States of Germany

The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) 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. Some states have historical roots from the early Middle Ages.

State creation since 1949:

1952: Three small states (Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern, part of Germany since 1949) joined 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.

Population and area in km² as of November 2014:

Flag and Bundesland	German name	Capital	Population	Area (km²)	Part of FRG
Baden-Württemberg	Baden-Württemberg	Stuttgart	10,880,000	35,751	1952
Bavaria	Bayern	Munich (München)	12,844,000	70,550	1949
Berlin	Berlin	Berlin	3,520,000	892	1990
Brandenburg	Brandenburg	Potsdam	2,485,000	29,654	1990
Bremen	Bremen	Bremen	671,000	420	1949
Hamburg	Hamburg	Hamburg	1,787,000	755	1949
Hesse	Hessen	Wiesbaden	6,176,000	21,115	1949
Lower Saxony	Niedersachsen	Hanover (Hannover)	7,927,000	47,593	1949
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Schwerin	1,612,000	23,212	1990
North Rhine-Westphalia	Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW)	Düsseldorf	17,865,000	34,113	1949
Rhineland-Palatinate	Rheinland-Pfalz	Mainz	4,053,000	19,854	1949
Saarland	Saarland	Saarbrücken	996,000	2,567	1957
Saxony	Sachsen	Dresden	4,085,000	18,449	1990
Saxony-Anhalt	Sachsen-Anhalt	Magdeburg	2,245,000	20,452	1990
Schleswig-Holstein	Schleswig-Holstein	Kiel	2,859,000	15,802	1949
Thuringia	Thüringen	Erfurt	2,171,000	16,202	1990