States of Germany States of Germany Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen states (, plural ; informally and very commonly , plural ). Since today's Germany was formed from an earlier collection of several states, it has a federal constitution, and the constituent states retain a measure of sovereignty. With an emphasis on geographical conditions, Berlin and Hamburg are frequently called ' (city-states), as is the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, which in fact includes the cities of and . The remaining 13 states are called ' (literally: "area states"). The creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 was
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