knowledge Overview
Saarland lies in southwestern Germany on the border with France and Luxembourg. The state capital is Saarbrücken. With around 2,570 km² and about 984,000 inhabitants (2022 census), it is the smallest territorial state. Its ISO-3166-2 code is DE-SL. After the 1955 referendum, Saarland joined the Federal Republic on 1 January 1957 as its eleventh federal state.
Administrative divisions
Saarland has never had government regions. Below the state level there are 6 rural districts, including the Regionalverband Saarbrücken as a special municipal association; there are no urban districts.
Major cities
- Saarbrücken (around 180,000 inhabitants)
- Neunkirchen (around 46,000 inhabitants)
- Homburg (around 41,000 inhabitants)
Transport
Saarbrücken is an ICE hub on the Frankfurt–Paris axis (the Saarbahn and Saarbrücken S-Bahn complement regional traffic); the A 6 and A 8 connect the state with the Saar-Lor-Lux region.
Economy
Important are the steel and metal industry (Dillinger Hütte), automotive supply, computer science and IT security as well as cross-border cooperation in the Greater Region of Saar-Lor-Lux.