Rhineland-Palatinate

Administrative region (German Land) in southwest Germany, bordered to the north by North Rhine-Westphalia, to the east by Hesse and Baden-Württemberg, to the south by France, to the southwest by the Saarland, and to the west by Luxembourg and Belgium; area 19,847 sq km/7,663 sq mi; population (2003 est) 4,026,300. The region consists of densely populated, fertile uplands, and is noted for its wine (Bingen, Nierstein, and Oppenheim). The capital is Mainz, and other major towns include Ludwigshafen, Koblenz, Trier, Worms, and Kaiserslauten.

Physical Situated on the left bank of a bend in the Rhine, the region contains wooded mountain country, the river valleys of the Rhine and Moselle, and the Eifel plateau.

Economy The main industries are motor vehicles, mechanical and electrical engineering, chemicals, machinery, leather goods, pottery, glass, and beverages. Wine (75% of German output), potatoes, cereals, sugar beet, fruit, and tobacco are produced, and livestock raising also takes place.

History Formed in 1816 as the province of Hesse-Darmstadt, the region, which was placed in 1945 in the newly formed state of Rhineland-Palatinate of the French occupation zone, took on its current form in 1946 from the union of Rhenish Palatinate and parts of Hesse, Rhine province, and Hesse-Nassau.

There are universities at Mainz, Trier, Kaiserslautern, and Koblenz.