Wadern is a municipality in the federal state Saarland, which is situated in the southwest of Germany. It is part of the district Merzig-Wadern. Wadern consists of 13 urban districts with approximately 16.000 inhabitants. With 143 inhabitants per km² it is sparsely populated, but, with an area of 111 km², Wadern is the third largest municipality in Saarland after Saarbrücken and St. Wendel. The town is divided into 14 urban districts and altogether 24 villages belong to the commune. The town is part of the Moselle Franconian language area.