Bavaria

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, Hesse, 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.

Administration Bavaria is divided into 71 districts:

Map: Bavaria

The districts are grouped into seven administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke), namely:

• Unterfranken (Würzburg[?])
• Oberfranken (Bayreuth)
• Mittelfranken (Ansbach)
• Schwaben (Augsburg)
• Oberpfalz (Regensburg)
• Oberbayern (Munich)
• Niederbayern (Landshut[?]).

Culture and language accents differ slightly from region to region.

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

Miscellaneous The many famous Bavarians include:

• Painters such as Hans Holbein the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach and Franz Marc
• Musicians such as Franz Liszt, 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 winners Konrad Lorenz and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
• Well-known inventors such as Werner von Siemens and Levi Strauss[?] who invented the jeans and cofounded Levis with its famous brand Levis's.

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

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.

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

External links

• State website (http://www.bayern.de/)
• Official Oktoberfest homepage (http://www.oktoberfest.de/)

Bavaria is also a Dutch beer brand.