States of Germany

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Germany has 16 states (German Bundesländer). The biggest is Bavaria and the smallest is Bremen. Most of them were created in 1949 after the Second World War

Exceptions are the Saarland which was put under French administration after World War II and joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957 and the former states of the German Democratic Republic which were introduced in 1990 after the Reunification.

Bundesland Capital Population Area in km² Since
Baden-Württemberg Stuttgart 10.661.320 35 752 1952
Bayern (Bavaria) München (Munich) 12.387.351 70 550 1949
Berlin Berlin 3.392.425 892 1990
Brandenburg Potsdam 2.582.380 29 476 1990
Bremen (state) Bremen 662.100 404 1949
Hamburg Hamburg 1.728.800 755 1949
Hessen (Hesse) Wiesbaden 6.911.620 21 114 1949
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) Schwerin 1.744.620 23 173 1990
Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) Hannover (Hanover) 7.980.470 47 616 1949
Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW, North Rhine-Westphalia) Düsseldorf 18.076.355 34 082 1949
Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate) Mainz 4.057.730 19 847 1949
Saarland Saarbrücken 1.064.988 2 568 1957
Sachsen (Saxony) Dresden 4.349.060 18 413 1990
Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt) Magdeburg 2.548.911 20 447 1990
Schleswig-Holstein Kiel 2.816.507 15 761 1949
Thüringen (Thuringia) Erfurt 2.392.040 16 172 1990