RHEINHESSEN-PFALZ - Geography and history
The region of Rheinhessen-Pfalz (the Land's second largest region) comprises 10 Landkreise and 10 Kreisfreie Städte. One of the latter is Mainz, the Land capital. There are 637 Gemeinden in this region.
Ludwigshafen is the region's largest conurbation, with a population density of 2 090 inhabitants per km2. Other agglomerations include the cities of Mainz, Worms und Kaiserslautern.
To the south-west of the industrial centres along the Rhine are attractive areas of countryside, such as the Pfälzer Wald forest, which is a popular area with walkers. The restored towns and villages of the Pfalz area also attract tourists from outside the region.
The region has good communications. The most important motorways are the A61 from Cologne serving Koblenz, Ludwigshafen and Speyer (north/south), the A6 (E50) from Nuremberg serving Mannheim, Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken (east/west), the A63 from Mainz to Kaiserslautern and the A65 from Ludwigshafen to Karlsruhe via Landau. Other sections of motorway, together with Federal and Land roads, cross the region, allowing the major conurbations to be quickly reached. The Rhine is a major inland waterway. The region is linked to Deutsche Bahn's Inter-City services and the European rail network at Mainz, Ludwigshafen/Mannheim and Kaiserslautern.
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