I.

Introduction

Lower Saxony or Niedersachsen, state in northwestern Germany, bounded on the north by the North Sea and the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, on the northeast by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, on the east by Saxony-Anhalt, on the southeast by Thüringen, on the south by the states of Hessen and North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), and on the west by the Netherlands. The northern two-thirds of Lower Saxony is low and flat. In the southeast and, to some extent, in the east the country is hilly; in the southeast the hills extend into the Harz Mountains. The state is cut by a number of rivers; the Ems, Weser, and Elbe are the most important and flow south to north. Hannover is the capital and largest city. Brunswick, Osnabrück, and Oldenburg are the other main cities. Area, 47,614 sq km (18,384 sq mi); population 7,993,000 (2004 estimate).