Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt
Sachsen-Anhalt (German)
Sassen-Anholt (Low German)
Anthem: Lied für Sachsen-Anhalt (German)
"Song for Saxony-Anhalt"
Coordinates: 52°00′N 11°42′E / 52.000°N 11.700°E / 52.000; 11.700
CountryGermany
CapitalMagdeburg
Largest cityMagdeburg
Government
 • BodyLandtag of Saxony-Anhalt
 • Minister-PresidentReiner Haseloff (CDU)
 • Governing partiesCDU / SPD / FDP
 • Bundesrat votes4 (of 69)
 • Bundestag seats16 (of 630) (as of 2025)
Area
 • Total
20,467.2 km2 (7,902.4 sq mi)
Population
 (2024-12-31)[2]
 • Total
2,135,597
 • Density100/km2 (270/sq mi)
GDP
 • Total€79.421 billion (2024)
 • Per capita€36,517 (2024)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeDE-ST
NUTS RegionDEE
HDI (2022)0.921[4]
very high · 16th of 16
Websitesachsen-anhalt.de

Saxony-Anhalt (/ ...ˈɑːnhɑːlt/ ... AHN-hahlt;[5][6] German: Sachsen-Anhalt [ˌzaksn̩ ˈʔanhalt] ; Low German: Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of 20,451.7 square kilometres (7,896.4 sq mi)[7] and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants,[2] making it the 8th-largest state in Germany by area and the 11th-largest by population. Its capital and most populous city is Magdeburg.[8]

The state of Saxony-Anhalt was formed in July 1945 after World War II, when the Soviet army administration in Allied-occupied Germany formed it from the former Prussian Province of Saxony and the Free State of Anhalt. Saxony-Anhalt became part of the German Democratic Republic in 1949, but was dissolved in 1952 during administrative reforms and its territory was divided into the districts of Halle and Magdeburg. Following German reunification, the state of Saxony-Anhalt was re-established in 1990 and became one of the new states of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Saxony-Anhalt is renowned for its rich cultural heritage and possesses the highest concentration of UNESCO World Heritage sites in Germany.

  1. ^ "Fläche und Bevölkerung". Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder (in German). Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden – Stand: 31. Dezember 2024" (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt.
  3. ^ "Gross domestic product, gross value added in the states of the Federal Republic of Germany 1991 to 2024 (Series 1 Volume 1)". Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder (in German). 2025.
  4. ^ "Subnational HDI". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  5. ^ "Saxony-Anhalt". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Saxony-Anhalt". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Tabellen Bodenfläche". Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus 2022". genesis.sachsen-anhalt.de (in German). Federal Office for statistics. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2025.