Halle (Saale) (approximately from the end of the 15th to the end of the 17th century Hall in Saxony, until the beginning of the 20th century officially Halle an der Saale, from 1965 to 1995 Halle/Saale) is an independent city in the south of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany and with 242,083 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2022) the fourth largest city in the new federal states, the largest city in Saxony-Anhalt and ranked 31st on the list of large cities in Germany in 2022. The city is the seat of the State Administration Office, the Federal Cyber Agency and the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina as well as the Federal Cultural Foundation, which are the official international representatives of national science and German culture for the Federal Republic of Germany.

Together with the neighboring metropolis of Leipzig, the city forms the Leipzig-Halle conurbation, which is home to more than one million people, as well as the Central German metropolitan region with Leipzig and five other cities in Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia. Halle is one of the three regional centers of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, is an important transport hub and an important scientific and economic center in the eastern German states. The city is located in the so-called chemical triangle between Schkopau and Bitterfeld-Wolfen.

The first documentary mention dates back to 806. With the Francke Foundations founded by August Hermann Francke in 1698, Halle is considered the starting point of social-humanist education in Germany. Halle is the only major German city that had more than 200,000 inhabitants during the Second World War and was not extensively destroyed, meaning that its overall condition in terms of urban planning and monument preservation is considered unique among major cities.

Halle is home to one of the oldest universities in Germany, the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, as well as the Protestant University of Church Music Halle and the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle. The city is home to a number of important cultural and museum institutions, such as the Moritzburg Art Museum in Halle (Saale), the Handel Birthplace and the State Museum of Prehistory with the Nebra Sky Disk, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Future Center for German Unity and European Transformation will be built in Halle.