States of Germany facts for kids

Germany has 16 states (German: Bundesländer, singular: Bundesland). The biggest is Bavaria and the smallest is Bremen. Most of them were created after the Second World War, although their historical roots can be traced back to the early Middle Ages in some cases.

Exceptions are:

1952: Three small states (Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern) joined together to form Baden-Württemberg.
1957: The Saar, which was put under French administration after World War II, joined the Federal Republic of Germany as the Saarland.
1990: On German reunification, the reunited city of Berlin and the territory of the former German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic as six new states.

Flag and Bundesland	Capital	Population	Area in km²	Part of the Federal Republic since
Baden-Württemberg	Stuttgart	10,661,320	35,752	1952
Bavaria (Bayern)	München (Munich)	12,387,351	70,550	1949
Berlin	Berlin	3,392,425	892	1990
Brandenburg	Potsdam	2,582,380	29,476	1990
Bremen	Bremen	662,100	404	1949
Hamburg	Hamburg	1,728,800	755	1949
Hesse (Hessen)	Wiesbaden	6,911,620	21,114	1949
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)	Schwerin	1,744,620	23,173	1990
Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)	Hannover (Hanover)	7,980,470	47,616	1949
North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen or NRW)	Düsseldorf	18,076,355	34,082	1949
Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz)	Mainz	4,057,730	19,847	1949
Saarland	Saarbrücken	1,064,988	2,568	1957
Saxony (Sachsen)	Dresden	4,349,060	18,413	1990
Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt)	Magdeburg	2,548,911	20,447	1990
Schleswig-Holstein	Kiel	2,816,507	15,761	1949
Thuringia (Thüringen)	Erfurt	2,392,040	16,172	1990

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Images for kids

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The Provinces of the Kingdom of Prussia (green) within the German Empire (1871–1918)
The states of the Weimar Republic in 1925, with the Free State of Prussia (Freistaat Preußen) as the largest
West Germany (blue) and East Germany (red) and West Berlin (yellow)