Map of Niedersachsen
Niedersachsen is a first-level division of Germany. Its largest mapped city is Hannover, with about 722,490 people in the metropolitan area. The interactive map below is centred on Niedersachsen, and the tables list its 6 mapped cities along with the mountains, ports, World Heritage Sites nearest to them.
- Cities Mapped
- 6
- Largest City
- Hannover
- Country
- Germany
- Highest Point Mapped
- 1,141 m
Interactive Map of Niedersachsen
About Niedersachsen
Lower Saxony is a coastal state (Land) in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with 47,614 km2 (18,384 sq mi), and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are spoken to varying degrees.
Lower Saxony borders on (from north and clockwise) the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. The state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other its seaport, Bremerhaven (which is a semi-exclave, as it has a coastline). Lower Saxony thus borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland. The state's largest cities are the state capital Hanover, Braunschweig (Brunswick), Oldenburg, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg, Göttingen, Salzgitter, Hildesheim, mainly situated in its central and southern parts, except Oldenburg.
Lower Saxony is the only Bundesland that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas. The northwestern area of the state, on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia and the seven East Frisian Islands offshore are popular with tourists. In the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, an economically emerging but rather sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plain, is almost invariably flat except for the gentle hills around the Bremen geestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of the Central Uplands: the Weser Uplands and the Harz Mountains. Between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges.
The region in the northeast, the Lüneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide), is the largest heathland area of Germany. In the Middle Ages, the town of Lüneburg was wealthy due to salt-mining and the salt trade.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Lower Saxony (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Niedersachsen in Depth
History
The name of Saxony derives from that of the Germanic confederation of tribes called the Saxons. Before the late medieval period, there was a single Duchy of Saxony. The term "Lower Saxony" was used after the dissolution of the stem duchy in the late 13th century to distinguish the parts of the former duchy ruled by the House of Welf from the Electorate of Saxony on one hand, and from the Duchy of Westphalia on the other.
The name and coat of arms of the present state go back to the Germanic tribe of Saxons.
Geography
Lower Saxony has a natural boundary in the north in the North Sea and the lower and middle reaches of the River Elbe, although parts of the city of Hamburg lie south of the Elbe. The state and city of Bremen is an enclave entirely surrounded by Lower Saxony. The Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region is a cooperative body for the enclave area. To the southeast, the state border runs through the Harz, low mountains that are part of the German Central Uplands. The northeast and west of the state, which form roughly three-quarters of its land area, belong to the North German Plain, while the south is in the Lower Saxon Hills, including the Weser Uplands, Leine Uplands, Schaumburg Land, Brunswick Land, Untereichsfeld, Elm, and Lappwald. In the northeast of Lower Saxony is the Lüneburg Heath.
Economy
The gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 229.5 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 8.7% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 33,700 euros or 112% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 100% of the EU average.
Agriculture, strongly weighted towards the livestock sector, has always been a very important economic factor in the state. The north and northwest of Lower Saxony are mainly made up of coarse sandy soil that makes crop farming difficult and therefore grassland and cattle farming are more prevalent in those areas. Lower Saxony is home, in 2017, to one in five of Germany's cattle, one in three of the country's pigs, and 50% of its hens.
Demographics
At the end of 2014, there were almost 571,000 non-German citizens in Lower Saxony.
At the end of 2023, there were almost 1,085,315 non-German citizens in Lower Saxony.
The highest share of migrants to Germans in Lower Saxony is in the urban agglomeration of Braunschweig (44.8%) which consists the most populated parts of Salzgitter e.g Lebenstedt or Thiede, the town Wolfenbüttel, parts of the districts Landkreis Peine, Landkreis Gifhorn, Landkreis Helmstedt and Landkreis Wolfenbüttel. 57.5% of Salzgitter have a migration background, which has the highest percentage of people with a foreign background in Lower Saxony.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Lower Saxony (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Niedersachsen: Key Facts
| Population | 7,943,265 (2022) |
|---|---|
| Area | 47,614 km² |
| Capital | Hanover |
| Head of government | Olaf Lies |
| Highest point | Wurmberg |
| Established | 1 November 1946 |
Facts from Wikidata Q1197 (CC0).
History of Niedersachsen: Empires and States
The atlas records 22 polities whose mapped territory included part of Niedersachsen, from Saxons in 455 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.
| Polity | Period here |
|---|---|
| Saxons | 455–799 CE |
| Kingdom of the Franks | 775–849 CE |
| Carolingian Empire | 775–910 CE |
| East Franks | 850–910 CE |
| Kingdom of Germany | 911–961 CE |
| The Holy Roman Empire | 922–1805 CE |
| Vassalage of Kingdom of Bohemia to Holy Roman Empire | 1202–1452 CE |
| Holy Roman Empire Minor States | 1260–1805 CE |
| Vassalage of Electorate of Brandenburg to Holy Roman Empire | 1422–1458 CE |
| Electorate of Hanover | 1709–1802 CE |
| Kingdom of Hanover | 1803–1865 CE |
| First French Empire | 1805–1813 CE |
| The French Colonial Empire | 1805–1813 CE |
| German Confederation | 1815–1867 CE |
| The British Empire | 1820–1946 CE |
| Kingdom of Great Britain | 1820–1946 CE |
| German Empire | 1871–1919 CE |
| Weimar Republic | 1920–1935 CE |
| Nazi Germany | 1936–1944 CE |
| United States of America | 1947–1966 CE |
| West Germany | 1949–1990 CE |
| Reunified Germany | 1991–2024 CE |
Historical Maps of Niedersachsen
Niedersachsen on the world map in each year one of these states held it:
Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.
