Bremen (state)

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Flag
Statistics
Capital:	Bremen
Area:	405 km²
Inhabitants:	662,451 (2004)
pop. density:	1,636 people/km²
Website:	bremen.de
ISO 3166-2:	DE-HB
Politics
President of the Senate and Mayor:	Jens Böhrnsen (SPD)
Ruling party:	SPD/CDU coalition
Map

The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (official name in German: Freie Hansestadt Bremen) is the smallest of Germany's 16 Federal States (Bundesländer). A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen ('State of Bremen').

Contents 1 Geography 2 History 3 Politics 3.1 Political system 3.2 May 25, 2003 state elections 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Geography

The state of Bremen consists of two separated enclaves: Bremen, officially the 'City Municipality of Bremen' (Stadtgemeinde Bremen) which is the state capital, and the city of Bremerhaven (Stadt Bremerhaven). Both are located on the River Weser; Bremerhaven is further downstream and serves as a North Sea harbour (the name means "Bremen's port"). Both cities are completely surrounded by the neighbouring State of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen). The two cities are the only administrative subdivisions the state has.

[edit] History

The City of Bremen, a member of the Hanseatic League, became an imperial free city of the Holy Roman Empire, and hence a state, in 1646. After the state was dissolved during the Napoleonic period, in 1815 it became an independent country and was subsequently a member of the German Confederation and the North German Confederation. Several areas including the area on which the City of Bremerhaven was to be founded were purchased from Hanover in 1827. In 1871, Bremen joined the German Empire.

While surrounding Hanover was put under British control after the end of World War II in 1945, Bremen was put under administration of the USA because the US occupation zone needed ocean access. As a result, Bremen retained its statehood even though, at this time, all other small states were merged into larger ones.

In 1905, Bremen had an area of 256 km², and a population of 263,000. In 1939, population was 450,000.

[edit] Politics

[edit] Political system

The Bürgerschaft (city assembly) elects two mayors of the city (Bürgermeister). One of these is then elected by the senate (which forms the executive branch) as president of the senate (Senatspräsident) and is thus head of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.

[edit] May 25, 2003 state elections

Dr. Henning Scherf (SPD) remained Mayor and Senate President, in a SPD-CDU grand coalition.

Party	Party List votes	Vote percentage	Total Seats	Seat percentage
Social Democratic Party (SPD)	123,480	42.3% (-0,2)	40 (-7)	48.2%
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	86,819	29.8% (-7,2)	29 (-13)	34.9%
Alliance '90/The Greens	37,350	12.8% (+3,8)	12 (+2)	14.5%
Free Democratic Party (FDP)	12,294	4.2% (+1,7)	1 (+1)	1.2%
Deutsche Volksunion (DVU)	6,642	2.3% (-0,7)	1 (=)	1.2%
Law and Order Offensive Party	12,876	4.3% (+4,3)	0 (=)	0.0%
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)	4,885	1.7% (-1,2)	0 (=)	0.0%
All Others	7420	2.6% (-0,5)	0 (=)	0.0%
Totals	291,766	100.0%	83 (-17)	100.0%

[edit] See also

• Former countries in Europe after 1815

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bremen

• Official state portal
• Official governmental portal
• Constitution of the state, German only