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North Rhine-Westphalia
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Nordrhein-Westfalen
North Rhine-Westphalia
Flag Coat of arms
Coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia
Details
Location
Map of Germany, location of North Rhine-Westphalia highlighted
Administration
Country Germany
NUTS Region DEA
Capital Düsseldorf
Largest city Cologne
Minister-President Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU)
Governing parties CDU / FDP
Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69)
Basic statistics
Area 34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi)
Population 18,033,000 (11/2006)[1]
- Density 529 /km² (1,370 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
GDP/ Nominal € 489 billion (2005)
Website nrw.de
North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen, usually shortened to NRW) is the westernmost and - in terms of population and economic output - the largest Federal State of Germany. Nordrhein-Westfalen has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km² (13,158 square miles). North Rhine-Westphalia is situated in the Western part of Germany and shares borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. It has borders with the German states of Lower Saxony to the North and Northeast, Rhineland-Palatinate to the Southwest and Hesse to the Southeast.
The capital city is Düsseldorf. The largest city is Cologne. Other major cities are Essen, Dortmund, Duisburg, Oberhausen, Aachen, Bielefeld, Bonn, Bochum, Münster, Paderborn, Gelsenkirchen and Wuppertal.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Geography
* 2 History
* 3 Culture
* 4 Flag
* 5 List of Prime Ministers of North Rhine-Westphalia
* 6 May 22, 2005 state election results
* 7 Notes and references
* 8 External links
[edit] Geography
The state is centred on the sprawling Rhine-Ruhr urbanised region, which contains the cities of Düsseldorf, Bonn and Cologne as well as the Ruhr Area industrial complex. The Ruhr area consists, among others, of the cities of Essen, Dortmund, Duisburg, Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Oberhausen.
The state's area covers a maximum distance of 291 km from north to south, and 266 km from east to west.
The total length of the state's borders is 1,645 km. The following countries and states have a border with North Rhine-Westphalia:[2]
* Belgium (99 km)
* The Netherlands (387 km)
* Lower Saxony (583 km)
* Hesse (269 km)
* Rhineland Palatinate (307 km)
For many people North Rhine-Westphalia is synonymous with industrial areas and agglomerating cities. But the largest part of the state is covered with forests and fields. The southern parts of the Teutoburg Forest are located in the northeast. In the southwest, Nordrhein-Westafalen shares in a small part of the Eifel, located on the borders with Belgium and Rheinland-Pfalz. The southeast is occupied by the sparsely populated regions of Sauerland and Siegerland. The northwestern areas of the state are part of the Northern European Lowlands.
The most important rivers that run at least partially through North Rhine-Westphalia include: Rhine, Ruhr, Ems, Lippe and Weser. The Pader, which runs only through the city of Paderborn, is considered the shortest river in Germany.
See also List of places in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The state consists of 5 administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke), divided into 31 districts (Kreise) and 23 urban districts (kreisfreie Städte). In total, North Rhine-Westphalia has 396 municipalities (1997), including the urban districts, which are municipalities by themselves.
The districts of North Rhine-Westphalia:
image:north rhine w map.jpg
1. Aachen
2. Borken
3. Coesfeld
4. Düren
5. Ennepe-Ruhr
6. Rhein-Erft-Kreis
7. Euskirchen
8. Gütersloh
9. Heinsberg
10. Herford
11. Hochsauerlandkreis
12. Höxter
13. Cleves (Kleve)
14. Lippe
15. Märkischer Kreis
16. Mettmann
17. Minden-Lübbecke
18. Rhein-Kreis Neuss
19. Oberbergischer Kreis
20. Olpe
21. Paderborn
22. Recklinghausen
23. Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis
24. Rhein-Sieg
25. Siegen-Wittgenstein
26. Soest
27. Steinfurt
28. Unna
29. Viersen
30. Warendorf
31. Wesel
The urban districts:
1. Aachen
2. Bielefeld
3. Bochum
4. Bonn
5. Bottrop
6. Cologne (Köln)
7. Dortmund
8. Duisburg
9. Düsseldorf
10. Essen
11. Gelsenkirchen
12. Hagen
13. Hamm
14. Herne
15. Krefeld
16. Leverkusen
17. Mönchengladbach
18. Mülheim
19. Münster
20. Oberhausen
21. Remscheid
22. Solingen
23. Wuppertal
Duisburg Lake Masuren in the industrial region of the Ruhr
Duisburg Lake Masuren in the industrial region of the Ruhr
The five administrative regions, belonging to one of two Landschaftsverbände:
* Rheinland (LVR)
o Cologne
o Düsseldorf
* Westfalen-Lippe (LWL)
o Arnsberg
o Münster
o Detmold
[edit] History
Augustusburg Palace in Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Augustusburg Palace in Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia.
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia was established by the British military administration on 25 October 1946. Originally it consisted of Westphalia and the northern parts of the Rhine Province, both formerly belonging to Prussia. In 1947 the former state of Lippe was merged with North Rhine-Westphalia, hence leading to the present borders of the state.
