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The Aachen region lies in the south-west of North Rhine-Westphalia in the border triangle with Belgium and the Netherlands. It encompasses the city of Aachen as well as the 45 municipalities of the surrounding districts of Aachen, Düren, Euskirchen, and Heinsberg. With an average population density of 366 inhabitants/km², more than 1.2 million people live here on an area of 3,526 km².
The 62,922 companies in the region provide work for 343,339 employees subject to compulsory social insurance contributions. In the manufacturing sector, the main focus is on the paper industry, mechanical engineering, the food industry, the chemical industry, and the production of rubber and plastic goods. The service sector generate 70.8 percent of gross value added.
Innovative industries, especially from the fields of automotive and rail technology, life sciences, information and communications technology, modern materials and production technology, profit from the transfer potential between industry and research. 40 percent of the 28,000 students at the RWTH Aachen University take engineering-related subjects. Together with the Aachen University of Applied Sciences, the world-famous Jülich Research Center, the four Fraunhofer Institutes, and numerous other research facilities, the Aachen region distinguishes itself as an innovative technology location. This has already convinced future-oriented companies such as Ericsson, Ford, Saint-Gobain Sekurit, and Microsoft.
The Aachen region is well developed and lies centrally at the intersection of several freeways between Düsseldorf, Brussels, and Eindhoven. Within a good hour's drive, the four international airports in Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Maastricht-Aachen, and Brussels, the high-speed network of the European railroads, and the ports on the Rhine and Maas rivers all ensure excellent transport connections.
Because of this central location in the heart of Europe the people in the region are used to crossing borders. This is where Europe is lived. Multi-lingualism is part of everyday life here, as are cross-border projects, international business contacts, and university cooperations.
