Hamburg Hamburg Hamburg (; ; officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg; ; Low German/Low Saxon: "Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg") is the second-largest city in Germany with a population of over 1.8 million. One of Germany's 16 federal states, it is surrounded by Schleswig-Holstein to the north and Lower Saxony to the south. The city's metropolitan region is home to more than five million people. Hamburg lies on the River Elbe and two of its tributaries, the River Alster and the River Bille. The official name reflects Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League and a free
Hamburg is made up of seven boroughs (German: "Bezirke") and subdivided into 104 quarters (German: "Stadtteile"). There are 181 localities (German: "Ortsteile"). The urban organization is regulated by the Constitution of Hamburg and several laws. Most of the quarters were former independent cities, towns or villages annexed into Hamburg proper. The last large annexation was done through the Greater Hamburg Act of 1937, when the cities Altona, Harburg and Wandsbek were merged into the state of Hamburg. The "Act of the Constitution and Administration of Hanseatic city of Hamburg" established Hamburg as a state and a municipality. Some of the boroughs