The Ruhr area (German das Ruhrgebiet or, colloquially, der Ruhrpott) is a metropolitan area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, consisting of a number of large industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr (to the south), Rhine (west) and Lippe (north). In the east.

The area includes the cities of Duisburg, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Mülheim, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Herne and Dortmund.