What are the States of Germany?

Germany is a federal republic made up of 16 states (Länder), each with its own constitution, parliament and government. The states are responsible for education, policing and culture. Three of them, Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen, are city-states. Some states, such as Bavaria, Hamburg and Bremen, have centuries of history as independent territories, while others were created by the Allies after the Second World War, including North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in 1946. West Germany was founded in 1949 from these western states. Baden-Württemberg was formed by merger in 1952, and Saarland joined in 1957. At reunification in 1990, five eastern states joined the Federal Republic: Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. East and West Berlin also became a single state.