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North Rhine-Westphalia (usually shortened to NRW) is the westernmost and - in terms of population and economic output - the largest Federal State of Germany. Nordrhein-Westfalen has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km² (13,158 square miles). North Rhine-Westphalia is situated in the Western part of Germany and shares borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. It has borders with the German states of Lower Saxony to the North and Northeast, Rhineland-Palatinate to the Southwest and Hessen to the Southeast. The capital city is Düsseldorf, and other major cities (Oberzentren) are Cologne, Essen, Dortmund, Duisburg, Oberhausen, Aachen, Bielefeld, Bonn, Bochum, Münster and Wuppertal. History
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia was established by the British military administration on 25 October, 1946. Originally it consisted of Westphalia and the northern parts of the Rhine Province, both formerly belonging to Prussia. In 1947 the former state of Lippe was merged with North Rhine-Westphalia, hence leading to the present borders of the state. The North Rhine-Westphalia state election on May 22, 2005 granted the CDU a landslide victory. Their top candidate Jürgen Rüttgers built a new coalition government consisting of CDU and FDP that replaced the former government headed by Peer Steinbrück. Rüttgers was elected new Prime Minister (German: Ministerpräsident) of the federal state on June 22, 2005. Research Tips
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