Numbers + facts

Numbers + facts

Reichstag – © Scholvien

How many inhabitants does Berlin have? How large is the city? All numbers and facts concerning the German capital.

The capital city of the Federal Republic of Germany has a population of 3.5 million. Covering an area of 892 square kilometres, Berlin is the Goliath among German cities. By international comparison, the German capital is the second largest city in the European Union in terms of its population and the fifth largest in terms of its area.

The population density in Berlin is well above average. Statistically speaking, there are 3,809 Berliners to every square kilometre, the highest figure for any German city. The most densely populated area within Berlin is Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, with 12,400 people to a square kilometre (1,400 in Treptow-Köpenick). By comparison, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has an average of 74 people per square kilometre.

With 175 museums, Berlin has more museums than rainy days. It also boasts more than 50 theatres and around 300 cinemas. The city has 4,650 restaurants, around 900 bars and 190 clubs and discotheques. It also has more doner kebab shops than Istanbul!
The streets that meander through the German capital cover a distance of 5,350km (70km of which is autobahn) and these are lined with more than 400,000 trees. There are around 1.2 million cars registered in the city.

Berlin has been the German capital on several occasions throughout its history. Starting out as the capital of the margraviate and electorate of Brandenburg, this city on the River Spree later became the capital of the kingdom of Prussia and then the German Empire. East Berlin was the capital of the German Democratic Republic. Since German reunification in 1990, Berlin has been the capital of Germany once more.