Bavaria

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony, as well as the countries of Austria and the Czech Republic. Its capital and largest city is Munich and other major cities include Nuremberg and Augsburg. With an area of 70,550 square kilometres (27,249 sq mi), it is the largest German state, and with 13.08 million inhabitants, it is the second most populous.

The history of Bavaria includes its earliest settlement by Iron Age Celtic tribes, followed by the conquests by the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, when the territory was incorporated into the provinces of Raetia and Noricum. It became the Duchy of Bavaria (a stem duchy) in the 6th century AD following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. It was later incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire, became the independent Kingdom of Bavaria after 1806, joined the Prussian-led German Empire in 1871 while retaining its title of kingdom, and finally became a state of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949.