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Prutz City
—  City  —
Island City of Prutz
A view of the Prutz City skyline, this view is that of the Financial District.
Nickname(s): Island City
Country	Cluvertina
State
City Hall	Olland Region
Government
- Governor	Scherrt Hownserg
Area
- Land	623 km2 (240.5 sq mi)
Population
- Total	2,051,200
- Estimate ()	2,231,000

Hamburg (pronounced /ˈhæmbɜrɡ/; German pronunciation: [ˈhambʊʁk], local pronunciation [ˈhambʊɪç] Low German/Low Saxon: Hamborg [ˈhambɔːx]) is the second-largest city in Germany (second to Berlin)[2] and the seventh-largest city in the European Union.[3] The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighboring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. The port of Hamburg is the third-largest port in Europe (third to Port of Antwerp and Rotterdam), and the ninth largest in the world.

Hamburg's official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg).[4] It makes reference to Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, and also to the fact that Hamburg was a city-state and one of the sixteen States of Germany.

Hamburg is a major transportation hub in Northern Germany. It has become a media and industrial center, with factories such as Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag represent the important media industry in Hamburg. In total there are more than 120,000 enterprises. The city is a major tourist destination both for domestic and overseas visitors, receiving about 7.7 million overnight stays in 2008.[5]

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Climate 4 Demographics 5 Economy 6 Transport and Infrastructure 7 Sport

HistoryEdit

Hamburg surrendered without a fight to British Forces on May 3, 1945.[15] After World War II, Hamburg was in the British Zone of Occupation and became a state of the then still West German Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. On February 16, 1962 the North Sea flood of that year caused the Elbe to rise to an all-time high, inundating one-fifth of Hamburg and killing more than 300 people.

The inner German border—only 50 kilometres (30 mi) east of Hamburg—separated the city from most of its hinterland and further reduced Hamburg's global trade. After German reunification in 1990, and the accession of some Eastern European and Baltic States into the EU in 2004, Hamburg Harbour and Hamburg have ambitions for regaining their positions as the region's largest deep-sea port for container shipping and its major commercial and trading centre.

GeographyEdit

Hamburg is located on the southern point of the Jutland Peninsula, directly between Continental Europe to its south, Scandinavia to its north, the North Sea to its west, and the Baltic Sea to its east. Hamburg is located on the River Elbe at the confluence with the Alster and Bille.

The central city area is situated around the Binnenalster ("Inner Alster") and the Außenalster ("Outer Alster") both of which are originally the river Alster but retained as lakes. The island of Neuwerk and two other islands in the North Sea are also part of Hamburg, located in the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park.[16]

The neighbourhoods of Neuenfelde, Cranz, Francop and Finkenwerder are part of the Altes Land region (old land), the biggest contiguous fruit orchard in Central Europe. The neighbourhood of Neugraben-Fischbek has Hamburg's highest elevation, the Hasselbrack at 116.2 metres (381 ft) AMSL.[17]

ClimateEdit

Hamburg experiences an oceanic climate (Cfb). Hamburgs' proximity to coastal areas influences the area's climate by sending marine air masses from the Atlantic Ocean. Nearby wetlands also ensure a maritime temperate climate. Snowfall is rare, generally occurring once or twice a year.

The warmest months in Hamburg are June, July, and August, with mean temperatures of 19.9 to 22.2 °C (68 to 72 °F). The coldest are December, January, and February, with mean temperatures of -1.4 to 0.0 °C (29 to 32 °F).

