Rhineland-Palatinate or Rheinland-Pfalz, state in western Germany, bounded on the north by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), on the east by the states of Hessen and Baden-Württemberg, on the south by France and the state of Saarland, and on the west by Luxembourg and Belgium. Mainz is the capital. Other important cities include Ludwigshafen, Koblenz, Kaiserslautern, and Pirmasens. Much of Rhineland-Palatinate is upland, with the Eifel and Hunsrück ranges dominating the upper half of the state. Below the Hunsrück the country is a wooded lowland that rises in the south to the Hardt upland. The state is cut by the Rhine River, which flows south to north, and by the Mosel River, which flows southwest to northwest. Area, 19,847 sq km (7,663 sq mi); population 4,024,969 (1998 estimate).
Forestry and farming are important economic activities, but manufacturing is the mainstay of the economy. The Rhine and Mosel valleys are chief centers of the German grape culture. Additional crops of the area are cereals, sugar beets, and potatoes. Ludwigshafen is a major center for chemical production. Other important industries are metalworking, papermaking, and the manufacture of consumer goods. Tourism is also important. The Rhine and Mosel valleys are well known, and most of the cities in the state have Romanesque cathedrals; the cathedral at Speyer is particularly famous. Trier, in the west, also has extensive Roman ruins.
Under the constitution of 1947, Rhineland-Palatinate is governed by a cabinet headed by a minister-president. The cabinet is responsible to a popularly elected diet. The state is divided into three administrative districts.
The region was part of the Roman Empire from the 1st century bc to the 5th century ad. Following the withdrawal of Roman forces, the region passed successively to Frankish, Merovingian, and Carolingian control. The archbishoprics of Mainz and Trier and the countship of Palatine became the main states during the Middle Ages. Trier and Palatine were both elector-states in the Holy Roman Empire as early as the 12th century, and Mainz became a free city in 1244.
The region was invaded by French armies during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and came under French influence. During the French Revolution (1789-1799) and the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), much of the region was under direct French control. From 1814 to 1815, however, the Congress of Vienna divided the area among Prussia, Bavaria, and Hessen-Darmstadt.
French troops occupied parts of the region following World War I (1914-1918) and the entire region after World War II (1939-1945). The French permitted elections in 1946, and in 1947 Rhineland-Palatinate became a state of West Germany. West Germany reunited with East Germany in 1990.
