalia. Due to its own economic and socio-cultural connections, the Ruhr area has its own regional awareness, without foregoing the Rhenish or Westphalian awareness.
• Ostwestfalen-Lippe , cross-regional administrative unit with the administrative district Detmold , which in the Westphalian part of the country includes the regions of Minden-Ravensberg and the Hochstift Paderborn as well as the part of the country Lippe with the Lipper Land.

See also: List of landscapes in North Rhine-Westphalia • List of natural spatial units in North Rhine-Westphalia • Cultural landscapes in North Rhine-Westphalia

Waters

The Rhine leaves the Middle Rhine Valley near Bonn (background) and flows into the Cologne Bay. Photo from the Drachenfels

Most of the country lies between the Meuse in the west, a few kilometers to the west flowing roughly parallel to the state border, and the Weser in the east.

The Rhine flows through North Rhine-Westphalia as the largest river in the state over a length of around 226 km from south to north. The state has a share of the Middle Rhine , Lower Rhine and Delta Rhine in the border area with the Netherlands . With Cologne , Düsseldorf and Duisburg, three of the five largest cities in the country are located on the Rhine . In the catchment area of ​​the river, the Sieg , Wupper , Erft , Ruhr , Emscher and Lippe are considered to be the most important tributaries downstream . The Ruhr gives the Ruhr area its name. The most densely populated areas of the country lie on its banks. To the west of the Rhine, the country also has a share of the Maas catchment area .

As the second largest river, the Weser flows through the country in the far east of the country in two sections in a northerly direction, partly as a border river to Lower Saxony. Its length in NRW is around 116 km (41 and 75 km).

In the Westphalian Bight , the Ems represents its own river system. The Ems flows through the country for around 156 km in a north-westerly direction. To the west of the Ems, the country in the north also has a share in the sub-catchment area of ​​the IJssel / Alten Issel , which also belongs to the catchment system of the Rhine. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia is completely drained towards the North Sea via the rivers listed . All river systems in North Rhine-Westphalia are connected to one another by natural flowing waters via the Rhine-Mass delta, the bifurcations of the Schwarzwasserbach from the Krollbach and the bifurcation of the Else from the Hase .

The hard coal mining in the Ruhr area led to subsidence and extensive polder areas that can only be kept artificially dry through constant hydraulic engineering measures; Without human intervention, large parts of the Ruhr area would be under water.

Most of the state's still waters, including around 70 reservoirs, are located in the mountainous regions in the south of North Rhine-Westphalia. This means that North Rhine-Westphalia has more dams than any other state. The largest dams include the Rurtalsperre , the Urfttalsperre , the Wahnbachtalsperre , the Sorpesee , the Möhnetalsperre , the Great Dhünntalsperre and the Biggetalsperre . A total of around 1.8 percent of the country's area is covered by water.

See also: List of rivers in North Rhine-Westphalia • List of lakes in North Rhine-Westphalia • Waterways and ports

Geology and soils

Lignite mining in the Hambach opencast mine and the lowest point in the country

The natural spatial structure is essentially determined by its multi-layered geological shape. The southern and eastern parts of the country were formed mainly through mountain-building processes during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic Era . In the north and west, the topography is mainly due to geological processes during the last ice ages .

The Eifel, Bergisches Land, Sauerland and Siegerland have the oldest rocks: sandstone , greywacke , slate and limestone occur folded on the surface of the earth and partially form the Rhenish Slate Mountains . Due to the varying rates of weathering and the gradual uplift over the last approx. 1 million years, the highest mountains in the country can be found in the Rothaar Mountains. To the north of the mountainous region in the south is the Rhenish-Westphalian hard coal field with coal seams from the Upper Carboniferous . This part of the country is covered by layers of younger sediments that are increasingly thick towards the north . The coal-bearing layers only come to light in the southwest of the area , so that open-cast mining is possible here .

Ostwestfalen-Lippe geologically consists of rocks from the Mesozoic Era ( Triassic , Jurassic , Cretaceous ). Osning and Eggegebirge are multiply folded and broken mountain formations.

