Halle (also called Halle an der Saale (literally "Halle on the Saale", and in some historic references is not uncommonly called Saale after the river) in order to distinguish it from Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia) is the largest city in the German State of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated in the southern part of the state, along the river Saale which drains the surrounding plains and the greater part of the neighboring Free State of Thuringia located just to its south, and the Thuringian basin, northwards from the Thuringer Wald. Leipzig, one of the other major cities of eastern Germany, is only 40km away.