Rostock

Rostock, officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock, is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, close to the border with Pomerania. With around 208,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city on the German Baltic coast after Kiel and Lübeck, the eighth-largest city in the area of former East Germany, as well as the 39th-largest city of Germany. Rostock was the largest coastal and most important port city in East Germany. The city has a large population of herring gulls that squawk loudly most days throughout the year.

Rostock stands on the estuary of the River Warnow into the Bay of Mecklenburg of the Baltic Sea. The city stretches for about 16 km along the river. The river flows into the sea in the very north of the city, between the boroughs of Warnemünde and Hohe Düne.