Situated in the heart of the so-called Saar-Lor-Lux triangle, the Saarland is strongly influenced by its neighbours France and Luxembourg. The Lorraine region of France is only a stone’s throw away and Luxembourg a mere 90 kilometres from Saarbrücken.

With a population of approximately 990,000 and an area of 2,570 square kilometres, the Saarland is the smallest of the German federal states after the city-states of Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg. Around one third of the Saarland is covered by forest. For many years, the economy of  the Saarland was marked by mining and the steel industry. Today, the focus is on new industries, technologies, and services.