Five million residents and daily traffic jams on the Ruhr motorway - but the Ruhr area is so much more: pride in our homeland with a big mouth, an urban Bermuda Triangle with heart; green hills and industrial romance, a modern IT hub and idyllic tranquility by the Ruhr; sunbathing in the Duisburg inner harbor, world art at the Gasometer in Oberhausen, Bochum - I come from you, "Essen ... spoils" and Dortmund autumn at the Westfalenhalle; the home of Schalke and BVB, currywurst and fries, Helge Schneider, Tegtmeier, and Frank Goosen; casual yet reliable; down-to-earth yet boundlessly mobile. A strong piece of Germany.