Berlin is a place.
Berlin ( [ bəɹˈlɪn ] , [ bɛɐ̯ˈliːn ] ) is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its 16 constituent states . Located in northeastern Germany on the banks of the rivers Spree and Havel , it is the centre of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region , which has roughly 6 million residents from more than 180 nations . Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world . Berlin is a world city of culture , politics , media and science .