Stuttgart (IPA2: ˈʃtʊtgaɐ̯t) is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 590,429 (February 2008) while the metropolitan area referred to as Stuttgart Region has a population of 2.7 million (2007).

The city lies at the centre of a heavily populated area, circled by a ring of smaller towns. The inner urban area has a population of 2.63 million making 'greater Stuttgart' the third biggest city region in Germany after the Ruhr Area and Berlin.

Stuttgart is spread across a variety of hills, valleys and parks - unusual for German cities and often a cause of surprise to visitors who primarily associate the city with its industrial reputation as the "Cradle of the automobile".

Stuttgart has the status of Stadtkreis, a type of self-administrating urban county. It is also the seat of the regional parliament, local council and the Protestant State Church of Württemberg as well as one of the two co-seats of the bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.

The city's motto is "Stuttgart is more" (to tourists; to business it describes itself as "lang: Standort Zukunft", translated by town hall marketing as "Where business meets the future"). In 2007 the Bürgermeister marketed Stuttgart to foreign investors as "The creative power of Germany". Under current plans to improve transport links to the international infrastructure (as part of the Stuttgart 21 project), in March 2008 the city unveiled a new logo and slogan, describing itself as "lang: Das neue Herz Europas" ("The new heart of Europe").

Stuttgart is nicknamed the Schwabenmetropole (Swabian metropolis), a reference to the Swabian dialect spoken by the locals.

Geography

Stuttgart lies about an hour from the Black Forest and a similar distance from the Swabian Jura. The city centre lies in a lush valley, nestling between vineyards and thick woodland close to the River Neckar. In the hot summer months local residents refer to this area as the "Stuttgart cauldron".

Stuttgart covers an area of . The elevation ranges from 207 metres above sea level by the Neckar river to 549 metres on Bernhartshöhe hill. As a result there are more than 400 flights of stairs around the city (called "Stäffele" in local dialect), equivalent to approximately 20 kilometres of steps. Many originate from the time when vineyards lined the entire valley. Even today there are vineyards less than 500 metres from the Main Station.

City districts

The city of Stuttgart is subdivided into a total of 23 city districts, 5 inner districts and 18 outer districts.

The inner districts are: Central Stuttgart, Stuttgart North, East, South and West.