In the Middle Ages, it was a city-state and a member of the Hanseatic League, and later became a major centre of the iron, steel, and chemicals industries.

Today it boasts the world's largest inland port, with 21 docks and 40 kilometres of wharf.

The Ruhr itself lies within the larger Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, one of Europe's largest conurbations.

The following cities border Duisburg (clockwise starting from the north-east): Oberhausen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Ratingen, Düsseldorf, Meerbusch, Krefeld, Moers, Rheinberg, and Dinslaken.

[7] The current mayor of Duisburg is Sören Link of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who was elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2017.

The first syllable of the name of the city could go back to the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeus-, meaning something like "wet area" or "flood plain".

Duisburggau (Diuspurgau) was also the name of the medieval Gau (country subdivision) on the Lower Rhine.

1525) holds that Duisburg (along with Deutz, Cologne, Duisdorf in Bonn, and Doesburg in the Netherlands, all on the Rhine's right bank) was built by the namesake Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, about 2395 BCE.

There is nothing to establish any historical basis for such an early founding of Duisburg, which would have made it among the earliest cities in Europe.

The city itself was located at the "Hellweg", an important medieval trade route, and at a ford across the Rhine.

The productions of cartographer Gerardus Mercator and the foundation of a university in 1655 established the city's renown as "Educated Duisburg" ("Duisburgum Doctum").

Big industrial companies such as iron and steel producing firms (Thyssen and Krupp) influenced the development of the city within the Prussian Rhine Province.

A major logistical center in the Ruhr and location of chemical, steel and iron industries, Duisburg was a primary target of Allied bombers.

As part of the Battle of the Ruhr, another British raid of 577 bombers destroyed the old city between 12 and 13 May 1943 with 1,599 tons of bombs.

On 14 October, the tonnage was repeated with 2,018 tons when Halifax, Lancaster, and Mosquito bombers appeared over Duisburg as part of Operation Hurricane.

The US 17th Airborne Division, acting as regular infantry and not in a parachute role, met only scattered resistance in the vicinity and captured the city on 12 April 1945.

It was 860 metres (2,820 ft) long, and constructed in six days, fifteen hours and twenty minutes, a record time.

Beginning in the mid-1960s, the decline of Duisburg's steel and mining industry caused a significant loss of residents.

[22][23][24] [25] The Wall Street Journal has referred to Marxloh as "Germany's quintessential Muslim ghetto.

"[26] The new Merkez Mosque, one of the largest Muslim places of worship in Western Europe, was built with help by the way of contribution of 3.2 million euro from the EU and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

It is officially regarded as a seaport because seagoing river vessels go to ports in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

[30] A number of companies run their own private docks and 114 million tonnes of goods yearly (2010) are handled in Duisburg in total.

There are several newspapers reporting on local events and politics, including the Westdeutsche Allgemeine (WAZ), the Neue Ruhr Zeitung (NRZ) and the Rheinische Post (RP).

A highlight is the annual "Duisburger Akzente",[31] a festival focusing on modern social, political and cultural topics.

Besides Düsseldorf Duisburg is a residence of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, one of the major opera houses in Germany.

Due to its history as a harbour city and a trade and industrial center, Duisburg offers a variety of architectural places of interest, such as the German Inland Waterways Museum.

The city center contains the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum,[33] the municipal theatre[34] and the shopping street known as the "fountain mile".

Duisburg is also known for its Rhein-Ruhr-Marathon, its rowing and canoeing regattas and the world championships that take place there regularly.