The underground of the Münsterland Bay consists of rocks from the Mesozoic Era. However, these are almost completely covered by Quaternary unconsolidated rocks, especially chalk layers that extend east to the Paderborn plateau . Exceptions are Cretaceous sediments, which protrude as Halterner Sands, Beckumer and Baumberger Sands from the Quaternary cover of the chalk basin . The Quaternary loose rocks of the Pleistocene and Holocene extend southwest into the Cologne Bay and the Lower Rhine lowlands . The Lower Rhine lowlands have been sinking in clods since the Tertiary . This geomorphological activity makes the area an earthquake-prone region. Lignite seams also arose in the Tertiary in the southern Lower Rhine and are now exploited. In the Quaternary, loose rock was also deposited here in the form of erosion rubble (river gravel) from the Rhenish Slate Mountains. During the Ice Age of the Pleistocene, this layer was partly formed into terminal moraines , which are visible as the Lower Rhine ridge between Kleve and Krefeld .

In the southern low mountain range, brown soils are predominantly found. The Lower Rhine Bay is mainly covered by parabroot , but mostly gleye in areas with a high groundwater level . The Münsterland is either sandy ( Podsole ) or more clayey ( Pseudogleye ). In the Egge Mountains there are nutrient-poor and shallow soils. Loess layers accumulated here on the edge of the Westphalian Bay and in the valleys of the Weser Uplands during the Ice Ages . These exchanges are particularly fertile.

Land use

North Rhine-Westphalia is by far the most densely populated area in the Federal Republic. About 20 percent of the area is built on. In particular, the Ruhr area and the Rhine from Duisburg via Düsseldorf to the Cologne-Bonn area are largely urbanized . Essentially only the low mountain ranges in the south and east of the country are forested. The forest area makes up about a quarter of the country's area. Almost the entire rest, around 50 percent, is used for agriculture. The regions of Lower Rhine, the Westphalian Bay and Minden-Ravensberg are particularly characterized by arable farming. In a federal comparison with the federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany, the proportion of forests and the proportion of agricultural land are slightly below average. The share of settlement and traffic area is the top value among all land-based states. The shares of the land use types are summarized in the following table:

Land use NRW
Art	Proportion of (%)	Area ( km² )	map
Settlement and traffic areas , of which	22.2	7567
Building and open space, operational space	13.2	4499
Recreational area, cemetery area	2.0	681
traffic area	7.0	2386
Open space outside the settlement and traffic area , of which	77.8	26520
Agricultural area	49.2	16771
Forest area	25.5	8692
Water surface	1.9	647
Bog, heather, unland	0.4	136
Mining land	0.6	204
Areas of other use	0.2	68
total	100	34088

geophysics

The central Rhineland is one of the most important seismically active areas in Central Europe. The measuring stations of the Geological Service NRW have recorded over 800 earthquakes since 1980 , most of which are below the human threshold. In the area of ​​the Lower Rhine Bight, however, around 20 earthquakes demonstrably caused damage, mostly damage to buildings. On April 13, 1992, the Roermond earthquake , a magnitude 5.9 earthquake, struck near Roermond . It was the strongest quake in Central Europe for more than 250 years.

In addition to natural earthquakes , man -made mining-related earth tremors repeatedly occur in North Rhine-Westphalia as a result of centuries of mining . The subsidence causes earthquakes up to a magnitude of 2.8 on the Richter scale, but most remain below the threshold of perception. Mountain falls also sometimes create craters (day breaks) of considerable dimensions. Large areas of the Ruhr area are sinking through mining. As a result, buildings and other infrastructure in the Ruhr area are continuously being damaged. Even after the planned end of coal mining, the subsidence described will continue to occur.

See also: Cologne Bay earthquake area and perpetual costs

climate

North Rhine-Westphalia lies entirely in the temperate climate zone of Central Europe. The country is still largely in the area of ​​the maritime climatic area , which is characterized by relatively mild winters. The Köppen classification assigns North Rhine-Westphalia to a warm, temperate rainy climate with an average temperature of the warmest month not above 22 ° C and that of the coldest month not below -3 ° C. The east of the country is already in the transition area to the continental climate . The inconsistent natural areas also result in significant differences in the regional climate. The mean annual temperature is between 5 ° C and 11.2 ° C, depending on the altitude. The Münsterland and the Rhineland are the warmest regions in the country. The protected southern parts of the Cologne Bay around Bonn and, in particular due to the sealing of the soil, Cologne are among the warmest regions in Germany. Inversion weather conditions occur particularly frequently here .

