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Berlin , is the capital of Germany and its largest city; the city is now home to 3.4 million residents, down from a peak of 4.5 million before World War II. From 1949 to 1990 it was divided into East Berlin and West Berlin.

Berlin is located in the north of Germany, built on sand of the rivers Spree and Havel between the plateaus of Barnim in the north and Teltow in the south. It is enclosed by the German state of Brandenburg, and has constituted a state of its own since 1947, when Prussia was officially dissolved and the formation of occupation zones prevented it from remaining part of Brandenburg. Before it was a main city in the Duchy of Brandenburg and later the Kingdom of Prussia, appearing first on record in 1237.

Berlin is the national capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, and was expanded to form i in 1920. Since German reunification on 3 October 1990 it has been one of the three city states, together with Hamburg and Bremen, among the present 16 German i) with 141 seats. The current governement is based on a coalition of the social democrat SPD and the socialist Left Party.

Berlin is governed by the Senate of Berlin (i) and up to eight senators holding ministerial portfolios. The governing mayor is both lord mayor of the city (i) at the same time. The seat of office for the Berlin Mayor is the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). Presently, this office is held by Klaus Wowereit (SPD): for earlier mayors, see the list of Mayors of Berlin.

), which were created from the previously existing 23 districts on 1 January 2001. Since the formation of Greater Berlin in 1920 until the mid-1980s there had been 20 districts. East Berlin created 3 new districts during the 1980s by reshuffling internal boundaries (without extension of the city boundary) in order to create administrative units for new housing areas, resulting in 23.

Each administration district is subdivided into a number of city subdistricts (i) which represent the traditional urbanised areas that inhabitans identify with. Some of these have been rearranged several times over the years. At present the city of Berlin consists of 94 city subdistricts. The subdistricts are often subdivided into a number of city quarters (usually called i) representing dedicated residential areas.

For a map and a list of the old and new district names, see Boroughs of Berlin.

Each district is governed by a district council (i). The districts of Berlin are not independent municipalities and the political power of the district parliaments is fairly minimal and dependent on the i.

The subdistricts have no dedicated adminstration even that most of the subdistricts have historic roots in older municipilaties dating back to times before the formation of Greater Berlin on 1. October 1920. Subsequent positions as city representative (i) per subdistrict were discontinued in favor of district mayors. Greater Berlin incorporated the quarters of old Berlin (cut into six districts) with 7 nearby cities and their surrounding 59 rural districts and 27 manor districts.

Berlin has 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005) on a surface of 891.75 square kilometres, thus, the population density of the region amounts to 3,811 inhabitants per square kilometre. Berlin citizens' average age is 41.7 years (as of 2004). 450,900 inhabitants are foreigners coming from 185 states (as of December 2004). Among them, approximately 36,000 citizens come from the nearest neighbouring country, Poland and 119,000 are Turkish - Berlin has the largest Turkish municipality in Europe outside of Turkey. According to official statistics, in 2004, 22.3% of the population were Protestants, 9.1% were Catholics, 6.2% were Muslims, and 0.4% were Jews.

Between approximately the 1890s and the mid-1920s, Berlin was the fourth-largest urban area in the world after New York, London, and Paris. Today, it is the sixth-largest urban area in the European Union, and approximately the 80th-largest urban area in the world.

Even though Berlin does have a number of impressive buildings from earlier centuries, the city's appearance today is mainly shaped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the 20th century. Each of the national governments which had their seat in Berlin — the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany, and now the reunified Germany — initiated ambitious construction programs, each with its own distinctive character. Berlin was devastated by bombing raids during World War II, and many of the old buildings that escaped the bombs were eradicated in the 1950s and 1960s in both West and East. Much of this destruction was caused by overambitious architecture programs, especially to build new residential or business quarters and main roads. It would not be an exaggeration to say that no other city in the world offers Berlin's unusual mix of architecture, especially 20th-century architecture. The city's tense and unique recent history has left it with a distinctive array of sights.

Not much is left of the Berlin Wall. The East Side Gallery in Friedrichshain near the i (upper turnpike bridge) over the Spree preserves a portion of the Wall. By looking at the architecture it is still possible to tell if one is in the former eastern or western part of the city. In the eastern part, many i can be found, reminders of Eastern Bloc ambitions to create complete residential areas with fixed ratios of shops, kindergartens and schools. Another difference between former east and west is in the design of little red and green men on pedestrian crossing lights (i in German); the eastern versions received an opt-out during the standardization of road traffic signs after re-unification, and have survived to become a popular icon in tourist products. They are however starting to appear in western Berlin too.

