Jena is a city located in Germany and serves as the second largest city in the state of Thuringia. It forms part of the central metropolitan area of Thuringia along with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, a region with a combined population of approximately 500,000 people. The city itself has a population of about 110,000.
The city is recognized as a prominent center for education and research. It hosts the University of Jena, which was founded in 1558 and enrolled 18,000 students in 2017, as well as the Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena, which serves another 5,000 students. Additionally, Jena is home to numerous institutes belonging to leading German research societies.