The lowest temperature ever measured in Düsseldorf Airport was -20.8 ° C on January 2, 1997, and the highest temperature ever measured there was 37 ° C on August 8, 2003. In Cologne Bay, the preferred wind direction is northwest. In the high altitudes of the Sauerland, the preferred wind direction is inconsistent, but more towards north, northeast. In the rest of the country, the wind mostly blows in a north-easterly direction and brings regular and year-round rainfall from the Atlantic. Precipitation, like temperatures, also goes hand in hand with altitude. Due to the preferred wind directions, areas with pronounced incline rain form in the windward direction . This effect is noticeable in the comparatively rainy Bergisches Land. In the lowlands, the annual rainfall is usually around 700 to 900 mm, locally, for example in the Zülpicher Börde , which is located in the lee of the Eifel, also below 600 mm. In the low mountain range, the annual rainfall increases to up to 1300 mm, in the area of ​​the Teutoburg Forest , the Egge Mountains and in the Sauerland to over 1400 mm. The Kahle Asten is the North Rhine-Westphalian weather station with the most extreme values ​​in many respects: The total rainfall here is around 1500 mm per year; the annual mean temperature usually only at 5 ° C. For Dortmund, which is centrally located in North Rhine-Westphalia and in the Westphalian Bight, the following monthly long-term climate values ​​result (sunshine duration for Recklinghausen ):

Precipitation graph for Dortmund

Climate in Dortmund Hours of sunshine for Recklinghausen Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 3.7 4.6 9.1 13.2 17.6 20.7 22.1 22.0 18.9 13.6 8.2 4.8 O 13.3 Min. Temperature (° C) -1.1 -0.8 1.9 4.7 8.2 11.2 13.4 13.2 10.8 6.9 3.4 0.5 O 6.1 Temperature (° C) 1.9 2.5 5.1 8.5 12.9 16.0 17.6 17.3 14.4 10.6 5.8 3.0 O 9.7 Precipitation ( mm ) 69.1 53.3 65.7 63.6 69.6 90.8 84.1 74.6 68.5 60.5 74.3 81.4 Σ 855.5 Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 1.3 2.6 3.3 5.2 6.2 6.3 6.1 6.3 4.2 3.5 1.7 1.2 O 4th Rainy days ( d ) 17.5 13.2 16.4 15.3 15.2 16.2 15.3 14.3 14.8 14th 16.8 18.1 Σ 187.1 Source: temperature, precipitation, hours of sunshine (mean values ​​for the period 1961 to 1990): Deutscher Wetterdienst; Min. And max. Temperature: ideal; Rainy days (interpolated 20-year mean values): GEO

If one forms the mean values ​​for temperature and precipitation over all areas of the state, which can be represented from the interpolated climate data taking into account the topography for each 1 × 1 km grid squares, the result is an average for North Rhine-Westphalia for the period 1979-2008 Annual temperature of 9.5 ° C and an annual total precipitation of 920 mm. Studies for the years from 1901 to 2008 show a significant increase in the mean annual temperature of around 1 ° C. For the total amount of precipitation for one year there is an increase of 110 mm in the same period. Researchers attribute both results to climate change . The following monthly distribution results for the North Rhine-Westphalian average values:

Climate in North Rhine-Westphalia Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Temperature ( ° C ) 2.0 2.5 5.5 8.5 13.0 16.0 17.5 17.0 13.5 10.0 6.0 3.0 O 9.6 Precipitation ( mm ) 86 67 77 58 73 81 81 77 77 74 78 91 Σ 920 Source: German Weather Service, State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

See also: Climate in Germany , Climate in Ostwestfalen-Lippe

See also

• 

  Commons : Geography of North Rhine-Westphalia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
• Political system of North Rhine-Westphalia for aspects of political geography (administrative structure etc.)
• Traffic in North Rhine-Westphalia for a description of the traffic routes
• Nature in North Rhine-Westphalia for flora and fauna, protected areas, etc.

