Braunschweig or Brunswick is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser. In 2024, it had a population of 272,417. The urban agglomeration of Braunschweig had an estimated population of 551,000 during the year 2024. Braunschweig is considered a regiopolis and is one of the largest ones in Northern Germany and the largest regiopolis in Lower Saxony. The city is seen as a major hub within the region due to it having multiple characteristics of a metropolitan city in a smaller scale or in a comparative amount to other metropolitan cities in Germany.