Country Germany | Time zone CET (UTC+1) | |
 | ||
States Saxony
Saxony-Anhalt
Thuringia | ||
The Central German Metropolitan Region (German: Metropolregion Mitteldeutschland) is one of the so-called metropolitan regions in Germany. It is centered on the major cities of Leipzig and Halle, extending over Central German parts of the states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. The Central German metropolitan region is the only one entirely located within the new states of Germany.
Contents
It is not actually a metropolitan area in the geographic sense of the word as an agglomeration of nearby urban areas, rather it is a loose affiliation of towns and cities whose representatives vote upon new members. For example, Jena joined the Metropolitan Region in 2009.
Cities
The largest of the seven member cities are Leipzig in Saxony and Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt.
Member cities
The member cities have changed over time and the current member cities are as follows:
Except for Zwickau and Wittenberg, all towns hold the status of an independent city. Dresden and Magdeburg are no longer part of the organization. The surrounding catchment areas officially are not part of the metropolitan region, though generally added for statistical and practical purposes.
Demographics
All towns and cities suffered population decrease after German reunification, however in recent years the populations of Leipzig and Halle have been increasing again. Other urban areas, such as Dessau-Roslau are however still declining.