North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen [ˈnɔɐ̯tʁaɪn vɛstˈfaːlən] ( listen)) is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens.

Around 1 A.D. there were numerous incursions through Westphalia and perhaps even some permanent Roman or Romanized settlements. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest took place near Osnabrück (as mentioned, it is disputed whether this is in Westphalia) and some of the tribes who fought at this battle came from the area of Westphalia. Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time in Paderborn and nearby parts. His Saxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversary Widukind to places near Detmold, Bielefeld, Lemgo, Osnabrück and other places in Westphalia. Widukind was buried in Enger, which is also a subject of a legend.

Düsseldorf International Airport (German: Flughafen Düsseldorf International) (IATA: DUS, ICAO: EDDL) is the largest airport in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the third largest airport in Germany, handling 20 million passengers in 2011.

Düsseldorf International is located in Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) north of downtown Düsseldorf, and some 20 km (12 mi) south-west of Downtown Essen. The airport is accessible via an extensive ground transportation infrastructure, including its own motorway-section - part of the Bundesautobahn 44 (which connects to Bundesautobahn 52, 57 and 3) - and two railway stations - one of which for high-speed, long-distance trains. Düsseldorf SkyTrain operates as an inter-terminal people-mover within the airport.

The airport serves as an airline hub for Air Berlin and Lufthansa, the airport's largest and second-largest airlines - both offering about 300 daily flights to 53 destinations. Turkish Airlines is the largest foreign airline to operate from Düsseldorf International. The airport handles on average 750 takeoffs and landings per day with a total of 70 airlines offering flights to 186 non-stop-destinations.

Coordinates: 51°16′1.52″N 7°10′53.13″E / 51.2670889°N 7.181425°E / 51.2670889; 7.181425

Wuppertal Schwebebahn or Wuppertal Floating Tram is a suspension railway in Wuppertal, Germany. Its full name is “Electric Highway Installation (Floating Tram), Eugen Langen System” (Anlage einer elektrischen Hochbahn (Schwebebahn), System Eugen Langen). Designed by Eugen Langen to be used in Berlin,^{[citation needed]} the installation with elevated stations was built in Barmen, Elberfeld and Vohwinkel between 1897 and 1903, the first track opened in 1901. The Schwebebahn is still in use today as normal means of local public transport, moving 25 million passengers annually (2008).

The suspension railway travels along a route of 13.3 kilometres (8.3 mi), at a height of about 12 metres (39 ft 4 in) above the river Wupper between Oberbarmen and Sonnborner Straße (10 kilometres (6.2 mi)) and about 8 metres (26 ft 3 in) above the valley road between Sonnborner Straße and Vohwinkel (3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi)). At one point the railway crosses the A46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes. The Schwebebahn operates within the VRR transport association and accepts tickets issued by the VRR companies.