The Brandenburg Gate and Unter den Linden, symbols of Berlin, Prussia, and now Germany. The Brandenburg Gate appears on German Euro coins.Reichstag building, the old and new seat of the German parliament, renovated by Sir Norman Foster. Features a glass dome in which you can walk around and watch the parliamentarians from above.Gendarmenmarkt, arguably the most beautiful square in Berlin, surrounded by two famous cathedrals and the concert hall.The Berliner Dom, an historic cathedral. A large crypt houses the remains of the Prussian royal family.The Palast der Republik (palace of republic), the old East German parliament building. It is seen by some as ugly, former East Berliners remember with affection restaurants, shops, clubs, and the concerts that took place there in the 1980s. Although it has some significance as a historical tourist attraction, the German Parliament voted for its demolition, which will commence in 2005. The Palast der Republik is built on the site of the Berlin City Palace, which was demolished in 1950 by the Communists. The Palace Square was renamed Marx-Engels-Platz at the same time.The Fernsehturm (TV tower), the highest building in the city at 368 m (1207 ft), and the second largest structure in Europe (after Moscow's Ostankino Tower). The Fernsehturm is easily visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. Which boasts one of the fastest lifts in Europe, at 45 metres per minuteAlexanderplatz, formerly East Berlin's major shopping center, and home to the Centrum-Warenhaus, which was the DDR's department store. It is now a thoroughly Westernized shopping centre, belonging to the Kaufhof chain.Rotes Rathaus (the Red City Hall), historic town hall famous for its distinctive red-brick architectureRathaus Schöneberg with John-F.-Kennedy-Platz, whence John F. Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech.Checkpoint Charlie, remains and a museum about one of the crossing points (albeit restricted to Allied forces) in the Berlin Wall. The museum, which is a private venture, exhibits interesting material about people who devised ingenious plans to leave the East, but is controversial in the city for its propagandistic Cold War didactics and publicity stunts that many consider tasteless.Potsdamer Platz, an entire quarter built from scratch after 1995. The historic Potsdamer Platz was not rebuilt as it was divided by the Wall. A must-see for people who like modern city planning. Just to the West of Potsdamer Platz is the Kulturforum, which houses the Gemäldegalerie, and is flanked by the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Philharmonie.Hackescher Markt, Spandauer Vorstadt and Scheunenviertel, the home to fashionable culture, with countless small clothing shops, clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes the New Synagogue area in Oranienburger Straße (originally built in the 1860s in Moorish with a large golden dome and reconstructed in 1993), and the Hackesche Höfe, a conglomeration of several buildings around several courtyards, nicely reconstructed after 1996. This area was a centre of Jewish culture up until the 1930s. Berliner Funkturm— the only observation tower in the world which stands on insulators. Its open-air observation deck is popular for photography.Berlin Television Tower [1] — 368-m high television tower, built in 1969 close to Alexanderplatz. The entire city can be viewed from its 204-m high observation platform.Grunewaldturm [2] — this 59-m high historic tower stands on a hill in Grunewald forest close to Wannsee lake.Französischer Dom [3] — located on Gendarmenmarkt in the very heart of the city, the platform of the cathedral offers unique views. tower in the Berlin Borough of Steglitz with a café and bar at the top giving views over south-western Berlin.Berliner Dom [4] — Protestant cathedral situated next to the Lustgarten, with a circular observation platform around the dome.Bell tower at the Olympic Stadium [5] — part of the Reichssportfeld complex, the tower offers a view of the Olympic Stadium and also of the Waldbühne, an open-air stage.Siegessäule [6] — the monument at the Großer Stern situated in the middle of the Tiergarten Park where it was relocated in 1938–39 from its previous position in front of the Reichstag.Reichstag building— the roof of the parliament building, crowned by a large glass cupola designed by Lord Foster is open to the public giving an impressive view over the city, especially at night.Viktoriapark — the hilltop monument in this park in Kreuzberg provides a terrestrial viewpoint over many of the southern regions of the city.Unter den Linden is the street that heads east from the Brandenburg Gate. Many Classical buildings line the street. Part of Humboldt University is located there.Friedrichstraße, Berlin's legendary street of the "Golden Twenties" which combines the tradition of the last century with modern architecture of today's Berlin.Kurfürstendamm (Ku'damm), with the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church), which lies right at the top end of Kurfürstendamm, on Breitscheidplatz (underground station Kurfürstendamm). The church was bombed out in World War II and its ruins have been preserved in their damaged state. Near by is the Ka-De-We Berlin's equivalent to London's Harrods. Also nearby is the Zoologischer Garten, a zoo with a large number of species.The Straße des 17. Juni connects the Brandenburg Gate in the East and Ernst-Reuter-Platz in the West, commemorating the uprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. It features the golden iThe Karl-Marx-Allee (formerly Stalinalle), a boulevard lined by monumental landmark buildings designed in the Socialist Classicism of the Stalin era. It is located in Friedrichshain and Mitte.

