Düsseldorf (/ˈdʊsəldɔːrf/ DUUSS-əl-dorf, US also /ˈdjuːs-/ DEWSS-,^[4][5][6] German: [ˈdʏsl̩dɔʁf] ^ⓘ; Low Franconian and Ripuarian:^[a] Düsseldörp [ˈdʏsəldœʀ(ə)p];^[tone?] archaic Dutch: Dusseldorp [ˈdʏsəlˌdɔr(ə)p]) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne, and the seventh-largest city in Germany,^[b] with a 2022 population of 629,047.^[7]

The Düssel, from which the city and the borough of Düsseltal take their name, divides into four separate branches within the city,^[c] each with its own mouth into the Rhine. Most of Düsseldorf lies on the right bank of the Rhine, and the city has grown together with Neuss, Ratingen, Meerbusch, Erkrath and Monheim am Rhein. Düsseldorf is the central city of the metropolitan region Rhine-Ruhr, the second biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union, that stretches from Bonn via Cologne and Düsseldorf to the Ruhr (from Duisburg via Essen to Dortmund).

The -dorf suffix means "village" in German (English cognate: thorp); its use is unusual for a settlement as large as Düsseldorf. Linguistically, Düsseldorf is the largest city in the German part of the Low Franconian area, dialects that are closely related to Dutch. Düsseldorf Airport is Germany's fourth-busiest airport, serving as the most important international airport for the population of the densely populated Ruhr, Germany's largest urban area.

Mercer's 2012 Quality of Living survey ranked Düsseldorf the sixth most livable city in the world.^[8][9] Düsseldorf is an international business and financial centre, renowned for its fashion and trade fairs,^[10][11][12] and is headquarters to one Fortune Global 500 and two DAX companies. Messe Düsseldorf organises nearly one fifth of premier trade shows.^[13] As second largest city of the Rhineland, Düsseldorf holds Rhenish Carnival celebrations every year in February/March, the Düsseldorf carnival celebrations being the third most popular in Germany after those held in Cologne and Mainz.^[14]

There are 22 institutions of higher education in the city including the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, the university of applied sciences (Hochschule Düsseldorf), the academy of arts (Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, whose members include Joseph Beuys, Emanuel Leutze, August Macke, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, and Andreas Gursky), and the university of music (Robert-Schumann-Musikhochschule Düsseldorf). The city is also known for its influence on electronic/experimental music (Kraftwerk) and its Japanese community. Düsseldorf is classified as a GaWC Beta+ world city.