The region includes the cities of Bielefeld and Paderborn, and the major towns of Gütersloh, Minden, Detmold and Herford.
The Teutoburg Forest and the Egge Hills stretch across the region and form the frontier to the Westphalian Lowland.
Eastern Westphalia–Lippe is one of the supposed regions of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 AD, where an alliance of Germanic tribes defeated a Roman army.
In 1875, a statue was unveiled of the commander Arminius, who led the Germanics to victory at the battle.
Some major globally operating companies are headquartered in the region, for example Bertelsmann, Miele, Dr. Oetker, Melitta, Gerry Weber, DMG Mori Aktiengesellschaft, Hörmann, Schüco, Wincor Nixdorf, Phoenix Contact, HEGLA and Claas.