The largest city of the state is Rostock with some 200,000 inhabitants. It is the economic and academic center, too. The capital, Schwerin has got 99,800 inhabitants. Most of the population lives in numerous towns and a few big cities.   The state’s economy is influenced by its geographic features. Shipbuilding, shipping and commercial fishing have been the main branches of industry up to the present day.   Other traditional lines of business are agriculture, trade and craft. Nowadays tourism is becoming an economic factor of growing importance for Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. Among the German states it has the second highest percentage of tourists staying overnight there, after Bavaria. go back