Saxony-Anhalt

With an area of 20,447 km² and a population of 2.6 million, Saxony-Anhalt (German Sachsen-Anhalt) is one of the new German Bundesländer (federal states) included until 1990 in East Germany. The capital is Magdeburg.

Geography

Lying to the north-east of central Germany, it is eighth largest in area and (since 1996) tenth in population among the country's sixteen Bundesländer. It borders on the states of Lower Saxony to the north-west, Brandenburg to the east, Saxony to the south-east and Thuringia to the south-west.

Most of the state is plain and agriculturally used, but in the south-west there is the eastern part of the Harz mountains. The main river of Saxony-Anhalt is the Elbe, running through the state from southeast to northwest. The second largest river, the Saale, is a tributary of the Elbe.

Saxony-Anhalt is divided into three Regierungsbezirke - Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg - which are subdivided into 21 districts:

Furthermore there are three independent towns, which don't belong to any district:

• Dessau
• Halle
• Magdeburg

History

The state was created shortly before reunification, covering much the same area as an earlier unit (1947-52) comprising the former Anhalt and the Prussian part of Saxony. The state and its larger cities have lost population since 1989 with migration to the former West Germany.

External link

For the state's own website (in German), see http://www.sachsen-anhalt.de/