North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen  [ˈnɔɐ̯tʁaɪn vɛstˈfaːlən], usually shortened to NRW) is the westernmost, most populous, and economically most powerful state of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia has about 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km² (13,158 square miles). North Rhine-Westphalia is situated in the western part of Germany and shares borders with Belgium in the southwest and the Netherlands  in the west and northwest. It has borders with the German states of Lower Saxony to the north and northeast, Rhineland-Palatinate to the south and Hesse to the southeast.
The capital city is Düsseldorf, and the largest city is Cologne (Köln). The state is centred on the Rhine-Ruhr urbanised region, which contains the cities of Düsseldorf, Bonn and Cologne as well as the Ruhr Area industrial complex. The Ruhr area consists of, among others, the cities of Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Oberhausen. Other important cities in Westphalia are Münster, Bielefeld and Hagen.  The state is divided into five administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke), 31 districts (Kreise) and 23 urban districts (kreisfreie Städte). 

For many people North Rhine-Westphalia is synonymous with industrial areas and agglomerating cities. But the largest part of the state is used for agriculture (almost 52%), and forests cover 25%. The southern parts of the Teutoburg Forest are located in the northeast. In the southwest, Nordrhein-Westfalen shares in a small part of the Eifel, located on the borders with Belgium and Rheinland-Pfalz. The southeast is occupied by the sparsely populated regions of Sauerland and Siegerland. The northwestern areas of the state are part of the Northern European Lowlands.

The forest area comprises 915.000 hectares, the stock of round wood amounts to 250 mio sq. 200.000 employees  are working in the forest-based sector (5.500 forestry, 20.000 sawmills, wood material industry, paper mills, 175.000 furniture industry, timber handicraft, wood construction).