Saarland

With an area of 2570 km² and 1.08 million inhabitants, Saarland is one of the 16 Bundesländer (federal states) in Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken.

Geography

The state borders France in the south, Luxembourg in the west and Rhineland-Palatinate in the north and the east.

It is named after the Saar River[?], which is an affluent of the Moselle River and runs through the state from the south to the northwest. Most inhabitants live in a city agglomeration on the French border, surrounding the capital of Saarbrücken.

Saarland is divided into six districts:

1. Merzig-Wadern
2. Neunkirchen
3. Saarbrücken
4. Saarlouis
5. Saarpfalz
6. Sankt Wendel

History

The territory was established in 1920 in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles. It comprised portions of the Prussian Rhine Province and the Rhine Palatinate. The area was put under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years. After this period a plebiscite was held on January 13, 1935: 90.3% of those voting wished to join Nazi Germany . The Nazis called the area "Westmark".

After World War II the Saarland came under French administration. France and Germany decided in 1954 to establish an independent Saarland, but these plans were refused in a plebiscite. In new French-German consultations there was an agreement, that Saarland should be allowed to rejoin Germany (Saar Treaty, October 27, 1956). On January 1, 1957, Saarland became a part of Germany again.

External links

• The state's own website, http://www.saarland.de/
• Statistics office, http://www.statistik.saarland.de/