Inhabitants:	126400*
Administrative Centre:	Forst (Lausitz)
Nearest Major City:	Cottbus
Main Towns:	Forst (L.), Guben, Spremberg
Smaller Towns:	Drebkau, Peitz, Döbern, Welzow, Burg (Spreewald)
Smaller Towns:	Jänschwalde, Kolkwitz

The region of Spree Neiße stretches from the Upper Spree Forest in the northwest to the Neiße River in the east, and to the border of Lower Lusatia in the south – a chain of hills dating from the ice age.It came to being in 1993 through the boundary reform of the state of Brandenburg, and was formed out of the old administrative districts of Forst, Guben, Spremberg and Outer Cottbus, covering an area of 1661.55 km2 . Approximately 50% of this is made up of unbroken forest.
Around 126400* inhabitants live in the towns of Forst, Guben, Spremberg Drebkau, Peitz, Döbern and Welzow, and in the parish of Kolkwitz and 100 others. Since the boundary reform the population of Spree Neiße has grown by 2%.

In the middle of the region lies the independent city of Cottbus, which is its own regional authority. This “Green City of the Spree”, with its approximately 104 000 inhabitants, is the second largest city in the state of Brandenburg. As the service and administration centre of South Brandenburg, Cottbus is today the seat of many national and regional authorities and has at its disposal optimal conditions for trade exhibitions, trade fairs, and conferences.