States of Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia are divided into governmental districts, or "Regierungsbezirke". In Rhineland-Palatinate, these districts were abolished on January 1, 2000, in Saxony-Anhalt on January 1, 2004, and in Lower Saxony on January 1, 2005. From 1990 until 2012, Saxony was divided into three districts (called "Direktionsbezirke" since 2008). In 2012, these districts' authorities were merged into one central authority, the "". The Districts of Germany "(Kreise)" are administrative districts, and every state except the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg and the state of Bremen consists of "rural districts" "(Landkreise)," District-free Towns/Cities ("Kreisfreie Städte", in Baden-Württemberg also called "urban districts", or
Old states of Germany Old states of Germany The old states of Germany () are the 10 states in West Germany. Since the reunification, Germany thus consists of 16 states with equal legal statuses. Yet the process of the "inner reunification" between the former Eastern and Western Germany is still ongoing. The Old States are: Whether West Berlin is considered an "old state" depends on the context, since it was closely associated with the Federal Republic of Germany, but its status was disputed because of the Four Power Agreement on Berlin. The "old states" are colloquially referred to as "Former West Germany", although the