North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia ( [ˌnɔrtraɪ̯nvɛstˈfaːlən], state code NW, common abbreviation NRW) is a parliamentary republic and a semi-sovereign constituent state within the Federal Republic of Germany. With about 17.9 million inhabitants, it is the most populous state in Germany. The state capital is Düsseldorf, the most populous city is Cologne. The federal city of Bonn is today the second seat of government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

North Rhine-Westphalia borders Lower Saxony to the north and northeast, Hesse to the southeast, Rhineland-Palatinate to the south and the Belgian province of Liège and the Dutch provinces of Limburg, Gelderland and Overijssel to the west. With an area of around 34,100 square kilometres, North Rhine-Westphalia is the fourth largest German state. 30 of the 81 major German cities are located in its highly urbanized area. With around ten million inhabitants, the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region in the centre of the state is one of the 30 largest conurbations in the world and a central part of the most densely populated region in Europe, the "Blue Banana".

The northern part of the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation is formed by the highly urbanised Ruhr area (cf. Ruhrstadt) with the centres of Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg and Bochum. Its economic rise in the early 19th century was based on industrialisation and the coal and steel industry, in particular ore and coal mining. Since the decline of mining from the 1960s onwards, a structural change towards a service and technology economy has been taking place there, which is accompanied by projects such as "RUHR.2010 - European Capital of Culture". With a share of around 22 percent of Germany's gross domestic product, North Rhine-Westphalia is the state with the highest economic output.

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia was established in 1946 by the British occupying power from the Prussian province of Westphalia and the northern part of the likewise Prussian Rhine province (North Rhine) and expanded in 1947 to include the state of Lippe. Since 1949 it has been a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. Until 1999 Bonn was the sole seat of government of the Federal Republic. As a result of the Capital City Decision, the federal ministries retained their official seats in Bonn, which is guaranteed significant government functions as a federal city by the Berlin/Bonn Act. Today, Bonn is the second seat of government of the Federal Republic and is home to numerous federal agencies and non-governmental organizations. As the German seat of the United Nations (UN), the federal city of Bonn has a high degree of international integration with a large number of UN organizations.

Culturally, North Rhine-Westphalia is not a uniform area; there are clear differences, particularly in traditional customs, between the Rhineland on the one hand and the Westphalia and Lippe regions on the other. The state is home to a large number of important educational and research institutions.

Geography

North Rhine-Westphalia is located in the west of the Federal Republic of Germany and borders clockwise on Lower Saxony, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Belgium and the Netherlands. The extent of the state from southwest to northeast is about 260 kilometers. The north of the state lies in the North German Plain and is roughly divided into the Westphalian Bay, through which the rivers Lippe, Ems and Ruhr flow, and the Lower Rhine Lowlands on both sides of the Rhine, which is the largest river in the state (and also in Germany). The lowest point is 9.2 m above sea level in the northwest of the state. The remaining areas of the country have part of the German low mountain range regions. The Weserbergland on the upper Weser River characterizes the east of the state. The mountains of the Rhenish Slate Mountains occupy the south. The Rhenish Slate Mountains are roughly divided into the Eifel on the left bank of the Rhine in the southwest and Bergisches Land and Sauerland east of the Rhine. The Langenberg in the Rothaargebirge, which belongs to the Sauerland, is with 843.2 m above sea level the highest mountain of the country. The geographical center of the country is in Dortmund in the Aplerbecker Mark; near Selfkant is the westernmost point of North Rhine-Westphalia and Germany.

The climate of North Rhine-Westphalia has relatively balancedtemperature and precipitation cycles. The average annual temperatures are between 5 °C and 10 °C, depending on the altitude. Annual precipitation ranges from 600 millimetres in the lowlands to 1400 millimetres in the low mountain ranges.

Rurst Reservoir in the Eifel National Park, since 2004 the first national park in North Rhine-Westphalia


State border to North Rhine-Westphalia near the Hanseatic town of Warburg; in the background the Desenberg, with 345 m landmark and highest elevation of the Warburger Börde near the border triangle NRW-Hesse-Lower Saxony


The highest elevations in North Rhine-Westphalia are located in the Rothaargebirge mountains.

History

By virtue of occupation law, the occupying power Great Britain founded the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on 23 August 1946 from the northern part of the Prussian Rhine Province (Province of North Rhine) and the likewise Prussian Province of Westphalia. The political preparation for this ran under the code word Operation Marriage. After the incorporation of Lippe, which had been independent for centuries, in 1947, the current territorial structure was achieved.

On its national territory, North Rhine-Westphalia is the legal successor to the Free State of Prussia and the Land of Lippe. Unlike some other German states, North Rhine-Westphalia as a whole did not have a predecessor state with a strong identity. When the state of North Rhine-Westphalia was founded, it was also not the idea of merging homogeneous areas that was at the forefront, but rather the British government's desire to embed the Ruhr region and its significant industrial resources into one state as a whole.

In 1949, North Rhine-Westphalia joined other states in founding the Federal Republic of Germany. The greatest challenges in the post-war period were the reconstruction of the war-ravaged state and the establishment of a democratic state. Particularly as a result of the decline of the coal and steel industry due to coal and steel crises and the trend towards tertiarisation, the organisation of the necessary structural change developed into a central topic of state policy.

From 1966 to 1976 there was a municipal territorial reform, which reduced the number of independent cities, district municipalities and districts. The number of administrative districts was reduced from 6 to 5 districts. The former administrative district of Aachen was merged with the administrative district of Cologne to form the new administrative district of Cologne.

Bonn was the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1990 and its sole seat of government until 1999. Since then, the function of government has been divided between Berlin and Bonn, making Bonn the second seat of government and today the seat of numerous federal authorities.