Bavaria

"Bayern" redirects here. For the German football club based in the region, see FC Bayern Munich.

Bavaria (/bəˈvɛəriə/; German: Bayern, [ˈbaɪɐn]), officially the Free State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern, [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈbaɪɐn] (listen); Bavarian: Freistoot Bayern), is a State (Bundesland) of Germany. The territory of this state is the largest of the 16 German states. The state capital is Munich with 1.5 million people. About 13.1 million people live in Bavaria.

Free State of Bavaria Freistaat Bayern  (German) Freistoot Bayern  (Bavarian)
State
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Bayernhymne  (German) "Hymn of Bavaria"
Coordinates: 48°46′39″N 11°25′52″E
Country	Germany
Capital	Munich
Government
• Body	Landtag of Bavaria
• Minister-President	Markus Söder (CSU)
• Governing parties	CSU / FW
• Bundesrat votes	6 (of 69)
Area
• Total	70,550.19 km2 (27,239.58 sq mi)
Population  (2019-12-31)[1]
• Total	13,124,737
• Density	186/km2 (480/sq mi)
Demonym	Bavarians
Population
• Official languages	Bavarian Standard High German
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	DE-BY
GRP (nominal)	€633 billion (2019)[2]
GRP per capita	€48,000 (2019)
NUTS Region	DE2
HDI (2018)	0.947[3] very high · 6th of 16
Website	https://www.bayern.de

Like many German states, Bavaria was once independent. Ludwig II of Bavaria was its last independent king. Bavaria joined the German Empire in 1871.

Structure

Bavaria has seven parts: Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria), Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria), Schwaben (Swabia), Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), Unterfranken (Lower Franconia), Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) and Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate). Bavaria has 71 districts and 25 free cities.

The highest point is the Zugspitze, which is also the highest mountain in Germany. Munich is the largest city, the second biggest city is Nuremberg (Nürnberg), which is famous for its gingerbread, a kind of Christmas bread that is often shaped like a Christmas tree, a snowman or Santa Claus.

Pope Benedict XVI was born in Bavaria.

Administrative divisions

Administrative regions

Administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke and Bezirke) of Bavaria

Bavaria is divided into seven administrative regions called Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk). For every Administrative region there is a state agency called Bezirksregierung (district government).

• Altbayern:

1. Upper Palatinate
2. Upper Bavaria
3. Lower Bavaria

• Franconia:

1. Upper Franconia
2. Middle Franconia
3. Lower Franconia

• Swabia:

1. Swabia

Districts (Bezirke)

Bavaria has "Bezirke" or districts; the others are the Landkreise and the Gemeinden or Städte. The Bezirke in Bavaria are identical with the Regierungsbezirke. In the other larger states of Germany, there are only Regierungsbezirke as administrative divisions and no self-governing entities at the level of the Regierungsbezirke as the Bezirke in Bavaria.

Population and area

Region	Coat of arms	Capital	Population (2019)[4]		Area (km2)		No. municipalities
Lower Bavaria		Landshut	1,244,169	9.48%	10,330	14.6%	258	12.5%
Lower Franconia		Würzburg	1,317,619	10.46%	8,531	12.1%	308	15.0%
Upper Franconia		Bayreuth	1,065,371	8.49%	7,231	10.2%	214	10.4%
Middle Franconia		Ansbach	1,775,169	13.65%	7,245	10.3%	210	10.2%
Upper Palatinate		Regensburg	1,112,102	8.60%	9,691	13.7%	226	11.0%
Swabia		Augsburg	1,899,442	14.21%	9,992	14.2%	340	16.5%
Upper Bavaria		Munich	4,710,865	35.12%	17,530	24.8%	500	24.3%
Total			13,124,737	100.0%	70,549	100.0%	2,056	100.0%

Districts

Bavaria is made up of 71 rural districts that are comparable to counties, as well as the 25 independent cities, both of which share the same administrative responsibilities and duties.

Map of the Landkreise of Bavaria

Rural districts:

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 München (Landkreis München) Neuburg-Schrobenhausen Neumarkt Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim Neustadt an der 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

Independent cities:

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

Municipalities

The 71 rural districts are on the lowest level divided into 2,031 regular municipalities. Together with the 25 independent cities, there are a total of 2,056 municipalities in Bavaria.

Munich city center with Frauenkirche (left) and Rathaus (town hall)

Nuremberg

Augsburg

Regensburg with the Danube (foreground) and Regensburg Cathedral

In 44 of the 71 rural districts, there are a total of 215 unincorporated areas (as of 1 January 2005), not belonging to any municipality, all unsettled and unpopulated, mostly forested areas, but also four lakes (Chiemsee-without islands, Starnberger See-without islands, Roseninsel, Ammersee, which are the three largest lakes of Bavaria, and Waginger See).

Major cities and towns

City	Region	Population (2000)	Population (2005)	Population (2010)	Population (2015)	Change (%)
Munich	Upper Bavaria	1,210,223	1,259,677	1,353,186	1,450,381	+11.81
Nuremberg	Middle Franconia	488,400	499,237	505,664	509,975	+3.53
Augsburg	Swabia	254,982	262,676	264,708	286,374	+3.81
Regensburg	Upper Palatinate	125,676	129,859	135,520	145,465	+7.83
Ingolstadt	Upper Bavaria	115,722	121,314	125,088	132,438	+8.09
Würzburg	Lower Franconia	127,966	133,906	133,799	124,873	+4.56
Fürth	Middle Franconia	110,477	113,422	114,628	124,171	+3.76
Erlangen	Middle Franconia	100,778	103,197	105,629	108,336	+4.81
Bayreuth	Upper Franconia	74,153	73,997	72,683	72,148	−1.98
Bamberg	Upper Franconia	69,036	70,081	70,004	73,331	+1.40
Aschaffenburg	Lower Franconia	67,592	68,642	68,678	68,986	+1.61
Landshut	Lower Bavaria	58,746	61,368	63,258	69,211	+7.68
Kempten	Swabia	61,389	61,360	62,060	66,947	+1.09
Rosenheim	Upper Bavaria	58,908	60,226	61,299	61,844	+4.06
Neu-Ulm	Swabia	50,188	51,410	53,504	57,237	+6.61
Schweinfurt	Lower Franconia	54,325	54,273	53,415	51,969	−1.68
Passau	Lower Bavaria	50,536	50,651	50,594	50,566	+0.11
Freising	Upper Bavaria	40,890	42,854	45,223	46,963	+10.60
Straubing	Lower Bavaria	44,014	44,633	44,450	46,806	+0.99
Dachau	Upper Bavaria	38,398	39,922	42,954	46,705	+11.87

Source: Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung^[5][6]