Delimitation of constituencies
The territory of the Federal Republic of Germany is currently subdivided into 299 constituencies. The breakdown of the territory into constituencies for the elections to the 20th German Bundestag is laid down in the Annex 2 to Article 1 of the Twenty-fourth Law amending the Federal Elections Act (BWG) of 25 June 2020 (Federal Law Gazette I page 1409). It entered into force on 30 June 2020.
The need to alter the distribution of constituencies among Länder and redraw the boundaries of individual constituencies results, among others, from the provisions of Section 3 (1), first sentence, nos. 2, 3 and 5 of the Federal Elections Act. They stipulate that the number of constituencies in the individual Länder must correspond as far as possible to their share of the population. The population of a constituency should not deviate from the average population of all constituencies by more than 15 per cent in either direction. Where the deviation is greater than 25 per cent, the boundaries must be redrawn. The basis of these calculations is the German population irrespective of their age. The boundaries of municipalities, districts and towns not attached to a municipal district should be adhered to where possible when constituency boundaries are defined.
Compared with the former structure, the legislator has redrawn the boundaries of 17 constituencies for the 2021 Bundestag Election on the basis of the territory as at 15 April 2020. The changes are as follows:
The 299 constituencies are distributed among the 16 Länder as follows:
| Land | Constituency number | Number of constituencies |
|---|---|---|
| Schleswig-Holstein | 1 to 11 | 11 |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 12 to 17 | 6 |
| Hamburg | 18 to 23 | 6 |
| Niedersachsen | 24 to 53 | 30 |
| Bremen | 54 and 55 | 2 |
| Brandenburg | 56 to 65 | 10 |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | 66 to 74 | 9 |
| Berlin | 75 to 86 | 12 |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | 87 to 150 | 64 |
| Sachsen | 151 to 166 | 16 |
| Hessen | 167 to 188 | 22 |
| Thüringen | 189 to 196 | 8 |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | 197 to 211 | 15 |
| Bayern | 212 to 257 | 46 |
| Baden-Württemberg | 258 to 295 | 38 |
| Saarland | 296 to 299 | 4 |
Map of constituencies for the elections to the 20th German Bundestag
The multi-coloured “Map of constituencies for the elections to the 20th German Bundestag” presents the delimitation of constituencies which will be valid at the next Bundestag election. It shows the numbers and boundaries of all constituencies and their composition of administrative districts and towns not attached to an administrative district and, separately, the delimitation of constituencies of those large cities which are subdivided into several constituencies.
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