2.12 The German Länder
The Federal Republic of Germany is called "Federal" because it consists of a federation of sixteen Länder or states. There are ten Länder in the territory of the former West Germany, whilst the former GDR has been divided into five federal states. The sixteenth state is Berlin comprising what used to be West and East Berlin.
Quiz
Once you have looked at the map of the sixteen Länder, you can test your knowledge of precisely where they are in Germany by doing the online jigsaw on the homepage of UK-German Connection:
Facts and figures
As you can see from the table below, Bayern (Bavaria) is the largest Land in terms of area, whilst Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia) has the largest population. If you click on the names of each federal state, you will be taken to the homepage of the Land. Many of these homepages also have English versions.
The Sixteen German Länder |
Land |
Capital |
Population (millions) |
Area (km²) |
Baden-Württemberg |
Stuttgart |
10.37 |
35,751 |
Bayern |
Munich |
12.04 |
70,554 |
Berlin |
--------- |
3.45 |
889 |
Brandenburg |
Potsdam |
2.55 |
29,476 |
Bremen |
--------- |
0.68 |
404 |
Hamburg |
--------- |
1.71 |
755 |
Hessen |
Wiesbaden |
6.03 |
21,114 |
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern |
Schwerin |
1.82 |
23,421 |
Niedersachsen |
Hanover |
7.82 |
47,348 |
Nordrhein-Westfalen |
Düsseldorf |
17.95 |
34,072 |
Rheinland-Pfalz |
Mainz |
3.88 |
19,846 |
Saarland |
Saarbrücken |
1.08 |
2,570 |
Sachsen |
Dresden |
4.55 |
18,408 |
Sachsen-Anhalt |
Magdeburg |
2.72 |
20,443 |
Schleswig-Holstein |
Kiel |
2.74 |
15,732 |
Thüringen |
Erfurt |
2.49 |
16,176 |
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The English translation of the German Länder names
Many of these German Länder have English equivalents - although the English version of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is no less of a mouthful! Note in particular the very different German name for what we call Bavaria.
English translations of German Länder |
German |
English |
Bayern |
Bavaria |
Hessen |
Hesse |
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern |
Mecklenburg West-Vorpomerania |
Niedersachsen |
Lower Saxony |
Nordrhein-Westfalen |
North Rhine-Westphalia |
Rheinland-Pfalz |
Rhineland-Palatinate |
Sachsen |
Saxony |
Sachsen-Anhalt |
Saxony-Anhalt |
Thüringen |
Thuringia |
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In the next chapter, we will visit the only German Land which is made up of territory from both East and West Germany - the new capital Berlin.
Chapter 2: Exercises
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