A Regierungsbezirk is an government region of Germany, a subdivision of certain federal states (Bundesländer). Regierungsbezirke are themselves further divided into districts (Kreise), either Landkreise or urban districts: cities which constitute a district in their own right (kreisfreie Städte). The Regierungsbezirk is governed by a Bezirksregierung and led by a Regierungspräsident. Germany is a Federal Republic made up of 16 States, known in German as Länder (transliterated as Laender in English, singular Land). ... Local government areas called districts are used, or have been used, in several countries. ... There are 439 German districts, administrative units in Germany. ... 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. ...

Not all Bundesländer have this sub-division; some are directly divided into districts. Currently, five states are divided into 22 Regierungsbezirke, ranging in population from 5,255,000 (Düsseldorf) to 1,065,000 (Gießen): Germany is a Federal Republic made up of 16 States, known in German as Länder (transliterated as Laender in English, singular Land). ... There are 439 German districts, administrative units in Germany. ... Düsseldorf is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the north-west of the country. ... Gießen is one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Hesse, Germany, located in the middle of the country. ...

• Baden-Württemberg: Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Tübingen
• Bavaria: Mittelfranken, Niederbayern, Oberbayern, Oberfranken, Oberpfalz, Schwaben, Unterfranken
• Hesse: Darmstadt, Gießen, Kassel
• North Rhine-Westphalia: Arnsberg, Cologne, Detmold, Düsseldorf, Münster
• Saxony: Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipzig

Baden-Württemberg is a federal state in south-western Germany to the east of the Upper Rhine. ... Freiburg is one of the four Regierungsbezirke of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the south-west of the country. ... Karlsruhe is one of the four Regierungsbezirke of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the north-west of the country. ... Stuttgart is one of the four administrative districts (Regierungsbezirke) of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the north-east of the state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwestern part of Germany. ... Tübingen is one of the four Administrative Districts (Regierungsbezirke) of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the south-east of the country. ... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. ... Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria. ... Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the south of Bavaria, around the city Munich. ... Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) is a Regierungsbezirk (administrative region) of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. ... The Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria. ... Swabia (German: Schwaben) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the south-west of Bavaria. ... Unterfranken (Lower Franconia) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria (seven regions), Germany (32 regions). ... Hesse (German: Hessen) is one of Germanys sixteen federal states (Bundesländer) and has an area of 21,110 km² and just over six million inhabitants. ... Darmstadt is one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Hesse, Germany, located in the south of the country. ... Gießen is one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Hesse, Germany, located in the middle of the country. ... Kassel is one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Hesse, Germany, located in the north of the country. ... North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen, usually shortened to: NRW) is - in population and economic output - the largest Federal State of Germany. ... Arnsberg is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the south_east of the country. ... Cologne is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the south-west of the country. ... Detmold is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the north-east of the country. ... Düsseldorf is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the north-west of the country. ... Münster is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the north of the state. ... The Free State of Saxony (German: Freistaat Sachsen; Sorbian: Swobodny Stata Sakska) is at a land area of 18,413 km² and a population of 4. ... Chemnitz is one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Saxony, Germany, located in the south-west of the state. ... Dresden is one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Saxony, Germany, located in the south-east of the country. ... Leipzig is one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Saxony, Germany, located in the north-west of the country. ...

History

The first Regierungsbezirke were created by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815/16, which divided its provinces into 25 Regierungsbezirke. The Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia are in direct continuation of those created in 1815. Other states of the German Empire created similar entities, named Kreishauptmannschaft (in Saxony) or Kreis (in Bavaria and Württemberg) (not to be confused with the Kreis or Landkreis today). During the Third Reich the Nazi government unified the naming; since then all these entities are called Regierungsbezirk. Flag of Prussia (1894 - 1918) The Kingdom of Prussia existed from 1701 until 1918, and from 1871 was the leading kingdom of the German Empire, comprising in its last form almost two-thirds of the area of the Empire. ... The Battle of New Orleans 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Flag of the German Empire, 1871–1918: black-white-red ... Württemberg (often spelled Wurttemberg in English) refers to an area and a former state in Swabia, a region in south-western Germany. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

On January 1 2000 Rhineland-Palatinate disbanded its three Regierungsbezirke Koblenz, Rheinhessen-Pfalz and Trier - the employees and assets of the three Bezirksregierungen were converted into three public authorities responsible for the whole state, each covering a part of the former responsibilities of the Bezirksregierung. This article is about the year 2000. ... 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. ... Koblenz was one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located in the north-east of the state. ... Rheinhessen-Pfalz (rarely anglicized as Rhine-Hesse-Palatinate) was one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located in the south of the state. ... Trier was one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located in the west of the state. ...

On January 1 2004 Saxony-Anhalt disbanded its three Regierungsbezirke Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg - the responsibilities are now covered by a Landesverwaltungsamt with three offices at the former seats of the Bezirksregierungen. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... With an area of 20,447 km² and a population of 2. ... Dessau was one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, located in the east of the country. ... Halle was one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, located in the south of the country. ... Magdeburg was one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, located in the north of the country. ...

On January 1 2005 Lower Saxony disbanded its four Regierungsbezirke Braunschweig, Hanover, Lüneburg, Weser-Ems as well. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 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). ... Braunschweig (sometimes in English Brunswick) is one of the four Regierungsbezirke of Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the southeast of the state. ... Hanover (German Hannover) is the one of the four Regierungsbezirke of Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the south of the state around the city of Hanover. ... Lüneburg is the one of the four Regierungsbezirke of Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the north of the federal state between the three big cities Bremen, Hamburg and Hanover. ... Weser-Ems is the most westerly of the four Regierungsbezirke of Lower Saxony, Germany, bordering the Dutch provinces of Groningen, Drenthe and Overijssel. ...

In North-Rhine Westphalia there are now (2005) plans to abolish the 5 Regierungsbezirke and create 3 self-government entities. The old, Prussian-style, Regierungsbezirk has no self-government organs.