Germany's 16 Länder and the two offices at the top of a federal parliamentary republic

Background

The European Union's country profile describes Germany as a federal parliamentary republic with a chancellor who is the head of government, and a president who is the head of state and whose main responsibilities are representative. The country consists of 16 states (Länder) which each have their own constitution and are largely autonomous regarding their internal organisation. 3 of these are city-states: Bremen, Berlin and Hamburg. Berlin is therefore at once the national capital and a state in its own right. Because the president's role is mainly representative, executive leadership of the government rests with the chancellor. In the European Union's own institutions Germany has 96 representatives in the European Parliament, and 24 representatives each on the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Committee of the Regions.