Visiting Niedersachsen
Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen) is a federal state in northwestern Germany. It is the second largest state by area (47,618 km²) after Bavaria and the fourth largest by population, with approximately 8.2 million inhabitants. It was created after World War II by the British military government; most of its territory had previously been the Kingdom, and later Province, of Hanover. There are notable differences between the various parts of the state: it took decades for anything akin to a pan-Low Saxon identity to emerge, and even that is often second to attachments to various older and smaller territorial entities.
Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Lower Saxony (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Largest Cities in Niedersachsen
6 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.
| # | Name | Population | Region | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hannover | 722,490 | Niedersachsen | Admin-1 capital |
| 2 | Braunschweig | 244,715 | Niedersachsen | Populated place |
| 3 | Osnabrück | 231,268 | Niedersachsen | Populated place |
| 4 | Oldenburg | 167,458 | Niedersachsen | Populated place |
| 5 | Göttingen | 139,419 | Niedersachsen | Populated place |
| 6 | Emden | 51,526 | Niedersachsen | Populated place |
Highest Mountains in Niedersachsen
1 mountain mapped. Ranked by summit elevation above sea level. A summit on a border is listed under both countries. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.
| # | Name | Elevation | Feet | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brocken | 1,141 m | 3,743 ft | Europe |
Ports in Niedersachsen
18 ports mapped. Ranked by approach channel depth, the figure that limits which ships can call. Harbours link to their write-up on the page of the sea or coast they lie on. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.
| # | Name | Channel Depth | Class | Sea | Max Vessel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oldenburg | 56.7 m | Very Small | North Sea | medium vessels |
| 2 | Neuhaus | 53 m | Very Small | North Sea | medium vessels |
| 3 | Gluckstadt | 53 m | Small | North Sea | medium vessels |
| 4 | Elsfleth | 53 m | Very Small | North Sea | point_of_interest |
| 5 | Leer | 53 m | Very Small | North Sea | medium vessels |
| 6 | Papenburg | 53 m | Small | North Sea | medium vessels |
| 7 | Itzehoe | 49.4 m | Very Small | North Sea | medium vessels |
| 8 | Busum | 45.7 m | Very Small | North Sea | medium vessels |
| 9 | Brake | 42.1 m | Minor | North Sea | medium vessels |
| 10 | Bremen | 42.1 m | Major | North Sea | medium vessels |
The other 8 (channel depth, class, sea, max vessel)
- Emden · 42.1 m · Minor · North Sea · medium vessels
- Nordenham · 34.7 m · Small · North Sea · medium vessels
- Brunsbuttel Canal Terminals · 34.7 m · Small · North Sea · medium vessels
- Bremerhaven · 34.7 m · Major · North Sea · medium vessels
- Brunsbuttel Elbahafen · 31.1 m · Very Small · North Sea · large vessels
- Butzfleth · 31.1 m · Small · North Sea · medium vessels
- Cuxhaven · 27.4 m · Minor · North Sea · medium vessels
- Wilhelmshaven · 12.8 m · Small · North Sea · medium vessels
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Niedersachsen
10 World Heritage Sites mapped. Listed by year of inscription, earliest first. Sites shared with another country appear under each. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.
| # | Name | Inscribed | Type | Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Mary's Cathedral and St Michael's Church at Hildesheim | 1985 | Cultural | (i) (ii) (iii) |
| 2 | Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System | 1992 | Cultural | (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) |
| 3 | Collegiate Church, Castle, and Old Town of Quedlinburg | 1994 | Cultural | (iv) |
| 4 | Wartburg | 1999 | Cultural | (iii) (vi) |
| 5 | Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm | 2000 | Cultural | (ii) (iv) |
| 6 | Town Hall of Bremen | 2004 | Cultural | (iii) (iv) (vi) |
| 7 | Wadden Sea | 2009 | Natural | (viii) (ix) (x) |
| 8 | Fagus Factory | 2011 | Cultural | (ii) (iv) |
| 9 | Princely Abbey of Corvey | 2014 | Cultural | (ii) (iii) (iv) |
| 10 | Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus | 2015 | Cultural | (iv) |
Niedersachsen: Quick Answers
- Where is Niedersachsen?
- Niedersachsen is a first-level division of Germany, in Europe. Its mapped cities centre on 52.4857° N, 8.9372° E.
- What is the largest city in Niedersachsen?
- Hannover is the largest city mapped in Niedersachsen, with a metropolitan population of about 722,490.
- How many cities are in Niedersachsen?
- YearMaps maps 6 cities and towns in Niedersachsen, with a combined metropolitan population of about 1.56 million. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.
- What is the highest mountain in Niedersachsen?
- The highest summit mapped in Niedersachsen is Brocken at 1,141 m.