Germany and its Federal States

"Germania est omnis divisa in partes XVI., quarum unam incolunt Hesse, aliam..."

Germany altogether consists in 16 Federal States. Each State owns a Parliament and State Government. State Governments are settled in their respective State Capitals. Cognizances are devided between the Federal Government and the States. Education matters, e.g., mainly belong to the cognizance of each State.

Germany has a Federal Parliament (about 603 seats), a Federal Council (representing the 16 States) and a Federal Government. All of these three institutions are located in the German capital Berlin.

The German Chancellor presides the Federal Cabinet. His political and military power can be compared to that of the American President. The Federal Cabinet is synonymous with the Federal Government.

Germany also has a Federal President but his duties are mainly representative. His residence is loacted in Berlin, too. The representative location is called Castle Belle-Vue (Schloss Belle-Vue).

The 16 Federal States are:
01. Schleswig-Holstein (Schleswig-Holstein) - State capital: Kiel
02. Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) - State capital: Hannover
03. Bremen (Bremen) - State capital: Bremen
04. Hamburg (Hamburg) - State Capital: Hamburg
05. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)*
06. North Rhine-Westfalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) - SC: Duesseldorf
07. Brandenburg (Brandenburg) - State Capital: Potsdam
08. Berlin (Berlin) - State Capital/Federal Capital: Berlin
09. Hesse (Hessen) - State Capital: Wiesbaden
10. Saarland (Saarland) - State Capital: Saarbruecken
11. Thuringia (Thueringen) - State Capital: Erfurt
12. Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) - State Capital: Magdeburg
13. Saxonia (Sachsen) - State Capital: Dresden
14. Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland Pfalz) - State Capital: Mainz
15. Baden-Wuerttemberg (Baden Wuerttemberg) - SC: Stuttgart
16. Bavaria (Bayern) - State Capital: Munich

*this State is very poor. That's because all money was spent on a long State name. It has a State capital though called: Schwerin

I'm living in that green State.