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
Political divisions of the United States parish and Alaska uses the term borough for what the Census terms county equivalents in those states. Counties and county equivalents may be further subdivided into townships. Towns in New York, Wisconsin and New England are treated as equivalents to townships by the United States Census Bureau. Towns or townships are used as subdivisions of a county in 20 states, mostly in the Northeast and Midwest. Population centers may be organized into incorporated cities, towns, villages, and other types of municipalities. Municipalities are typically subordinate to a county government, with some exceptions. Certain cities, for example, have consolidated with their