Bremen (state)

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen
	Freie Hansestadt Bremen; Free Hanseatic City of Bremen
Flag	Coat of arms
	; Details
	Location
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
	Administration
Country	Germany
NUTS Region	DE5
State subdivisions	2 urban districts
Capital	Bremen
Senate President	Jens Böhrnsen (SPD)
Governing parties	SPD / Alliance '90/The Greens
Votes in Bundesrat	3 (of 69)
	Basic statistics
Area	408 km² (158 sq mi)
Population	664,000 (10/2007)
- Density	1,627 /km² (4,215 /sq mi)
	Other information
GDP/ Nominal	€ 24 billion (2005)
Licence plate code	HB
ISO region	DE-HB
Website	bremen.de

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Coordinates: 53°20′50″N 8°35′29″E / 53.3472°N 8.5913°E / 53.3472; 8.5913

The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (German: Freie Hansestadt Bremen) is the smallest of Germany's 16 Federal States (Bundesländer). A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen ('State of Bremen').

[edit] Geography

The state of Bremen consists of two separated enclaves: Bremen, officially the 'City' (Stadtgemeinde Bremen) which is the state capital, and the city of Bremerhaven (Stadt Bremerhaven). Both are located on the River Weser; Bremerhaven is further downstream and serves as a North Sea harbour (the name means "Bremen's port"). Both cities are completely surrounded by the neighbouring State of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen). The two cities are the only administrative subdivisions the state has.

[edit] Politics

[edit] Political system

The Bürgerschaft (city assembly) elects two mayors of the city (Bürgermeister). One of these is then elected by the senate (which forms the executive branch) as president of the senate (Senatspräsident) and is thus head of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.

[edit] 2003 state elections

Dr. Henning Scherf (SPD) remained Mayor and Senate President, in an SPD-CDU grand coalition. As promised he resigned after half of the legislative period. The new Mayor and Senate President since 8 November 2005 is Jens Böhrnsen.

Party	Party List votes	Vote percentage	Total Seats	Seat percentage
Social Democratic Party (SPD)	123,480	42.3% (-0,2)	40 (-7)	48.2%
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	86,819	29.8% (-7,2)	29 (-13)	34.9%
Alliance '90/The Greens	37,350	12.8% (+3,8)	12 (+2)	14.5%
Free Democratic Party (FDP)	12,294	4.2% (+1,7)	1 (+1)	1.2%
Deutsche Volksunion (DVU)	6,642	2.3% (-0,7)	1 (=)	1.2%
Law and Order Offensive Party	12,876	4.3% (+4,3)	0 (=)	0.0%
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)	4,885	1.7% (-1,2)	0 (=)	0.0%
All Others	7420	2.6% (-0,5)	0 (=)	0.0%
Totals	291,766	100.0%	83 (-17)	100.0%

Seat results -- SPD in red, CDU in black, Greens in green, FDP in yellow, DVU in blue

[edit] 2007 state elections

The 2007 elections were held on 13 May.

Party	%	+/–	Seats	+/–	%
Social Democratic Party (SPD)	36.8%	–5,5	33	–7	39.8%
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	25.7%	–4,1	23	–6	27.7%
Alliance '90/The Greens	16.4%	+3,6	14	+2	16.9%
The Left Party.PDS	8.4%	+6,7	7	+7	8.4%
Free Democratic Party (FDP)	6.0%	+1,8	5	+4	6.0%
German People's Union (DVU)	2.7%	+0,4	1	±0	1.2%
Others	4.0%	+1,4	0	±0	0.0%
Totals	100.0%		83		100.0%

Seat results -- SPD in red, CDU in black, Greens in green, FDP in yellow, The Left in purple, DVU in brown. Note: The only DVU-representative Siegfried Tittmann left his party in July 2007 and did not join another party since then.

[edit] Education

The University of Bremen is the largest university in Bremen. Furthermore Bremen has a University of the Arts Bremen, a University of Applied Sciences in Bremen and another one in Bremerhaven, and more recently the Jacobs University Bremen.