Bavaria

Bavaria (; , ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (, ; ), 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.  

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
Bavaria is divided into seven administrative regions called  (singular ). For every Administrative region there is a state agency called  (district government).
Altbayern:
 Upper Palatinate
 Upper Bavaria
 Lower Bavaria
Franconia:
 Upper Franconia
 Middle Franconia
 Lower Franconia
Swabia:
 Swabia

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

Population and area
 Region Coat of arms Capital Population (2019) Area (km2) No. municipalities Lower Bavaria 50px Landshut 1,244,169 9.48% 10,330 14.6% 258 12.5% Lower Franconia 50px Würzburg 1,317,619 10.46% 8,531 12.1% 308 15.0% Upper Franconia 50px Bayreuth 1,065,371 8.49% 7,231 10.2% 214 10.4% Middle Franconia 50px Ansbach 1,775,169 13.65% 7,245 10.3% 210 10.2% Upper Palatinate 50px Regensburg 1,112,102 8.60% 9,691 13.7% 226 11.0% Swabia 50px Augsburg 1,899,442 14.21% 9,992 14.2% 340 16.5% Upper Bavaria 50px 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.


Rural districts:










































 München ()




























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.


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 (-without islands, -without islands, , , which are the three largest lakes of Bavaria, and ).

Major cities and towns

 City Region Population   Population   Population   Population   Change  Munich Upper Bavaria1,210,2231,259,6771,353,1861,450,381+11.81Nuremberg Middle Franconia488,400499,237505,664509,975+3.53Augsburg Swabia254,982262,676264,708286,374+3.81Regensburg Upper Palatinate125,676129,859135,520145,465+7.83Ingolstadt Upper Bavaria115,722121,314125,088132,438+8.09Würzburg Lower Franconia127,966133,906133,799124,873+4.56Fürth Middle Franconia110,477113,422114,628124,171+3.76Erlangen Middle Franconia100,778103,197105,629108,336+4.81Bayreuth Upper Franconia74,15373,99772,68372,148−1.98Bamberg Upper Franconia69,03670,08170,00473,331+1.40Aschaffenburg Lower Franconia67,59268,64268,67868,986+1.61Landshut Lower Bavaria58,74661,36863,25869,211+7.68Kempten Swabia61,38961,36062,06066,947+1.09Rosenheim Upper Bavaria58,90860,22661,29961,844+4.06Neu-Ulm Swabia50,18851,41053,50457,237+6.61Schweinfurt Lower Franconia54,32554,27353,41551,969−1.68Passau Lower Bavaria50,53650,65150,59450,566+0.11Freising Upper Bavaria40,89042,85445,22346,963+10.60  Straubing Lower Bavaria44,01444,63344,45046,806+0.99Dachau Upper Bavaria38,39839,922 42,95446,705+11.87
Source: Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung

Notes
References

Sources


Other websites

 Official government website
 Official website of Bayern Tourismus Marketing GmbH 
 Bavarian Studies in History and Culture
 Außenwirtschaftsportal Bayern
 Statistics