Web links

• Website of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
• State database NRW, the statistical information system down to community level
• Geoserver NRW with maps and aerial photos

proof

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} North Rhine-Westphalia in numbers and geodata (PDF; 700 kB)
2. ^ Landesvermessungsamt Nordrhein-Westfalen - The geographical center of North Rhine-Westphalia ( Memento from September 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
3. ^ Stefan Harnischmacher: Mountain subsidence in the Ruhr area. In: Westphalia Regional . Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe ; Geographical Commission for Westphalia, 2012, accessed on August 1, 2014 . 
4. ^ Peter Wittkampf: The Emscher up to the end of the 20th century. In: Westphalia Regional . Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe ; Geographical Commission for Westphalia, 2012, accessed on August 1, 2014 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b c} State Office for the Environment, Nature and Consumer Protection North Rhine-Westphalia: Chapter 2: General State Data (PDF file; 2.93 MB)
6. ↑ State Statistical Office Baden-Württemberg: Statistical Monthly Bulletin Baden-Württemberg 7/2006 ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 367 kB)  
7. ↑ Information and technology North Rhine-Westphalia: Municipal profile Düsseldorf, long version ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 216 kB) 
8. ↑ Geological Service NRW: Geophysics, Earthquake Service ( Memento of the original from April 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ District government of Cologne: The geographical center of North Rhine-Westphalia ( Memento from September 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
10. ↑ DerWesten.de: Earthquake: No danger here? , WAZ NewMedia
11. ↑ Stern.de: The revenge of the mountain
12. ↑ Focus.de: The time bomb in the pot
13. ↑ German Weather Service: Absolute maximum temperatures in Germany ( Memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 45 kB) 
14. ↑ German Weather Service: Absolute lowest temperatures in Germany ( Memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 45 kB) 
15. ↑ State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection: Precipitation Distribution ( Memento from July 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
16. ↑ Ellen Sträter, Winfried Straub, Christian Koch: Die Klimaentwicklung in NRW. Observations since the beginning of the 20th century . In: State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection North Rhine-Westphalia (Ed.): Nature in NRW . No. 1/2010 . Recklinghausen, S. 39–42 ( PDF 3.5 MB [accessed October 10, 2010]). PDF 3.5 MB ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
17. ↑ DWD; Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development: Climate data - mean values
18. ^ Idealo Internet GmbH: Weather. Dortmund Airport. Berlin.
19. ↑ GEO.de; GEO travel community: Dortmund climate . Publisher Gruner + Jahr. Hamburg.
20. ↑ Ellen Sträter, Winfried Straub, Christian Koch: Die Klimaentwicklung in NRW. Observations since the beginning of the 20th century . In: State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection North Rhine-Westphalia (Ed.): Nature in NRW . No. 1/2010 . Recklinghausen, S. 39–42 ( PDF 3.5 MB [accessed on October 10, 2010] The database is interpolated values ​​for a 1x1 km grid over the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia for the period 1979 to 2008. The data were taken into account for the interpolation Measured values ​​of the nearby climate stations as well as the altitude of the grid square. The mean value results from the mean value of all these 1 km² squares.). PDF 3.5 MB ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
21. ↑ Ellen Sträter, Winfried Straub, Christian Koch: Die Klimaentwicklung in NRW. Observations since the beginning of the 20th century . In: State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection North Rhine-Westphalia (Ed.): Nature in NRW . No. 1/2010 . Recklinghausen, S. 39–42 ( PDF 3.5 MB [accessed on October 10, 2010] The database is interpolated values ​​for a 1x1 km grid over the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia for the period 1979 to 2008. The data were taken into account for the interpolation Measured values ​​of the nearby climate stations as well as the height of the grid square. The mean value results from the mean value of all these 1 km² squares. The values ​​given in the table were read from a climate diagram shown in the article and are therefore not exactly valid.). PDF 3.5 MB ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Coordinates: 51 ° 29 '  N , 7 ° 33'  E