Northwest Metropolitan Region

The European Northwest Metropolitan Region (), formerly Metropolitan Region of Bremen/Oldenburg () is one of the eleven metropolitan regions in Germany. It covers the area of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen with its cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven and parts of the state of Lower Saxony.
History.
The region was designated on 28 April 2005 by the German Ministerial Conference for Regional Development ("Ministerkonferenz für Raumordnung") or MKRO as a European metropolitan region on the basis of its international links through several ports and airports, its diverse industries and research institutions (universities and technical colleges) and its good municipal cooperation. Prior to that, regional bodies and institutions had decided in a few weeks on a joint resolution calling for recognition as a European metropolitan region. This was formally signed in Jever on 12 April 2005. The region has about 2.37 million residents, out of about 3.8 million in the entire northwest.
The metropolitan region had a historical forerunner in the "Département des Bouches du Weser" in the time of the Napoleonic occupation; and the two overlap to a large extent.