Bavaria

Flag (lozengy variant)
Flag (striped variant)
Statistics
Capital:	Munich
Area:	70,553 km²
Inhabitants:	11,600,000 (2000)
pop. density:	164 inh./km²
Homepage:
ISO 3166-2:	DE-BY	Politics
Minister-President:	Edmund Stoiber (CSU)
Ruling party:	CSU	Map

With an area of 70,553 km² and 11.6 million inhabitants, Bavaria (German Bayern or Freistaat Bayern) forms the southernmost of the 16 Bundesländer of Germany. Its capital is Munich.

Geography

Bavaria shares international borders with Austria and the Czech Republic. Neighbouring states within Germany are Baden-Württemberg, Hessen, Thuringia and Saxony. Two major rivers flow through the state, the Danube (Donau) and the Main.

The major cities in Bavaria are Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Würzburg, Ingolstadt, Regensburg, Fürth and Erlangen.

See also: List of places in Bavaria.

Politics

Bavaria has a unicameral Landtag or state parliament, elected by universal suffrage. Until December 1999, there was also a Senat or Senate whose members were chosen by social and economic groups in Bavaria, but following a referendum in 1998, this institution was abolished. The head of government is the Ministerpräsident or prime minister.

Administration

Bavaria is divided into 7 administrative regions (called Regierungsbezirke, no map available at this time)

1. Oberfranken (Upper Franconia)
2. Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia)
3. Unterfranken (Lower Franconia)
4. Schwaben (Swebia)
5. Oberpfalz (Upper Palatine)
6. Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria)
7. Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria)

and 71 districts (called Kreise, see below) and 25 independent towns:

Map: Bavaria

Aichach-Friedberg Altötting Amberg-Sulzbach Ansbach Aschaffenburg Augsburg Bad Kissingen Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen Bamberg Bayreuth Berchtesgadener Land Cham Coburg Dachau Deggendorf Dillingen Dingolfing-Landau Donau-Ries Ebersberg Eichstätt Erding Erlangen-Höchstadt Forchheim Freising

Freyung-Grafenau Fürstenfeldbruck Fürth Garmisch-Partenkirchen Günzburg Haßberge Hof Kelheim Kitzingen Kronach Kulmbach Landsberg Landshut Lichtenfels Lindau Main-Spessart Miesbach Miltenberg Mühldorf Munich (München) Neuburg-Schrobenhausen Neumarkt Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim Neustadt (Waldnaab)

Neu-Ulm Nürnberger Land Oberallgäu Ostallgäu Passau Pfaffenhofen Regen Regensburg Rhön-Grabfeld Rosenheim Roth Rottal-Inn Schwandorf Schweinfurt Starnberg Straubing-Bogen Tirschenreuth Traunstein Unterallgäu Weilheim-Schongau Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen Wunsiedel Würzburg

Furthermore, Bavaria includes 25 independent towns, which don't belong to any district:

Amberg Ansbach Aschaffenburg Augsburg Bamberg Bayreuth Coburg Erlangen Fürth

Hof Ingolstadt Kaufbeuren Kempten Landshut Memmingen Munich (München) Nuremberg (Nürnberg) Passau

Regensburg Rosenheim Schwabach Schweinfurt Straubing Weiden Würzburg

Dialects

Several German dialects are spoken in Bavaria. In the administrative regions to the north the Frankonian dialect is prevalent, in Swebia the local dialect is Swebian, a thread of the Alemannic dialect family. In Upper Palatine people speak a mixture between Franconian and Bavarian dialect that can vary regionally. In Upper and Lower Bavaria Bavarian is the predominant dialect.

History

Main article: History of Bavaria

The Wittelsbach family ruled Bavaria from 1180 to 1918. Bavaria became a kingdom in 1806. In 1815 the Rhenish Palatinate became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845 - 1886) reigned as King of Bavaria from 1864 to 1886.

See also: List of rulers of Bavaria, List of Premiers of Bavaria

Miscellaneous

The many famous Bavarians include:

• Painters such as Hans Holbein the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach and Franz Marc
• Musicians such as Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss
• Modern musicians like Klaus Doldinger and Barbara Dennerlein
• Widely-read Bavarian writers like Bertolt Brecht
• Well-known scientists such as the Nobel prize winner Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
• Well-known inventors such as Levi Strauss who invented the jeans and cofounded Levis with its famous brand Levis's.
• Neurologist Alois Alzheimer, who described the disease bearing his name.

The motorcycle and automobile makers BMW (the name stands for Bayerische Motoren-Werke, or "Bavarian Motor Works") and Audi have a Bavarian industrial base.

A famous annual festival is called Oktoberfest or October Festival. It is the largest public beer festival in the world, celebrated since 1811 during the last two weeks of September.