NationMaster - Encyclopedia: German states

Germany is a federation of 16 states called Länder (singular Land, which may be translated as "country") or unofficially Bundesländer (singular Bundesland, German federal state). Each Land is represented at the federal level in the Bundesrat. A federation (from the Latin fÅ“dus, covenant) is a state comprised of a number of self-governing regions (often themselves referred to as states) united by a central (federal) government. ... A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government, and possessing internal and external sovereignty. ... The Bundesrat (federal council) is the representation of the 16 Germany at the federal level. ...

The 16 Länder are: Bundeslaender (federal states) of Germany Originally created by Baldhur and licenced under the GNU FDL. File links The following pages link to this file: Federal republic List of subnational entities States of Germany Wikipedia:Changing attribution for an edit/Cordyph log Categories: GFDL images ...

With an area of 35,742 kmÂ² and 10. ... With an area of 70,553 kmÂ² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city. ... Surrounding but excluding the national capital Berlin, Brandenburg is one of Germanys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states). ... History The City of Bremen became a Free City (Yes!) of the Holy Roman Empire, and hence a state, in 1646. ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city. ... Position of Hamburg in Germany Hamburgs central broadway Jungfernstieg at the Alster lake, between 1900 and 1914 This article is about the city in Germany. ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city. ... With an area of 21,110 km² and just over six million inhabitants, Hesse (German Hessen) is one of Germanys sixteen federal states (Bundesländer). ... Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (German: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a Bundesland (federal state) in northern Germany. ... With an area of 47,618 km and nearly eight million inhabitants, Lower Saxony (German Niedersachsen) lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the countrys sixteen Bundesl nder (federal states). ... North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen) is the largest in population (though only fourth in area) among Germanys 16 federal states. ... The Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz, sometimes Lower Palatinate or Niederpfalz) occupies rather more than a quarter of the German Bundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and contains the towns of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Pirmasens, Landau and Speyer. ... Saarland is one of the 16 States of Germany. ... With an area of 18,413 km² and a population of 4. ... With an area of 20,447 km² and a population of 2. ... Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the 16 Bundesländer in Germany. ... The Free State of Thuringia (German Freistaat Thüringen) lies in central Germany and is among the smaller of the countrys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states), with an area of 16,200 sq. ...

Functions

The Basic Law stipulates that the structure of Land government must "conform to the principles of republican, democratic, and social government based on the rule of law" (Article 28[1]). Thirteen of the Länder are governed by a cabinet led by a minister president together with a unicameral legislative body, the Landtag (pl., Landtage). The relationship between the legislative and executive branches mirrors that in the federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected (for four or five years), and the minister president is chosen by a majority vote among Landtag members. The minister president appoints a cabinet to run Land agencies and carry out the executive duties of the Land government. Until 1999, Bavaria was the only Land with a bicameral legislature; the Landtag being popularly elected, with the second chamber, the Senate, consists of representatives of the major social and economic groups in Bavaria. In 1998, voters approved a proposal to abolish the Senate, with an effective date of December 1999. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of modern Germany. ... A minister-president (Ministerpräsident) is the head of government of a German federal state; the office corresponds to the governorship of a state in the United States. ... Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or parliamentary chamber. ... In Germany, Austria and South Tyrol, a Landtag is a unicameral legislature for a federal land. ... In government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. ...

In the city Länder of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, the executive branch consists of a Senate elected by the Land parliament. The senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger Länder. The Land parliament also chooses a senate president in Bremen, a governing mayor in Berlin and a first mayor in Hamburg to serve as chief executive. Land cabinets consist of about ten ministers; the most important is the minister of the interior, who directs the internal administration of the Land and commands the police. A mayor (from the Latin maÄ«or, meaning larger,greater) is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. ...

Politics at the Land level often carry implications for federal politics. Opposition victories in Landtag elections--which take place throughout the federal government's four-year term--can weaken the federal government coalition. This was the case for the fall from the chancellorship of Konrad Adenauer in 1963 and that of Willy Brandt in 1974. The Land elections are also viewed as a barometer of support for the policies of the federal government. If the parties of the governing coalition lose support in successive Land elections, those results may foreshadow difficulties for the federal government. The outcome of Land elections also directly affects the composition of the Bundesrat. In the early 1990s, the opposition SPD commanded a two-thirds majority in that legislative chamber, which made it particularly difficult for the CDU/CSU-FDP government to achieve the constitutional changes it sought. Today (2003) the situation is reversed, the SPD government being severely hindered by a large CDU majority in the Bundesrat. At the same time, the powers of the Lands in their own territories have been much diminished in the last decades with the ever-increasing amount of federal legislation. Due to these twin problems, a commission has been formed to examine the possibility of instituting a clearer separation of federal and Land powers. Konrad Adenauer - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Willy Brandt (December 18, 1913 â€“ October 8, 1992) was a German politician and Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1969 to 1974. ... The Bundesrat, German for Federal Council, is a political institution in several countries: Bundesrat of Austria (legislative) Bundesrat of Germany (legislative) Bundesrat of Switzerland: the Swiss Federal Council (executive) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further subdivisions

The city-states of Berlin and Hamburg are subdivided into boroughs. The state Bremen consists of two urban districts, Bremen and Bremerhaven. In the other Länder there are the following subdivisions: A borough is a political division originally used in England. ... This is a list of urban districts in Germany. ... Bremen lies in North Germany 50km South of the North Sea. ... Map of Germany showing Bremerhaven Watershed of the River Weser Bremerhaven is a city in the federal state of Bremen, Germany. ...