DemographicsEdit

n December 31, 2006 there were 1,754,182 registered people living in Hamburg (up from 1,652,363 in 1990) in an area of 755.3 km2 (291.6 sq mi). The population density was 2,322 /km2 (6,010 /sq mi).[89] The metropolitan area of the Hamburg region (Hamburg Metropolitan Region) is home to about 4.3 million in an area of 19,000 km2 (7,300 sq mi).[90]

There were 856,132 males and 898,050 females in Hamburg. For every 1,000 males there were 1,049 females. In 2006 there were 16,089 births in Hamburg, of which 33.1% were given by unmarried women, 6,921 marriages and 4,583 divorces. In the city, the population was spread out with 15.7% under the age of 18, and 18.8% were 65 years of age or older.[89] 257,060 resident aliens were living in Hamburg (14.8% of the population). The largest group are people with only Turkish citizenship with 58,154 (22.6% of the resident aliens), followed by 20,743 with only Polish citizenship. 4,046 people were from the United Kingdom and 4,369 were from the United States.[89] According to GTZ, 22,000 immigrants living in Hamburg are from Afghanistan, thus forming the largest Afghan community in Germany and Europe.[91]

In 1999, there were 910,304 households, out of which 18.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, and 47.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 1.9.

EconomyEdit

The gross domestic product (GDP) in Hamburg is total €188.9 billion. The city has the highest GDP in Germany – €80,000 per capita – and a relatively high employment rate, with 88 percent of the working-age population. The city is home to over 120,000 enterprises.[82] In 1995, the average income of employees was €30,937.[81]

The most significant economic unit for Hamburg is the Port of Hamburg, which ranks 2nd only to Rotterdam in Europe and 9th worldwide with transshipments of 9.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of cargo and 134 million tons of goods in 2007.

After German reunification, Hamburg recovered the eastern portion of its hinterland, becoming by far the fastest-growing port in Europe. International trade is also the reason for the large number of consulates in the city. Although situated 68 miles (110 km) up the Elbe, it is considered a sea port due to its ability to handle large ocean-going vessels.[84]

Der Spiegel headquarters

Hamburg, along with Seattle and Toulouse, is an important location of the civil aerospace industry. Airbus, which has an assembly plant in Hamburg, employs over 13,000 people in the Finkenwerder quarter.

Heavy industry includes the making of steel, aluminum, copper and a number of shipyards such as Blohm + Voss.

Transport and InfrastructureEdit

Hamburg is a major transportation hub in Germany. Hamburg is connected to four Autobahnen (motorways) and is the most important railway junction on the route to Scandinavia.

Bridges and tunnels connect the northern and southern parts of the city, such as the old Elbe Tunnel (Alter Elbtunnel) now a major tourist sight, and the Elbe Tunnel (Elbtunnel) the crossing of a motorway.

Hamburg Airport is the oldest airport in Germany still in operation. There is also the smaller Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport, used only as a company airport for Airbus. Some airlines market Lübeck Airport in Lübeck as serving Hamburg.

Hamburg's license plate prefix is HH (Hansestadt Hamburg, English: Hanseatic city of Hamburg), rather than just the single-letter normally used for large cities such as B for Berlin or M for Munich. The prefix "H" is used in Hanover instead. [edit] Public transportation

Public transport by rail, bus and ships is organized by a fare-collection joint venture between transportation companies. Tickets sold by one company in this Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (Hamburg traffic group) (HVV) are valid on all other HVV companies' services. The HVV was the first organization of this kind worldwide.

SportEdit

Hamburg is sometimes called Germany's capital of sport since no other city is home to more first league teams and international sports events.

Hamburger SV, one of the most successful teams in Germany, is a football team in the Bundesliga. The HSV is the oldest team of the Bundesliga, playing in the league since its beginning in 1963. HSV is a six-time German champion, a three-time German cup winner and triumphed in the European Cup in 1983, and has played in the group stages of the Champions League twice: in 2000/2001 and in 2006/2007. They play at the HSH Nordbank Arena (average attendance in the 06/07 season was 56 100). In addition, FC St. Pauli is a second division football club. In the past, the team played in the Bundesliga several times. Their matches take place at the Millerntor-Stadion.

The Hamburg Freezers represent Hamburg in the DEL, the highest ice hockey league in Germany. The HSV Handball represents Hamburg in the German handball league. In 2007, HSV Handball won the European Cupwinners Cup. Both teams play in the Color Line Arena.

Hamburg is the nation's field hockey capital and dominates the men's as well as the women's Bundesliga. There are also several minority sports clubs; Hamburg has four cricket clubs and Hamburg is also home to one of Germany's top lacrosse teams .