Bergkamen
Bergkamen is a medium-sized town in the Ruhr region, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Administratively, the city belongs to the district of Unna in the administrative district of Arnsberg as well as to the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe and the Regionalverband Ruhr. Bergkamen is a medium-sized centre in the conurbation fringe zone of the Dortmund metropolitan area. The new municipality of Bergkamen, which came into being on 1 January 1966 through the merger of five smaller municipalities (Act on the Merger of the Municipalities of Bergkamen, Heil, Oberaden, Rünthe and Weddinghofen, Unna District) - Overberge was not added until two years later - was once known as the largest mining town in Europe. Today Bergkamen is in the midst of an economic structural change and is known for its variety of sports and leisure activities and its special cultural offerings.
Geography
Bergkamen is located in the middle west of Germany in Westphalia on the eastern edge of the industrial Ruhr area in the immediate vicinity of the major cities of Hamm and Dortmund. To the south of the town runs the Hellweg with the adjoining low mountain range of the Sauerland, to the north the Münsterland borders on Bergkamen. To the east lies the fertile Soester Börde.
The northern border of the city is formed by the Lippe, the eastern border by the federal motorway 1. The southern border runs approximately in the area of the A 2. Along the western border flows the Seseke, a tributary of the Lippe. The Datteln-Hamm Canal connects Bergkamen to the European waterway network.
The highest elevation in the city area is the "Adener Höhe" at 148.5 m above sea level on the artificially heaped up Großes Holz slag heap, a landmark in the Ruhr area.
Neighboring communities
In the immediate vicinity are: (direction,city size,district affiliation)
- Kamen (In the south,medium-sized town,Unna district)
- Lünen (In the West,Big City,County Unna)
- Werne (In the north,Medium-sized town,Unna district)
- Hamm (East,Big city,County free)
City breakdown
The municipality of Bergkamen (City of Bergkamen since 14 June 1966) consists of the following districts since 1 January 1966 (Overberge since 1 January 1968) (with the number of inhabitants on 31 December 2019 in brackets):
- Heil (pop. 532)
- Mitte (former municipality of Bergkamen) (pop. 17,479)
- Oberaden (pop. 12,110)
- Overberge (pop. 3,621)
- Rünthe (pop. 6,671)
- Weddinghofen (pop. 9,994)
Demographics
Population development
The following table shows the population development of Bergkamen (total) and the population development of the various districts of Bergkamen from 2000 to 2019:
The table is arranged according to the number of inhabitants of the different districts of Bergkamen:
| Year | Total population | Middle | Oberaden | Weddinghofen | Rünthe | Overberge | Hail |
| 2000 | 52.732 | 18.074 | 13.120 | 10.188 | 7.185 | 3.647 | 515 |
| 2001 | 52.714 | 17.937 | 12.997 | 10.338 | 7.225 | 3.712 | 503 |
| 2002 | 52.607 | 17.983 | 12.793 | 10.377 | 7.198 | 3.744 | 511 |
| 2003 | 52.353 | 17.996 | 12.678 | 10.306 | 7.162 | 3.709 | 502 |
| 2004 | 52.329 | 18.169 | 12.571 | 10.242 | 7.152 | 3.698 | 496 |
| 2005 | 52.021 | 18.109 | 12.317 | 10.212 | 7.105 | 3.772 | 506 |
| 2006 | 52.020 | 18.069 | 12.391 | 10.211 | 7.076 | 3.800 | 483 |
| 2007 | 51.755 | 17.969 | 12.323 | 10.182 | 6.991 | 3.813 | 477 |
| 2008 | 51.467 | 17.932 | 12.266 | 10.082 | 6.914 | 3.791 | 482 |
| 2009 | 51.158 | 17.940 | 12.136 | 09.935 | 6.868 | 3.799 | 480 |
| 2010 | 50.605 | 17.728 | 11.956 | 09.815 | 6.842 | 3.790 | 474 |
| 2011 | 50.274 | 17.583 | 11.921 | 09.740 | 6.792 | 3.749 | 483 |
| 2012 | 49.957 | 17.462 | 11.898 | 09.635 | 6.757 | 3.751 | 470 |
| 2013 | 49.587 | 17.284 | 11.730 | 09.657 | 6.712 | 3.709 | 495 |
| 2014 | 49.637 | 17.359 | 11.696 | 09.666 | 6.724 | 3.682 | 510 |
| 2015 | 50.035 | 17.300 | 11.703 | 10.110 | 6.726 | 3.676 | 520 |
| 2016 | 50.161 | 17.350 | 11.820 | 10.053 | 6.740 | 3.673 | 525 |
| 2017 | 50.443 | 17.394 | 12.124 | 10.052 | 6.694 | 3.647 | 532 |
| 2018 | 50.339 | 17.427 | 12.094 | 09.972 | 6.682 | 3.636 | 528 |
| 2019 | 50.407 | 17.479 | 12.110 | 09.994 | 6.671 | 3.621 | 532 |
Population statistics
According to the statistical data of the demographic, integration and social reports published by Wegweiser-Kommune, the following values result for Bergkamen:
- Population under 18: 17.1% (as of 2019).
- Population aged 65 or over: 20.4 % (as of 2019)
- Share of foreigners: 12.9 % (as of 2019)
- Unemployment rate (in relation to employees subject to social security contributions): 10.6 % (as of 2019)
