Cologne (German: Köln (help·info) /kœln/; Kölsch: Kölle) is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the largest European metropolitan areas with over 12 million inhabitants. It is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded by the Romans in 50 A.D..
