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Hamburg (c-eniconˈhæmbɜrɡ; -deˈhambʊɐ̯k, local pronunciation -dediaˈhambʊɪç; Low German/Low Saxon: Hamborg -dediaˈhaˑmbɔːx) is the second-largest city in Germany and the seventh-largest city in the European Union. The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighbouring 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 (after the Port of Rotterdam and the Port of Antwerp) and it is among the twenty largest in the world. Hamburg's official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg). It reflects Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, and also the fact that Hamburg is a city-state and one of the sixteen States of Germany. Hamburg is a major transport hub in Northern Germany and is one of the most affluent cities in Europe. It has become a media and industrial centre, with plants and facilities belonging to Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag are pillars of 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. Hamburg ranked 23rd in the world for livability in 2009, higher in some alternate rankings and in 2010 the city ranked 10th in the world. |