The state of North Rhine-Westphalia was established by the British military administration's "Operation Marriage" on … See more

The flag of North Rhine-Westphalia is green-white-red with the combined coats of arms of the Rhineland (white line before green background, symbolizing the river Rhine), Westfalen (the white horse) and Lippe (the red rose). … See more

North Rhine-Westphalia encompasses the plains of the Lower Rhine region and parts of the Central Uplands (die Mittelgebirge) up to the gorge of Porta Westfalica. The state covers an area of 34,083 km (13,160 sq mi) and share… See more

North Rhine-Westphalia has a population of approximately 18.1 million inhabitants (more than the entire former East Germany, and slightly more than the Netherlands) and is centred around the polycentric Rhine-Ruhr metropolita… See more

The politics of North Rhine-Westphalia takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic. The two main parties are, as on the federal level, the centre-right Christian Democrati… See more

• The state is known for the most castles and fortresses in Germany.
• North Rhine-Westphalia has a high concentration of museums, cultural centres, concert halls and theatres. … See more

North Rhine-Westphalia has always been Germany's powerhouse with the largest economy among the German states by GDP figures.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Westphalia was known as L… See more