Freistaat Bayern(The Free State of

Bavaria)

by Nathan Sanders

Free State of Bavaria State and Civil Flag

This flag is not official, but it is the flag most commonly used by Bavarians.

Fast Facts

Country: Germany Capital: Munich Population:

12,538,696 (2010-12-31)

Time zone: CET (UTC+1)

Area: 70,549.44 km2 (27,239.29 sq mi)

Munich (München)

Nuremberg (Nürnberg) Augsburg

Regensburg Würzburg Ingolstadt

Fürt Erlangen.

Major Cities in Bavaria

Bavaria shares international borders

with Austria and the Czech Republic as well as with Switzerland (across Lake Constance).

Neighbouring states within Germany are Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony.

Geography

Two major rivers flow through the state,

the Danube (Donau) and the Main. The Bavarian Alps define the border

with Austria, (including the Austrian federal-states of Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg) and within the range is the highest peak in Germany, the Zugspitze.

Geography (cont.)

The Bavarian Alps

Bavaria has a unicameral Landtag, or

state parliament, elected by universal suffrage.

Until December 1999, there was also a Senat, or Senate, whose members were chosen by social and economic groups in Bavaria, but following a referendum in 1998, this institution was abolished.

Government

The Bavarian State Government

consists of the Minister-President of Bavaria, 11 Ministers and 6 Secretaries of State.

The Minister-President is elected for a period of 5 years by the State Parliament and is head of state.

Government (cont.)

With the approval of the State

Parliament he, the Minister-President , appoints the members of the State Government.

Government (cont.)

Bavaria has a multi-party system where

the biggest parties are the conservative Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) and the center-left Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

The CSU has dominated politics since 1945 and won every election since then.

Politics

12th and current Minister-President of Bavaria- Horst Seehofer

Since 2008, Germany's liberal party, the

Free Democratic Party (FDP), and the Free Voters are represented in Bavaria's parliament as well.

CSU and FDP agreed in October 2008 to form a coalition, while SPD, Free Voters and the Greens form the opposition.

Politics (cont.)

Bavaria has long had one of the largest

and healthiest economies of any region in Germany, or Europe for that matter.

Some large companies headquartered in Bavaria include BMW, Siemens, Rohde & Schwarz, Audi, Munich Re, Allianz, Infineon, MAN, Wacker Chemie, Puma, and Adidas.

Economy

While 56.4% of the population adhere

to the Catholic Church 21% are affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria.

Most of Bavaria is predominantly Roman Catholic, but the Evangelical Lutheran Church has a strong presence in large parts of Franconia.

Religon

Three German dialects are spoken in

Bavaria: Austro-Bavarian in Old Bavaria (South-

East and East), Swabian German in the Bavarian part of

Swabia (South West) East Franconian German in Franconia

(North).

Language

Bavaria is known for…

(according to Google search results)

…the Bavarian Alps…

…Bavarian Cream…

…the world’s coolest flag…(I own one.)

…the Bavarian Mountain Hound…

…castles that inspired Disneyworld…

…ties to the illuminati…

…BMW…

…crochet...

…and pretzels.

Das Ende

Und was für eine Reise es war ...

Works Cited

http://www.bavaria.nl/ http://wikitravel.org/en/Bavaria http://www.stmi.bayern.de/english/coat/

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