Berlin is unique in that it still has around 43,800 gas lamp standards in working order, usually to be found on back streets and historically sensitive places. The first 1,800 lanterns were erected by the English Gas Company in 1826. Operation of the Gas lamps was taken over by the City Authorities in 1847. The first electric street lighting appeared around 1880. Between 1963 and 1982 replacement of the gas lamps in East Berlin was completed apart from a few remaining streets in Köpenick. In West Berlin the reverse was the situation, new s of gas lamp standards being introduced as late as the 1950s. There was a debate in the late 1970´s on whether replacement with electric lighting should go ahead, but public opinion was against it. This debate was revived again in 2005, due to rising costs of gas, but no definite decision on replacement has been made. There is an open-air collection of working gas lamps in Tiergarten near to S-Bahnhof Tiergarten, which as well as displaying historic examples from Berlin and other German cities also has examples from other European cities. [7]

Botanic Garden and Botanic Museum Berlin, one of the most important botanical gardens of the world and the largest in Europe.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 many buildings in the former city centre of East Berlin (today the district Mitte) were renovated. Many had not been rebuilt since World War II. Illegally occupied by young people, they had become a fertile ground for all sorts of underground and counter-culture gatherings. It was also home to many nightclubs, including Tacheles, Techno clubs i.

The art scene in Berlin is extremely rich and it is home to hundreds of art galleries. The city is host to the Art Forum annual international art fair. Berlin also offers one of the most diverse and vibrant nightlife scenes in Europe. Most Berliners take great pride in their city's reputation as one of the most socially progressive cities on the continent. Source: Press

Berlin's annual Carnival of Cultures, a multi-ethnic street parade, and Chistopher Street Day celebrations, Central Europe's largest gay-lesbian pride event, are openly supported by the city's government.*[20]**[21].

Another event is the techno-demonstration "Loveparade" (every year in July or August).

Despite the city's high unemployment levels, a significant number of young Germans and artists continue to settle in the city, and Berlin has established itself as the premiere centre of youth and pop culture in Europe.

Signs of this expanding role were the 2003 announcement that the annual Popkomm, Europe's largest music industry convention, would move to Berlin after 15 years in Cologne. Shortly thereafter, German MTV also decided to move its headquarters and main studios from Munich to Berlin. Universal Music opened its European headquarters on the banks of the River Spree in an area known as the mediaspree.

Berlin is the centre of the German film industry, partly due to the existence of the Babelsberg Studios and many important film and TV production companies like UFA, Senator Film, Goldkind etc. Many international movies and European co-productions have been filmed there. Berlin is also home of the European Film Academy, the German Film Academy and host of the Berlinale film festival. There are many films that were set in or portray the special "Berlin-Atmosphere" from different eras, among them are:

- A cult film and musical about a German singer-transvestite who escapes East Berlin in 1989. 2001.Gemäldegalerie (Picture Gallery), European art (mostly paintings) from the 13th to the 18th century [24]

Berlin was, pre-1945, the hub of the central European railway network. World War Two and the political division of Germany had very negative effects on the railway network in Berlin. Today only two pre-1945 Termini, Ostbahnhof and Zoologischer Garten, remain in service. In the early 1950s, in an effort by the East German government to isolate West Berlin, railway services were diverted away from termini in West Berlin . These stations became disused and were demolished during the 1950s and 1960s.

Schönefeld International Airport (SXF), to be expanded and renamed Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BBI) in 2011 - largest port in Berlin with an area of 173,000 m²: transshipment of grain, pieced and heavy goods.

The power supply of Berlin has some peculiarities. In World War II it was planned to supply the grid of Berlin over an HVDC-underground cable from Dessau power station . The construction of this facility was begun in 1943, but was abandoned (see Elbe-Project).

During the time of the division, the power grid of former West Berlin was cut off from the power grid of the surrounding countryside. Electricity supply was from thermal power stations in the city (Reuter, Wilmersdorf ,etc.). For buffering the load peaks, accumulators were installed in the 1980s in some of these power stations, which were connected by static inverters to the power grid and were loaded during times of low power consumption and unloaded during times of high consumption. In 1993 the power connections to the surrounding country, which were broken in 1951, were restored again. In the western districts of Berlin nearly all power lines are underground cables - only a 380 kV and a 110 kV-line, which run from Reuter power station to the urban motorway, are overhead lines. In Berlin there is the longest 380 kV three phase cable, the 380kV-crossing Berlin. It may be the most expensive power line in Germany (SEO).

Alt-Berlin - Extensive archive of historical maps of Berlin, from 1738 to the present day - in German and English