Previous Year Question
Famous ‘Ruhr coalfield’ is situated in which of the following countries?
France
Germany
Russia
Great Britain
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
The Ruhr coalfield is situated in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of western Germany. For a long period, the Ruhr region was one of Europe's most important coal-mining and heavy-industrial regions.
The region contains major deposits of hard coal (Steinkohle). The availability of coal led to rapid development of iron and steel, engineering, chemical and heavy manufacturing industries during the 19th and 20th centuries. Cities such as Essen, Dortmund, Duisburg and Bochum became major centres of this industrial belt.
The coal-bearing rocks of the Ruhr Basin are mainly of Carboniferous age. The combination of coal resources and the Rhine-Ruhr transport network made the region one of the principal foundations of German industrialisation.
Current context: Domestic hard-coal mining in Germany ended in 2018, when the last operating hard-coal mines were closed. Nevertheless, the historic Ruhr coalfield and its industrial landscape remain extremely important in the industrial history of Germany and Europe.