Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg - L-Bank

THE STATE OF BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG
GENERAL
Location, Area and Population
The Federal Republic of Germany was founded on May 24, 1949 when its constitution, codified in the
Grundgesetz (the “German Constitution”), took effect. Baden-Württemberg is one of Germany’s 16 states
(Länder), together with Bavaria (Bayern), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (Hessen), Lower
Saxony (Niedersachsen), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), North-Rhine
Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), Saarland, Saxony (Sachsen),
Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia (Thüringen).
The State of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is located in southwestern Germany. It is bordered on the east by Bavaria, on the north
by Hesse, on the west by the Alsace region of France and Rhineland-Palatinate, and on the south by Switzerland.
The largest cities are Stuttgart, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Freiburg and Heidelberg.
Baden-Württemberg encompasses an area of 13,803 square miles, or approximately 10% of Germany’s total
area of 137,829 square miles. Baden-Württemberg is the third-largest state of Germany by area, after Bavaria and
Lower Saxony.
At the beginning of 2003, Baden-Württemberg had 10.7 million inhabitants, or 12.9% of Germany’s total
population of 82.5 million. Baden-Württemberg is the third largest state of Germany by population, after the
states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria.
Politics and Foreign Relations
Many governmental powers have been allocated by the Constitution to the federal government. The states
have for instance legislative jurisdiction regarding such areas as the educational system, cultural affairs and
police powers. The state enforces and administers not only state laws but also, subject to supervision by federal
authorities, most of the federal laws in Germany. The administration of the courts on the lower level is the
responsibility of the states whereas the administration of the highest court is the responsibility of the federal
government. There is no separation between the state and the federal judicial system as in the United States.
Baden-Württemberg, like the other states of Germany, has an elected parliament and an administration headed by
a Prime Minister (Ministerpräsident) who is elected by the state parliament.
On March 25, 2001, elections for representatives to the parliament of Baden-Württemberg were held. The
parliament of Baden-Württemberg currently consists of the following numbers of representatives of four political
parties: the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), 63 representatives; the Social Democratic Party (SPD), 45
representatives; Alliance 90/the Greens, 10 representatives; and the Free Democratic Party (FDP/DVP), 10
representatives; the CDU and FDP have formed a government in coalition. The next elections will be held in the
spring of 2006.
Because foreign relations are reserved to the German federal government under Article 32 of the German
Constitution, Baden-Württemberg may not maintain foreign relations with other countries without the consent of
the German federal government.
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