The North Rhine-Westphalia state election on May 22, 2005 granted the CDU an unexpected victory. Their top candidate Jürgen Rüttgers built a new coalition government consisting of CDU and FDP that replaced the former government headed by Peer Steinbrück. Rüttgers was elected new Prime Minister (German: Ministerpräsident) of the federal state on June 22, 2005.
[edit] Culture
North Rhine-Westphalia was formed after the second world war from culturally separate areas, Rhineland, Westphalia and Lippe.
[edit] Flag
The flag of North Rhine-Westphalia is green-white-red with the combined coats of arms of the Prussian Rhine province (white line before green background, symbolising the river Rhine), Westphalia (the white horse) and Lippe (the red rose).
According to legend the horse in the Westphalian coat of arms is the horse that the Saxon leader Widukind rode after his baptism. Other theories attribute the horse to Henry the Lion.
A regional anthem is the Lied für NRW (Song for NRW).
[edit] List of Prime Ministers of North Rhine-Westphalia
These are the Prime Ministers (German: Ministerpräsident) of the Federal State (German: Bundesland) of North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW):
1. 1946 - 1947: Rudolf Amelunxen (Centre Party)
2. 1947 - 1956: Karl Arnold (CDU)
3. 1956 - 1958: Fritz Steinhoff (SPD)
4. 1958 - 1966: Franz Meyers (CDU)
5. 1966 - 1978: Heinz Kühn (SPD)
6. 1978 - 1998: Johannes Rau (SPD)
7. 1998 - 2002: Wolfgang Clement (SPD)
8. 2002 - 2005: Peer Steinbrück (SPD)
9. holding office: Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU)
[edit] May 22, 2005 state election results
See also: North Rhine-Westphalia state election, 2005
Official results are as follows. Note that overall seat totals have been reduced, lowering the seat counts for all parties.
Voter turnout was at 63%, an increase of 7% over the previous election in 2000. Prior to the election, some analysts had predicted that a CDU victory might result from disenchanted SPD voters staying home, but the turnout figures appear to reject this scenario.
Party Party List votes Vote percentage (change) Total Seats (change) Seat percentage
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 3,059,074 37.1% -5.7% 74 -28 39.6%
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 3,695,806 44.8% +7.9% 89 +1 47.6%
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 508,354 6.2% -3.7% 12 -12 6.4%
Alliance '90/The Greens 509,219 6.2% -0.9% 12 -5 6.4%
Electoral Alternative for Labor and Social Justice (WASG) 181,886 2.2% +2.2% 0 +0 0.0%
National Democratic Party (NPD) 73,959 0.9% +0.9% 0 +0 0.0%
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) 72,982 0.9% -0.2% 0 +0 0.0%
The Republicans 67,282 0.8% -0.3% 0 +0 0.0%
All Others 74,810 0.9% +0.5% 0 +0 0.0%
Totals 8,243,372 100.0% 187 -44 100.0%
2005 results; SPD in red, CDU in black, FDP in yellow, Greens in green.
2005 results; SPD in red, CDU in black, FDP in yellow, Greens in green.
[edit] Notes and references
1. ^ State population. Portal of the Federal Statistics Office Germany. Retrieved on 2007-04-25.
2. ^ Length of borders taken from Statistisches Jahrbuch NRW 2005, 47. Jahrgang, Landesamt für Datenverarbeitung und Statistik Nordrhein-Westfalen, p. 22
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
North Rhine-Westphalia
* Official Government Portal
* The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
* Tourism
* Information and resources on the history of Westphalia on the Web portal "Westphalian History"
* Guidelines for the integration of the Land Lippe within the territory of the federal state North-Rhine-Westphalia of 17th January 1947
[show]
v • d • e
Flag of Germany States of Germany
Baden-Württemberg · Bavaria · Brandenburg · Hesse · Lower Saxony · Mecklenburg-Vorpommern · North Rhine-Westphalia · Rhineland-Palatinate · Saarland · Saxony · Saxony-Anhalt · Schleswig-Holstein · Thuringia
City-states
Berlin · Bremen · Hamburg
Coat of arms of Germany
[show]
v • d • e
Urban and rural districts in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany Flag of Germany
Urban districts Aachen · Bielefeld · Bochum · Bonn · Bottrop · Dortmund · Duisburg · Düsseldorf · Essen · Gelsenkirchen · Hagen · Hamm · Herne · Köln (Cologne) · Krefeld · Leverkusen · Mönchengladbach · Mülheim · Münster · Oberhausen · Remscheid · Solingen · Wuppertal
Rural Districts Aachen · Borken · Kleve (Cleves) · Coesfeld · Düren · Ennepe-Ruhr · Euskirchen · Gütersloh · Heinsberg · Herford · Hochsauerland · Höxter · Lippe · Märkischer Kreis · Mettmann · Minden-Lübbecke · Oberbergischer Kreis · Olpe · Paderborn · Recklinghausen · Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis · Rhein-Erft-Kreis · Rhein-Kreis Neuss · Rhein-Sieg-Kreis · Siegen-Wittgenstein · Soest · Steinfurt · Unna · Viersen · Warendorf · Wesel
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Rhine-Westphalia"
Categories: 1946 establishments | North Rhine-Westphalia | States of Germany | Amalgamated placenames | NUTS 1 statistical regions of the European Union
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