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Frankfurt is the financial capital of Germany and, along with Paris and London, one of the major banking and financial centres of Europe. It is sometimes jokingly referred to as 'Mainhattan', derived from it's position on the bank of the Main river, or 'Bankfurt'. The city is home to more than 400 banks and financial institutions, including the European Central Bank, which established it's headquarters in Frankfurt in 1993. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the largest in Germany and the city ranks amongst the most important financial centres in the world. It is estimated that some 55,000 people are employed in the financial services industry along the Main.

Frankfurt is served very well by rail, road, river transport and has the third busiest airport in Europe (Frankfurt Flughafen AG - 40 million passengers in 2000). Many international companies have chosen the city for their headquarters, including Aventis (chemical/pharmaceutical), Hoechst, Degussa-Hüls, Opel (Rüsselsheim), the Philipp Holzmann building company.

The city has been known since medieval times for it's trade fairs and hosts many international events each year. Perhaps the most well-known is the Frankfurt Book Fair, which with over 100000 visitors is probably the largest of it's kind in the world. The Frankfurt Motor Show is an important showcase for the automotive industry and includes the launches of many new models from the world's foremost auto manufacturers.