City and municipality types (Germany)

City and municipality types are categories for differentiating between different types of cities and municipalities based on their population and their importance for the respective region. They are defined for Germany by the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning as follows:

Rural community , formerly also a country town: Cities and municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants
Town: from 5,000 inhabitants or places with a fundamentally central function: small town; from 10,000 inhabitants: large small town
Mittelstadt: from 20,000 inhabitants: small medium-sized town; from 50,000 inhabitants: large medium-sized town; A medium-sized town is usually a medium- sized center , but it can also be a regional center .
Big city: from 100,000 inhabitants: smaller big city; from 500,000 inhabitants: large city; A large city is usually an upper center , but at least a medium center .

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