Baden-Württemberg

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Flag
Image:Germany baden-wurttemberg.svg
Coat of arms
Image:Grosses Landeswappen Baden-Wuerttemberg.png
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
Image:Deutschland Lage von Baden-Württemberg.svg

Baden-Württemberg is a state of the Federal Republic 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.

1 Geography
2 Administration
3 History
4 Politics
- 4.1 List of minister-presidents of Baden-Württemberg
- 4.2 2006 state election results
5 Education
6 External links

[edit] Geography

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

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 (Donau) river has its source in Baden-Württemberg near the town of Donaueschingen, in a place called Furtwangen in the Black Forest.

[edit] Administration

Baden-Württemberg is divided into 35 districts and 9 independent cities, both grouped into the four Administrative Districts (Regierungsbezirke) of Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, and Tübingen.

Map

Image:Wirkoennenalles.jpg

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

[edit] 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 1949 these three states became parts of the Federal Republic of Germany. Article 118 of the new German constitution however allowed for those states to merge. After a plebiscite held in 1952 these states merged into Baden-Württemberg.

In 1956 the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the plebiscite was unlawful because it had disadvantaged Baden's population. The plebiscite was then held again within the area of former Baden in 1969 resulting in a majority of more than 81% for the new state.

[edit] Politics

Baden-Württemberg's voters are, similar to neighboring Bavaria, predominantly conservative. Except for the first election, all minister-presidents were members of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).

[edit] List of minister-presidents of Baden-Württemberg

[edit] 2006 state election results

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%

[edit] Education

Baden-Württemberg is home to some of the oldest, most renowned and prestigious universities in Germany, such as the universities of Freiburg, Heidelberg and Tübingen. Other university towns are Karlsruhe, Konstanz, Mannheim and Ulm. Furthermore, two universities are located in the state capital Stuttgart, the University of Hohenheim and the University of Stuttgart.

[edit] External links

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Baden-Württemberg · Bavaria · Berlin · Brandenburg · Bremen · Hamburg · Hesse · Lower Saxony · Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania · North Rhine-Westphalia · Rhineland-Palatinate · Saarland · Saxony · Saxony-Anhalt · Schleswig-Holstein · Thuringia

Image:Germany baden-wurttemberg.svg	Urban districts and districts in the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg in Germany	Image:Flag of Germany.svg
Urban districts	Baden-Baden · Freiburg · Heidelberg · Heilbronn · Karlsruhe · Mannheim · Pforzheim · Stuttgart · Ulm
Rural districts	Alb-Donau · Biberach · Bodensee · Böblingen · Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald · Calw · Konstanz (Constance) · Emmendingen · Enz · Esslingen · Freudenstadt · Göppingen · Heidenheim · Heilbronn (district) · Hohenlohe · Karlsruhe (district) · Lörrach · Ludwigsburg · Main-Tauber · Neckar-Odenwald · Ortenau · Ostalbkreis · Rastatt · Ravensburg · Rems-Murr · Reutlingen · Rhein-Neckar · Rottweil · Schwarzwald-Baar · Schwäbisch Hall · Sigmaringen · Tuttlingen · Tübingen · Waldshut · Zollernalb