Rhineland-Palatinate Rheinland-Pfalz |
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State of Germany | |||
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Coordinates: 49°54′47″N 7°27′0″E / 49.91306°N 7.45000°E | |||
Country | Germany | ||
Capital | Mainz | ||
Government | |||
• Minister-President | Malu Dreyer (SPD) | ||
• Governing parties | SPD / Free Democratic Party (Germany) / Greens | ||
• Bundesrat votes | 4 (of 69) | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 19,854.21 km2 (7,665.75 sq mi) | ||
Population (2015-12-31) | |||
• Total | 4,052,803 | ||
• Density | 200/km2 (530/sq mi) | ||
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
ISO 3166 code | DE-RP | ||
GDP/ Nominal | €124 billion (2013) | ||
GDP per capita | €31,100 (2013) | ||
NUTS Region | DEB | ||
Website | www.rlp.de |
Significant foreign born populations | |
Nationality | Population (2014) |
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Turkey | 60,159 |
Poland | 36,817 |
Italy | 28,538 |
Romania | 15,805 |
Bulgaria | 10,926 |
Russia | 9,503 |
Rhineland-Palatinate (German: Rheinland-Pfalz, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯nlant ˈp͡falt͡s]; French: Rhénanie-Palatinat) is one of the 16 states (German: Länder, lit. "countries" however better translated as "state") of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of 19,846 square kilometres (7,663 sq mi) and about four million inhabitants. Its state capital is Mainz. Rhineland-Palatinate is located in western Germany and borders Belgium, Luxembourg and France, and the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Saarland.
The state of Rhineland-Palatinate dates from 30 August 1946. It formed from the northern part of the French Occupation Zone, which included:
A referendum confirmed the state constitution on 18 May 1947.
As of 2010 44.9% of the population of the state adhered to the Roman Catholic Church, 30.6% to the Evangelical Church in Germany. 22.0% of the population is irreligious or adheres to other religions. Muslims made up 2.5% of the total.
The league of ShUM-cities in the later Rhineland-Palatinate comprised the Jewish communities of Mainz, Speyer and Worms which became the center of Jewish life during Medieval times. The Takkanot Shum (Hebrew: תקנות שו"ם), or Enactments of ShU"M were a set of decrees formulated and agreed upon over a period of decades by their Jewish community leaders.