In 1945, Saarbrücken temporarily became part of the French Zone of Occupation. In 1947, France created the nominally politically independent Saar Protectorate and merged it economically with France to exploit the area's vast coal reserves. Saarbrücken became capital of the new Saar state. A referendum in 1955 came out with over two-thirds of the voters rejecting an independent Saar state. The area rejoined the Federal Republic of Germany on 1 January 1957, sometimes called "Kleine Wiedervereinigung" (little reunification). Economic reintegration would, however, take many more years. Saarbrücken became capital of the "Bundesland" (federal state) Saarland. After the administrative reform of 1974, the city had a population of more than 200,000.