Rostock is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is near the Baltic Sea and to protect its fishing and access rights it actually annexed Warnemünde, a port area to the north. Considered as the only regiopolis in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rostock is home to one of the oldest universities in the world, the University of Rostock, founded in 1419.