The municipality also comprises the following towns, villages and townships: Boekelo, Glanerbrug, Lonneker, Usselo.
The city is a former centre of textile production. The Universiteit Twente, with mostly technical studies, is located in Enschede.
On May 13, 2000, a fireworks factory in Enschede exploded, killing 18 and destroying an entire neighbourhood.
The city is cooperating with the nearby municipalities of Almelo, Borne and Hengelo as Netwerkstad Twente.
Enschede is a terminal station of the NS railway network on the west, and of the DB Regionalbahn Westfalen railway network (part of the German Deutsche Bahn) on the east. Two more stations of the latter are in the Netherlands: "Enschede De Eschmarke" and "Glanerbrug". The nearest main town is Gronau, Germany.