Editing Essen (section)

=== City districts ===
Essen comprises fifty boroughs which in turn are grouped into nine suburban districts (called ''[[Stadtbezirk]]e'') often named after the most important boroughs. Each Stadtbezirk is assigned a [[Roman numeral]] and has a local body of nineteen members with limited authority. Most of the boroughs were originally independent municipalities but were gradually annexed from 1901 to 1975. This long-lasting process of annexation has led to a strong identification of the population with "their" boroughs or districts and to a rare peculiarity: the borough of [[Kettwig]], located south of the Ruhr River, and which was not annexed until 1975, has its own [[Telephone numbering plan|area code]] and remains part of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne|Archdiocese of Cologne]], whereas all other boroughs of Essen and some neighbouring cities constitute the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Essen|Diocese of Essen]].