Middle (or Central) Mecklenburg includes the largest urban centre in the state, the Hanseatic city of Rostock with its 200,000 inhabitants together with the surrounding district of the same name.
Its transport links radiate from Rostock in a star configuration and the metropolitan region of the port city is served by a public transport network that includes the Rostock S-Bahn.
Other important centres are the county towns of Bad Doberan and Güstrow.
The main tourist attraction is the Baltic Sea coast along the Bay of Mecklenburg with the Salzhaff, the sea cliffs and the seaside resorts of Rerik, Kühlungsborn, Heiligendamm, Warnemünde and Graal-Müritz.
Based on the decision by the state parliament (the Landtag) on 5 April 2006, a new major district called Mittleres Mecklenburg-Rostock (Middle Mecklenburg-Rostock) was to be created on 1 October 2009 with Rostock as the county seat.