Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg (, ; Alemannic German: Baade-Wiirdebäärg) is a federal state (Bundesland) in the southwestern region of Germany. It is the third largest German state by total area (after Bavaria and Lower Saxony) with a size of nearly 35,752 km² and population (after North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria) with over 11 million people as of 2017. It shares borders to the east with the state of Bavaria, to the north with the states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, to the west with the country of France (along the river Rhine), and to the south with the countries of Switzerland and Austria. Its biggest cities are Stuttgart, the capital, Mannheim, and Karlsruhe. The Minister President is Winfried Kretschmann of the party Alliance '90/The Greens.

In 2017, Baden-Württemberg ranked 2 on the Human Development Index (HDI) among all states in Germany.

 History 
In 1952, the three states of Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern joined to found Baden-Württemberg.

 Politics 
The Minister President is the chief of the government of Baden-Württemberg. The government is made up of ministers and state secretaries.

The CDU was the main political party in the state between 1953 and 2011, the Ministers President have all been members of the CDU. Between the years 1972 and 1992, the members of the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg were mostly members of the CDU. But the state is also a stronghold of the "Grünen" which were founded in the early 1980s in Karlsruhe. The election results of the Grünen in Baden-Württemberg have always been above the election average for the party in Germany.

Since 2016 there have been 5 parties represented in the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg:
 Greens
 Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
 Alternative for Germany (AfD)
 Social Democratic Party (SPD)
 Free Democratic Party (FDP/DVP)

List of Ministers President since 1952:

TermMinister PresidentParty 1952–1953  Reinhold Maier  DVP 1953–1958  Gebhard Müller  CDU 1958–1966  Kurt Georg Kiesinger  CDU 1966–1978  Hans Filbinger  CDU 1978–1991  Lothar Späth  CDU 1991–2005  Erwin Teufel  CDU 2005–2010  Günther Oettinger  CDU 2010–2011 Stefan Mappus  CDU 2011–present  Winfried Kretschmann  Greens

 Tourism 

The Black forest, the Swabian Alb and the Lake Constance are world famous holiday regions. The highest mountain is the Feldberg (1492m).

Other important cities for tourism in Baden-Württemberg besides the capital city of Stuttgart are: Freiburg, Heidelberg, Rastatt, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Ulm, Ravensburg and Heilbronn.

The Danube, the Neckar and the Rhine are important rivers which are in the state.

 Economy 
Baden-Württemberg has the third largest economy in Germany after the economies of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria. It had a gross regional product (GRP) of €524.33 billion in 2019.

 Religion 
In the northern part of Württemberg and the Kurpfalz the majority are Protestants. But the other parts of the state, especially the south, the majority are Roman Catholics.

Statistics for Baden-Württemberg:

 Confession Percentage Number Roman Catholic38.3% 4.1 mio. Protestants34.6% 3.7 mio. Muslim5.6% 600,000 Buddhists0.23% 25,000 Hindus0.14% 15,000 Jews0.08% 9,000 Other or none21.4% 2.25 mio.

 Sports 
Football is the most popular sport in Baden-Württemberg. The best clubs are the VfB Stuttgart and the SC Freiburg. In former times also Karlsruher SC (Karlsruher SC or KSC). Another popular sport is handball.

References

 Other websites 
 www.baden-württemberg.de
 www.baden-württemberg.de/en/home
 Webportal Baden-Württemberg. .


Category:1952 establishments in Europe
Category:1950s establishments in Germany