Landschaftsverbände

Landschaftsverbände ("area associations"): The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia is uniquely divided into two Landschaftsverbände, one for the Rhineland, one for Westphalia. This was meant to ease the friction caused by uniting the two culturally quite different regions into a single Land after World War II. The Landschaftsverbände retain little power today. The Rhineland (Rheinland in German) is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. ... Westphalia (in German, Westfalen) is a (historic) region in Germany, centred on the cities of Dortmund, Münster, Bielefeld, and Osnabrück and now included in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia (and the (south-)west of Lower Saxony). ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km (over 11 miles) into the air. ...

Regierungsbezirke

Regierungsbezirke ("governmental districts"): The large states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony are divided into administrative regions, or Regierungsbezirke. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the Regierungsbezirke were dissolved on 01.01.2000, in Saxony-Anhalt on 01.01.2004 and in Lower Saxony on 01.01.2005. A Regierungsbezirk is an administrative region of Germany, a subdivision of certain federal states (Bundesländer). ...

Kreise

Kreise (administrative districts): Every state (except the "city states" Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen) consists of rural districts, Landkreise, and urban districts, Stadtkreise (also: Kreisfreie Städte), cities which are districts in their own right. The state of Bremen consists of two urban districts, while Berlin and Hamburg are states and urban districts at the same time. There are 323 Landkreise and 116 Kreisfreie Städte, making 439 districts altogether. Each consists of an elected council and an executive, who is selected by the council and whose duties are comparable to those of a US county manager, supervising local government administration. The Landkreise have primary administrative functions in specific areas, such as highways, hospitals, and public utilities. There are 439 German districts, administrative units in Germany. ... Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ... Position of Hamburg in Germany Hamburgs central broadway Jungfernstieg at the Alster lake, between 1900 and 1914 This article is about the city in Germany. ... Bremen lies in North Germany 50km South of the North Sea. ... Germany is divided into 439 administrative districts; these consist of 323 rural districts (Landkreise), listed fully here, and 116 urban districts (Kreisfreie Städte / Stadtkreise) - cities which constitute a district in their own right (see List of German urban districts). ... This is a list of urban districts in Germany. ... Bremen lies in North Germany 50km South of the North Sea. ...

Ämter

Ämter ("offices"): In some states there is an administrative unit between districts and municipalities. These units are called Ämter (singular Amt), Amtsgemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden or Verwaltungsgemeinschaften. An Amt (plural Ämter) is an administrative unit, which is unique to the German Bundesländer (federal states) of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. ...

Gemeinden

Gemeinden ("municipalities"): Every rural district and every Amt is subdivided into municipalities, while every urban districts constitutes a municipality at the same time; there are 13,912 municipalities, which are the smallest administrative units in Germany. Cities are municipalities as well, which have city rights (Stadtrecht). Nowadays this is mostly just the right to be called a city; however, in older times it included many privileges such as to have their own taxes or to allow industry inside cities only. A municipality or general-purpose district (compare with: special-purpose district) is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government. ...

Gemeinden are ruled by elected councils and an executive, the mayor, who is chosen by either the council or the people, depending on the Bundesland. The "constitution" for the Gemeinden is created by the Länder and is uniform throughout a Land (except for Bremen, which allows Bremerhaven to have its own constitution).

Gemeinden have two major policy responsibilities. First, they administer programs authorized by the federal or Land government. Such programs typically might relate to youth, schools, public health, and social assistance. Second, Article 28(2) of the Basic Law guarantees Gemeinden "the right to regulate on their own responsibility all the affairs of the local community within the limits set by law." Under this broad statement of competence, local governments can justify a wide range of activities. For instance, many municipalities develop the economic infrastructure of their communities through the development of industrial parks.

Local authorities foster cultural activities by supporting local artists, building arts centers, and/or having fairs. Local government also provides basic public utilities, such as gas and electricity, as well as public transportation. Most of these functions are currently (2003) under threat since the communities are notoriously badly financed; the fact that they receive most of their money from the other levels instead of from taxes they themselves set the rates of and collect is a big factor in this. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In five of the German states, there are unincorporated areas, in many cases unpopulated forest and mountain areas, but also four Bavarian lakes, that are not part of any municipality. As of Jan. 01, 2005, there were 246 such areas, most of them in Bavaria, with a total area of 4167.66 km², or 1.2 percent of the total area of Germany. The following table givs an overview. In law, a region of land is unincorporated if it is not a part of any municipality. ... With an area of 70,553 kmÂ² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ...

The table shows that in 2000 the number of unincorporated areas was still 295, with a total area of 4890.33 km². Unincorporated areas are continually being incorporated into neighboring municipalities, wholly or partially, most frequently in Bavaria. With an area of 70,553 kmÂ² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... With an area of 47,618 km and nearly eight million inhabitants, Lower Saxony (German Niedersachsen) lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the countrys sixteen Bundesl nder (federal states). ... With an area of 21,110 km² and just over six million inhabitants, Hesse (German Hessen) is one of Germanys sixteen federal states (Bundesländer). ... Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the 16 Bundesländer in Germany. ... With an area of 35,742 kmÂ² and 10. ...

Only four unincorporated areas are populated, with an aggregate population of about 2000.

Contents

Functions

Further subdivisions

Landschaftsverbände

Regierungsbezirke

Kreise

Ämter

Gemeinden

See also

Contents

Functions GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Further subdivisions

Landschaftsverbände

Regierungsbezirke

Kreise

Ämter

Gemeinden

See also

Functions