Regierungsbezirk

Regierungsbezirk (pronounced [ʁeˈɡiːʁʊŋsbəˈt͡sɪʁk], abbreviated Reg.-Bez.) is an administrative region at federal state level in Germany. The regional authority is called a Regierungspräsidium or Bezirksregierung (district government) and is headed by a Regierungspräsident (district president).

The Regierungsbezirke do not pass any legislation. Within the federal state authority, they act as a mid-level agency, concerned mostly with administrative decisions on a regional level for the affiliated rural or urban districts.

Regierungsbezirk is variously translated as "governmental district", "administrative district" or "province".

The first Regierungsbezirke were established in the Kingdom of Bavaria (1808) and in the course of the Prussian reforms between 1808 and 1816, when the Kingdom of Prussia divided its provinces into 25 Regierungsbezirke; eventually Prussia had 37 such districts in 12 provinces. By German unification in 1871, the concept of Regierungsbezirke had been adopted by most States of the German Empire.

The Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia are in direct continuation of those created in the Prussian Rhine and Westphalia provinces in 1816. Similar entities in other states were initially named Kreishauptmannschaft (in Saxony) or Kreis (in Bavaria and Württemberg) (not to be confused with the present-day Kreis or Landkreis districts) or province in Hesse. In Nazi Germany the naming was unified to Regierungsbezirk.

Currently, only four large-area states out of 16 in total are divided into Regierungsbezirke; all others are directly divided into districts without mid-level agencies. Those four states are divided into a total of 19 Regierungsbezirke, ranging in population from 5,255,000 (Düsseldorf) to 1,065,000 (Gießen):

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