Hamburg

Hamburg is one of the 16 states of Germany - and one of the three city-states.

It is also the second-largest city in Germany (second to Berlin) 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 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). 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 is a city-state and one of the sixteen States of Germany.

Hamburg is a major transportation hub in Northern Germany and is one of the most affluent cities in north Europe. It has become a media and industrial centre, 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.

For more details see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg

Education

The school system is managed by the Ministry of Schools and Vocational Training (Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung). In 2006 about 160,000 pupils were taught in 245 primary schools, 195 secondary schools.

There are 33 public libraries in Hamburg proper.

There are 17 universities located in Hamburg. There are about 70,000 university students, including 9,000 resident aliens.

Six universities are public, including:

• the largest, the University of Hamburg - with the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
• University of Music and Theatre
• Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
• Hamburg University of Technology.

Seven universities are private, like the Bucerius Law School.

The city has also smaller private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions, such as the Helmut Schmidt University (Former: University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg).

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