KOLN

Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. Kln is bordered by Rhineland-Palatinate Land to the south, Belgium and The Netherlands to the west, and the Regierungsbezirke of Dsseldorf to the north and Arnsberg to the northeast. The district occupies an area of 2,845 sq mi (7,369 sq km) and comprises the central portion of the larger historic region of the Rhineland (q.v.). Its contemporary boundaries were formed in 1972 when the smaller Regierungsbezirke of Aachen (west) and Kln (east) were merged. The district takes its name from Kln (Cologne), its largest city and administrative seat. The southern Lower Rhinelands, part of the North German Plain, penetrate in a wide baylike formation into the northern edge of the Middle Rhine Highlands in Kln. Regional landforms trend in a northsouth line, the most prominent being the Rhine River, situated along the extreme eastern edge of the lowland; the Erft and Rur rivers dissect the western section. The highly industrialized urban complexes of Cologne and Bonn are situated in the Rhine valley. Cologne is one of Germany's largest traffic junctions and a leading commercial centre. Bonn is the seat of the national government. Both areas have developed highly diversified industrial structures with oil refineries, petrochemical plants, and manufactures of motor vehicles, machinery, and electrical equipment. Fruits and vegetables are cultivated in the valley near the large city markets. West of the Rhine valley the Lower Rhinelands consist mainly of loess-covered, level, open plains composed of glacial gravels deposited by the Rhine and Maas rivers. As one of the state's most fertile agricultural lands, the plains are almost entirely cultivated, yielding large crops of sugar beets and wheat. The farmland is disrupted only by the wooded Ville ridge immediately west of the Rhine. Here a large seam of brown coal is mined from immense open pits and consumed primarily in the generation of electricity. The northern Eifel and eastern Hohes Venn (French Haute Fagnes), both plateaus of the Rhenish Uplands, border the Lower Rhinelands on the south. Peat bog has accumulated on the flat plateau surfaces where rainfall exceeds 40 in. (1,000 mm) per year and drainage is poor. Dairy farms situated on the surrounding plateau slopes supply fresh milk and dairy products to the nearby Rhine valley urban areas. On the northern fringe of the Eifel and Hohes Venn is the Aachen urban industrial district, important for its electric power stations fueled by local brown coal deposits and for its highly diversified industrial structure. The most westerly city of Germany, Aachen is also a famous health spa with one of Europe's hottest brine springs. The partially wooded plateau region of the Bergisches Land rises from the east bank of the Rhine, extending over an area that was once the county and duchy of Berg (q.v.). Although physically part of the Middle Rhine Highlands, the economy of the region is largely dependent on the Ruhr coalfield to the north. There are some cultivated fields and dairy farms in the deep eastwest valleys of the Rhine tributaries, but the predominant economic activity is light forms of iron and steel processing, producing highly finished products such as tools, small machines, and precision instruments. Bergisch Gladbach is the chief city of the region and an important paper manufacturer. The volcanic rocks of the scenic Siebengebirge (Seven Hills) near the southern Kln border form the terminus of the Middle Rhine Plain where the river leaves the Rhenish Uplands. Population densities in the district range from fewer than 130 persons per sq mi (50 per sq km) on the Eifel and Hohes Venn plateaus to densities averaging more than 2,600 persons per sq mi (1,000 per sq km) in the Rhine valley and Aachen district. The majority of the population are descendants of the Rheinfranken (Rhineland Franconians) and speak the Ripuarian dialect. Cultural identity in the urban areas, however, has dissipated due to heavy immigration from a variety of foreign areas, including eastern Europe, the eastern Mediterranean, and The Netherlands. About 70 percent of the people are Roman Catholics and 25 percent are Protestants. The predominant settlement pattern in the agricultural regions is one of large, irregular villages. Individual farmsteads are more common in the Eifel, Hohes Venn, and Bergisches Land. Major universities are located in Cologne, Bonn, and Aachen. Pop. (1989 est.) 3,905,797.