Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate (, Rhine Franconian: Rhoilond-Palz) is one of 16 states () of Germany. It has an area of and 4.073 million people living in it. The capital is Mainz.
History
Rhineland-Palatinate was created on 30 August 1947. It was formed from the northern part of the French Occupation Zone (the Rhenish Palatinate or which had been a part of Bavaria) as well as the southern parts of the Prussian Rhine Province, Birkenfeld which formerly belonged to Oldenburg, parts of the Prussian Province of Nassau (see Hesse-Nassau), and parts of Hesse-Darmstadt as well as Rheinhessen on the western banks of the Rhine.
The people of the new state voted to accept the boundary changes in a referendum on 18 May 1947.
Geography
Rhineland-Palatinate borders on (from the north and clockwise) North Rhine-Westphalia (another German state), Hesse (another German state), Baden-Wurttemberg (another German state), France, Saarland (another German state), Luxembourg, and Belgium.
The main axis of the state is the Rhine river, that forms the border with Baden-Wurttemberg and Hesse in the southeast before running across the northern part of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Rhine Valley is bounded by mountains with some of the historically most significant places of Germany.
In the northwest there are the southern parts of the Eifel mountains. Farther south there is the Hunsruck mountain, which is continued by the Taunus mountains on the opposite side of the Rhine.
The hilly lands in the south of the state are called the Palatine Forest (Pfalzerwald).
These mountains are separated from each other by the tributaries of the Rhine: the Moselle (Mosel), the Lahn and the Nahe.
Government
Rhineland-Palatinate is a parliamentary democracy. Every five years, all Germans over the age of 18 elect the members of the Rhineland-Palatinate Parliament, . This regional parliament or legislature then elects the premier and confirms the cabinet members. Rhineland-Palatinate is the only German Bundesland (state) to have a cabinet minister for winegrowing.
Castles
This is only some of the castles in Rhineland-Palatine:
Universities
There are 7 universities and 13 "Fachhochschulen".
Technische Universitat Kaiserslautern
Universitat Koblenz-Landau - locations: Koblenz, Landau
Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz
Universitat Trier
Fachhochschule Bingen
Fachhochschule Kaiserslautern - locations: Kaiserslautern I and II, Pirmasens and Zweibrucken
Fachhochschule Koblenz - locations: Koblenz, Hohr-Grenzhausen, Remagen
Fachhochschule Ludwigshafen
Evangelische Fachhochschule Ludwigshafen
Fachhochschule Mainz
Fachhochschule Trier - locations: Trier, Idar-Oberstein, Birkenfeld
Fachhochschule Worms
Katholische Fachhochschule Mainz
Fachhochschule fur Finanzen Edenkoben
Fachhochschule der Deutschen Bundesbank, Hachenburg
Fachhochschule fur offentliche Verwaltung Mayen
Wissenschaftliche Hochschule fur Unternehmensfuhrung Otto-Beisheim-Hochschule (private university)
Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Vallendar (church university)
Politics
The Ministers President since 1947:
1947-1947: Wilhelm Boden, CDU
1947-1969: Peter Altmeier, CDU
1969-1976: Helmut Kohl, CDU
1976-1988: Bernhard Vogel, CDU
1988-1991: Carl-Ludwig Wagner, CDU
1991-1994: Rudolf Scharping, SPD
1994-2013: Kurt Beck, SPD
2013-present: Malu Dreyer, SPD
Partnerships
, Bourgogne
, in East Africa
, Province of Valencia
's German-Speaking Community
, Voivodeship of Oppeln
, Middle Bohemia
, Province of Fujian
, State of South Carolina
, Prefecture of Iwate
Administration
Rhineland-Palatinate is divided into 24 districts, grouped into the three administrative regions: Koblenz, Trier and Rheinhessen-Pfalz.