Editing Hesse (section)

== Geography ==
{{See also|List of places in Hesse|List of mountains of Hesse}}
[[File:Hessen topografisch Relief Karte.png|thumb|The most important rivers, mountains, and cities of Hesse]]

The only state to straddle west and central portions of Germany where the eight [[ordinal directions]] (compass points) and the centre is considered, Hesse borders six other states. These are, from north, clockwise: [[Lower Saxony]], [[Thuringia]], [[Bavaria]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], [[Rhineland-Palatinate]], and [[North Rhine-Westphalia]].

The most populous towns and cities of Hesse are in the southwest, the [[Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region]] namely [[Frankfurt am Main]], [[Wiesbaden]], [[Darmstadt]], [[Offenbach, Hesse|Offenbach]], [[Hanau]], [[Giessen]], [[Wetzlar]], and [[Rüsselsheim am Main]]. Outside, but very near the south-west corner of Hesse are four populous, highly technologised, places: [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], [[Ludwigshafen]], [[Mannheim]], and [[Heidelberg]].

Other large Hessian towns are [[Fulda]] in the [[East Hesse|east]], [[Kassel]] and [[Marburg an der Lahn]] in the [[North Hesse|north]] and [[Limburg an der Lahn]] in the west. All of the "on the river" suffixes are locally and, informally far beyond, omitted of these cities. The plain between the rivers Main, Rhine, and lower Neckar, and the Odenwald ridge of low mountains or very high hills is called the Ried which continues to north, across the Main, as the Wetterau. Both plains which are quite densely populated also have a substantial built environment such as the country's largest airport, contrasting with the more forested, hillier middle and northern thirds of Hesse.

[[File:DSC03686 Blick von Burg Schadeck auf Runkel.jpg|thumb|River [[Lahn]] in [[Runkel]]]]
[[File:Eichkopf vom Atzelberg aus gesehen.jpg|thumb|[[Taunus]] landscape with [[Großer Feldberg]] in the center of the background]]
The longest rivers in Hesse are the [[Eder (Fulda)|Eder]] and moreover its distributary the [[Fulda (river)|Fulda]] draining most of the north, the [[Lahn]] in the centre-west and, as to those navigable by large vessels, the [[Main (river)|Main]] and very broad [[Rhine]] in the south. The countryside is hilly and the topographical map, inset, names 14 short, low to medium-height mountain ranges including the [[Rhön]], the [[Westerwald]], the [[Taunus]], the [[Vogelsberg Mountains|Vogelsberg]], the [[Knüll]] and the [[Spessart]]. The notable range forming the southern taper of Hesse (shared with a narrowing of the Ried, the Rhine's eastern plain) and briefly spanning the middle Neckar valley which begins directly east of Heidelberg (thus also in [[Baden-Württemberg]]) is the [[Odenwald]]. Forming a mid-eastern tiny projection into mostly Thuringia is the uppermost part of the [[Ulster (river)|Ulster]], commanding the west valley side of which is the Hessian highest point, [[Wasserkuppe]] at 950m above sea level &ndash; in the Rhön.

The Rhine forms the long southwest border of Hesse. Two notables [[oxbow lake]]s, the [[:de:Stockstadt-Erfelder Altrhein|Stockstadt-Erfelder Altrhein]] and [[:de:Lampertheimer Altrhein|Lampertheimer Altrhein]] are in the south-west fringe.

Hesse, 42% forest, is by that measure the greenest state in Germany.<ref name="HesseGeography">{{cite web|title=Our State|url=http://www.hessen.eu/irj/hessen_en_Internet?cid=42734bf7b41385446b3a113d3314add9|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130106184553/http://www.hessen.eu/irj/hessen_en_Internet?cid=42734bf7b41385446b3a113d3314add9|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 January 2013|publisher=State of Hesse|access-date=14 April 2011}}</ref>