Stuttgart - Geography and history
This, the largest of Baden-Württemberg's Regierungsbezirke, consists of 11 Landkreise, the Stadtkreise of Stuttgart and Heilbronn and 341 other Gemeinden. The seat of the district administration is Stuttgart.
Just over half (51.7%) of the district's 10 600 km2 is used for farming, just under a third is forested and 15% is built up or used for transport. Greater Stuttgart and its environs stretch almost 140 km from Heilbronn in the north to Tübingen/Reutlingen in the south. This, together with the Aalen-Heidenheim conglomeration, is home to 84% of the district's population. In spite of the dense settlement, there are picturesque landscapes such as the Tauberland, the Schwäbischer Wald and the vine-covered slopes of the Neckar and its tributaries.
The district is crossed by the following major European motorways: the E 70/A 81 (Eisenach-Würzburg-Zurich), die E 12/A 6 (Metz-Nürnberg-Prague-Warsaw-St Petersburg) and the E 11/A 8 (Paris-Karlsruhe-Munich-Salzburg), with the A 7 (Flensburg-Hamburg-Würzburg-Kempten) running down the eastern side. Stuttgart and Vaihingen/Enz are on the ICE network, whilst Aalen, Crailsheim, Göppingen and Plochingen form part of the EC/IC network. Scheduled flights (including cargo and charter) connect Stuttgart directly with 112 destinations worldwide.
Industry and pig rearing
50% of the region's area is taken up by the conurbation of Stuttgart, the towns along the Neckar and its tributaries and around Aalen-Heidenheim, 21% of this area in turn being devoted to housing and transport infrastructure. The population density is 637 inhabitants per km2; 16% of the population are foreigners. The population has grown by 1.5 million people, or 76%, since 1950. Features of this industrial landscape are its major, congested motorways, power stations and power supply installations. Overall, this is an industrial area that appears to be reaching its limits.
The picture is very different in the rest of the region, which is primarily agricultural. Housing and transport infrastructure account for just 10% of the area (farming accounts for 54%). With almost a third of all pigs for fattening and 45% of breeding sows (44.91%), this is the centre of the Baden-Württemberg pig-rearing industry. The region is also famous for its wines. The centres of Würzburg, Ansbach, Ulm, Stuttgart and Heilbronn are strung around the region like pearls. The population density is 121 inhabitants per km2; 6.4% of the population holds a foreign passport. The population has risen by 170 000, or 36%, since 1950. For years, many young people left the region for training, and few returned. The entire region was thus structurally weak. However, for some years now, these areas have proved to be the most successful and dynamic in Baden-Württemberg.
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