Nationality	Population (2014)
Significant foreign-born populations
Turkey	512,703
Poland	185,091
Italy	132,124
Greece	94,643
Netherlands	70,022
Romania	67,419
Serbia & Montenegro	62,982
Kosovo	50,009
Russia	48,021
Spain	41,380
Croatia	41.043
Bulgaria	39,590
Portugal	37,445
Bosnia	36,986
Morocco	34,943

North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen, pronounced [ˈnɔʁtʁaɪ̯n vɛstˈfaːlən], commonly shortened to NRW) is the most populous state of Germany, with a population of approximately 18 million, and the fourth largest by area. Its capital is Düsseldorf; the most populous city is Cologne. Four of Germany's ten largest cities—Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, and Essen—are located within the state, as well as the largest metropolitan area on the European continent, Rhine-Ruhr.

North Rhine-Westphalia was formed in 1946 as a merger of the provinces of North Rhine and Westphalia, both formerly parts of Prussia, and the Free State of Lippe. The state has been run by a coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens since 2010.

The first written account of the area was by its conqueror, Julius Caesar, the territories west of the Rhine were occupied by the Eburones and east of the Rhine he reported the Ubii (across from Cologne) and the Sugambri to their north. The Ubii and some other Germanic tribes such as the Cugerni were later settled on the west side of the Rhine in the Roman province of Germania Inferior. Julius Caesar conquered the tribes on the left bank, and Augustus established numerous fortified posts on the Rhine, but the Romans never succeeded in gaining a firm footing on the right bank, where the Sugambri neighboured several other tribes including the Tencteri and Usipetes. North of the Sigambri and the Rhine region were the Bructeri.

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Wikipedia