Frankfurt is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a population of 714,241 (2014) within its administrative boundaries. The urban area called Frankfurt Rhein-Main has a population of 2,221,910. The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region which has a population of 5,500,000 and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region.This old imperial city on the River Main - hence its full name, Frankfurt am Main - is, by virtue of its central situation, the most important commercial and economic center on mainland Europe.

Frankfurt is also a centre for commerce, culture, education, and tourism and web traffic. Messe Frankfurt is one of the world's largest trade fairs at 578,000 square metres and ten exhibition halls, a central logistics centre and an attached convention centre. Major trade fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the world's largest motor show, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest book fair. Frankfurt is also home to many cultural and educational institutions including the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University and Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, many museums (e.g. Städel, Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Goethe House), and two major botanical gardens, the Palmengarten, which is Germany's largest, and the Botanical Garden of the Goethe University.