Baden-Württemberg

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Baden-Württemberg

Flag
Coat of arms
Capital:	Stuttgart
Area:	35,751.65 km²
Inhabitants:	10,718,327 (2005-03-31)
pop. density:	300/km²
Website:	http://www.baden-wuerttemberg.de/
ISO 3166-2:	DE-BW
Politics
Minister-president:	Günther Oettinger (CDU)
Ruling party:	CDU/FDP coalition
Map

Baden-Württemberg is a state of Germany in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine. It is third largest in both area and population among the country's sixteen states, with an area of 35,742 km² and 10.7 million inhabitants. The state capital is Stuttgart.

Geography

The state borders on Switzerland to the south, on France to the west, and on the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Bavaria.

Its principal cities include Stuttgart, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Ludwigsburg, Ulm, Tübingen, Pforzheim and Reutlingen.

The Rhine forms the western border as well as large portions of the southern border. The Black Forest (Schwarzwald), the main mountain range of the state, rises east of the Rhine valley. Baden-Württemberg shares both Lake Constance (Bodensee) and the foothills of the Alps with Switzerland.

The Danube river has its source in Baden-Württemberg near the town of Donaueschingen, in a place called Furtwangen in the Black Forest. See also List of places in Baden-Württemberg.

Administration

Baden-Württemberg is divided into 35 counties, grouped into the four Administrative Districts (Regierungsbezirke) of Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, and Tübingen.

Map

Furthermore there are nine independent cities, which do not belong to any district:

History

This state combines the historical states of Baden, Hohenzollern and Württemberg. After World War II the Allied forces established three states: Württemberg-Baden (occupied by the USA), Württemberg-Hohenzollern (France) and Baden (France). In 1952 these states merged in order to form the State of Baden-Württemberg; the 1949 constitution of West Germany contains special clauses (Article 118 and 118a) that makes mergers possible. In the case of Berlin and Brandenburg, the citizens of Brandenburg did not agree.

Politics

List of minister-presidents of Baden-Württemberg

2006 state election results

See also: Baden-Württemberg state election, 2006

Party	Party List votes	Vote percentage (change)		Total Seats (change)		Seat percentage
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	1,748,781	44.2%	-0.6%	69	+6	49.7%
Social Democratic Party (SPD)	996,095	25.2%	-8.1%	38	-7	27.3%
Alliance '90/The Greens	462,889	11.7%	+4.0%	17	+7	12.2%
Free Democratic Party (FDP)	421,885	10.7%	+2.6%	15	+5	10.8%
Labour and Social Justice Party (WASG)	121,875	3.1%	+3.1%	0	0	0.0%
The Republicans	100,079	2.5%	-1.9%	0	0	0.0%
All Others	108,741	2.6%	0.0%	0	+0	0.0%
Totals	3,960,345	100.0%		139	+11	100.0%

External links

Baden-Württemberg | States of Germany | NUTS 1 Statistical Regions of Europe