Geography

• City surface area: 303 square kilometres, 11,000 hectares conservation and bird protection areas
• Highest point: Vorbergshügel, 99 metres above sea level
• Lowest point: on the river Ems, 39 metres above sea level
• Neighbouring cities: Bielefeld (62 kilometres to the East), Dortmund (61 kilometres to the South), Enschede (the Netherlands; 65 kilometres to the North-West), Osnabrück (44 kilometres to the North-East).

Climate

• Average annual temperature: 9.2 degrees Celsius
• Average precipitation: 744 millimetres
• Hours of sunshine in 2014: 1531
• Highest and lowest temperatures in 2014: 34.6 degrees Celsius and -5.6 degrees Celsius

People

• Population: 300,267 inhabitants (Dec. 2014: 156,988 female, 143,279 male)
• Population density: 163,752 households
• Employed individuals: 156,217
• Unemployment (average 2014): 6 per cent
• Students (winter semester 2013/2014): 58,146
• Pupils (school year 2014/15): 31,611 at general-education schools, 18,962 at vocational colleges
• Foreign inhabitants: 25,831 (Dec. 2014)

Municipal districts

• Central – 123,178 inhabitants
• North – 29,168
• East – 22,026
• West – 60,131
• South-East – 28,365
• Hiltrup – 37,399

And some more statistics

• 9 hospitals, 94 chemists’, 34 nursing homes, 29 nursing services
• 96 general-education schools, 12 vocational colleges, 8 universities
• 34,190 places in 223 nursery schools, crèches and after-school care clubs
• 313 playgrounds, more than 519 sports complexes
• 4 theatres with independent theatre companies, 27 museums and exhibition halls, 2 large event and concert halls, 1 trade fair centre
• 892,000 visitors to public library, 127,700 participants in Adult Learning Centre courses