In 2011 the city had 89.000 inhabitants. Life in the city is dominated by its approximately 25.800 students. T�bingen is best described as a mixture of old and distinguished academic flair, including liberal and green politics on the one hand and traditional German-style student fraternities on the other, with rural-agricultural environs and shaped by typical Lutheran-Pietist characteristics, such as austerity and a Protestant work ethic, and traditional Swabian elements, such as frugality, order and tidiness. The city is home to many picturesque buildings from previous centuries and lies on the river Neckar.
In 1995, the German weekly magazine Focus published a national survey according to which T�bingen had the highest quality of life of all cities in Germany. Factors taken into consideration included the infrastructure, the integration of bicycle lanes into the road system, a bus system connecting surrounding hills and valleys, late night services, areas of the town that can be reached on foot, the pedestrianised old town, other amenities and cultural events offered by the university. T�bingen is the city with the youngest average population in Germany
