Frankfurt is located on both sides of the Main river south-east of the Taunus mountain range. It is the largest city in the federated state (Bundesland) of Hesse (Hessen) in the south-western part of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland). The southern part of the city contains the Frankfurt City Forest (Frankfurter Stadtwald), Germany's largest forest within a city. The city area is 248.31 km (95.87 sq mi) and extends over 23.4 km (14.54 mi) in east-west-direction and 23.3 km (14.48 mi) in north-south-direction. The city centre of Frankfurt is located on the north side of the Main river in the city district of Altstadt (the historical center) and the surrounding Innenstadt district. The geographical center is located in the city district of Bockenheim near Frankfurt West station.
Frankfurt is the center of the densely populated Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region (Rhein-Main-Gebiet) with a population of 5.6 million. Other important cities in the region are Wiesbaden (the capital of Hesse), Mainz (the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate), Darmstadt, Offenbach am Main, Hanau, Aschaffenburg, Bad Homburg vor der H�he and R�sselsheim
