52 45 '22 "N 9 23' 36" E / 52.7562, 9.39331

Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony)
Flag Coat of Arms
Location of Lower Saxony (dark green) within Germany
Administration
Country	Germany
Capital	Hanover
Minister-President	David McAllister ( CDU )
Party (or parties)	CDU-FDP
Diet : CDU : SPD : FDP : A90/Verts : Die Linke : Without the Party: Total:	69 47 13 12 10 1 152
Number of votes in the Bundesrat	6
Statistical data
Area	47 624.22 km ( 2nd )
Population (31/12/06)	7,996,942 inhab. ( 4th )
Density	167.92 inhabitants / km ( 12th )
GDP (2006)	197.094 billion ( 5th )
GDP per capita.	24 600 ( 10 th )
Other information
ISO 3166-2	DE-NI
Official site	niedersachsen.de

Lower Saxony (German is a Land of North-West of Germany formed in 1946 and corresponding to the western part of the historic Saxony. Land is the second in terms of area.

Lneburg Heath

The territory of Lower Saxony covers 47,438 km is after Bavaria the land the largest of the Federal Republic. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea and Schleswig-Holstein , to the east by Mecklenburg and Saxony-Anhalt , on the south by Hesse and Thuringia , on the west by the Rhine-North Westphalia and the Netherlands.

The main cities are:

• Hanover (Hannover) (capital): 596,000 inhabitants. (December 31, 2006).
• Brunswick (Braunschweig): 245 872 inhab.
• Osnabrck : 164 489 inhab.
• Oldenburg (Oldenburg): 158 394 inhab.
• Gttingen : 122 187 inhab.
• Wolfsburg : 122 148 inhab.
• Salzgitter : 108 763 inhab.
• Hildesheim : 102 937 inhab.
• Wilhelmshaven : 84 118 inhabitants.
• Delmenhorst : 76 094 inhabitants.
• That : 71 536 inhabitants.
• Lneburg (Lneburg): 71,306 inhab.

The Land of Bremen forms two enclaves in the state of Lower Saxony.

History

The territory has been occupied by Germanic tribes, the country of origin of the Saxons, hence its name.

At 20 km north-east of Osnabrck , in Kalkriese, took place the battle of Teutoburg that ended the Roman expansion northward. Indeed, the chief Cherusci , Arminius would have crushed the Roman legions of Varus in the year 9. Some see it as the site of the battle of long bridges in 15 AD

The Congress of Vienna left the territory of Lower Saxony current four independent states: the kingdom of Hanover , the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg , the Duchy of Brunswick-Lneburg and the principality of Schaumburg-Lippe.

As a result of the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 , the Prussian occupied and annexed the kingdom of Hanover, and formed a province. The revolutions of 1918 transformed the other Republics States. The former county of Pyrmont belonging to the Republic of Waldeck was attached in 1922. In 1937 , the Province of Hanover exchanged some territories with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg : Cuxhaven returned to the province of Hanover, who also gave the city of Harburg in Hamburg. In 1941 , the boundaries between Brunswick and Hanover were modified.

The boundaries of the zones of occupation and cut some exclaves Eastern Township Neuhaus on the right bank of the Elbe , who remained outside the British zone. The exclaves became parts of Saxony-Anhalt , Canton Neuhaus returned to Mecklenburg. The district's county of Schaumburg , an exclave of the province of Hesse-Nassau , which was predominantly occupied by the Americans, was built in the province of Hanover.

In 1946 , the British administration united province of Hanover with the states of Brunswick, Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe and formed the Lower Saxony.

The Interim Constitution of Lower Saxony was promulgated on 13 April 1951 and came into force on ¹ May 1951.

A plebiscite in 1974 demanded the restoration of Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe as independent Lnder. However, a Federal Act of 9 January 1976 the final integration in Lower Saxony.

By treaty of March 1993 , the Land of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania went Township Neuhaus in Lower Saxony on 30 June 1993.

As a result of the reunification , the Landtag worked out a permanent constitution which was promulgated on 19 May 1993 and entered into force on ¹ June 1993.

Demographics

Bilingual signs in German and East Frisian in Lower Saxony.

The population of Lower Saxony is 7.5 million.

93% of residents speak German. The Low German (Plattdeutsch), a German dialect, remains widespread in rural north of the Land. Two thousand people speak Frisian East , they live in the district of Cloppenburg located in the northwest of land near the border with the Netherlands. Frisians land does not even consider a "national minority", but as an ethnic group expressing a strong regional identity.

Territorial Administration

At the municipal level, the state includes:

• Hannover Region (Region Hannover) with 21 communes (Gemeinden);
• 8 cities, districts (Kreisfreie Stdte);
• 37 districts (Landkreis) with 994 communes, 2 districts unorganized (gemeindefreie Bezirke) and 23 unorganized territories (gemeindefreie Gebiete).

736 of the communes are grouped into 140 districts (Samtgemeinden) that provide the municipal administration. The 287 other municipalities have their own administration (Einheitsgemeinden).

The four districts of Brunswick, Hanover and Lneburg Weser-Ems were dissolved on ¹ January 2005.

Districts (Landkreis) and Cities districts (Kreisfreie Stdte)

Region Hannover (special status):

1. Region Hannover

The 37 districts (Landkreis) in Lower Saxony:

The 8 -city districts (Kreisfreie Stdte) in Lower Saxony:

See also

Internal Links

• List of members of the Landtag of Lower Saxony (16. Parliament)

External Links

• (En) International Portal on the Land of Lower Saxony
• (De) Official site of the tourist office in Lower Saxony

Boroughs and cities districts of Lower Saxony
Cities boroughs (Kreisfreie Stdte)	Brunswick (Braunschweig) | Delmenhorst | Emden | Oldenburg (Oldenburg) | Osnabrck | Salzgitter | Wilhelmshaven | Wolfsburg (Wolfsburg) |
Districts (Landkreis)	Ammerland | Aurich | The | Cloppenburg | County of Bentheim (Grafschaft Bentheim) | Cuxhaven | Diepholz | Friesland (Friesland) | Gifhorn | Goslar | Gttingen | Hamelin-Pyrmont (Hameln-Pyrmont) | Region Hannover (Region Hannover) | Harburg | Helmstedt | Hildesheim | Holzminden | Leer | Lchow-Dannenberg | Lneburg (Lneburg) | Nienburg / Weser | Northeim | Oldenburg (Oldenburg) | Osnabrck | Osterholz | Osterode am Harz | Country Ems (Emsland) | Penalty | Rotenburg (Wmme ) | Schaumburg | Soltau-Fallingbostel | Stadium | Uelzen | Vechta | Verden | Wesermarsch | Wittmund | Wolfenbttel |

The 16 federal states of Germany
Baden-Wurttemberg Low Saxony Bavaria Berlin Brandenburg Bremen Hamburg Hesse Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Rhine-Westphalia Rhineland-Palatinate Saar Saxony Saxony-Anhalt Schleswig-Holstein Thuringia

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