Bavaria

Bavaria, also Bayern in German, is a state in southern Germany with its capital city at Munich. It is officially Free State of Bavaria. It shares international borders with Austria (Salzburg, Tyrol, Upper Austria and Vorarlberg) and Czechia (Karlovy Vary, Plzeň and South Bohemian Regions), as well as with Switzerland (across Lake Constance to the Canton of St. Gallen). Neighboring states within Germany are Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia, and Saxony. The Bavarian Alps define the border with Austria (including the Austrian federal-states of Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg). The Bavarian Forest and the Bohemian Forest form the vast majority of the frontier with the Czechia and Bohemia. It is a tableland crossed by mountains and lies chiefly in the basin of Danube.

Bavaria came under Roman Empire in the 1st century BC when the territory was incorporated into the provinces of Raetia and Noricum. It became 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. It became a dukedom, the status remained until Napoleon I raised the duke to the title of king in 1805, after which it became an independent kingdom. Bavaria fought on the side of Austria in 1866, but joined Prussia in 1870-71. Though it joined the Prussian-led German Empire in 1871, it retained its title of kingdom. It was situated next to Prussia the largest of the German States, about the size of Scotland.

The kingdom of Bavaria was separated by mountain ranges from Bohemia on the East and the Tyrol on the South; Würtemburg lied on the West, Prussia, Meiningen, and Saxony on the North. It was a busy agricultural state: half the soil was tilled; the other half was under grass, planted with vineyards and forests. Salt, coal, and iron were widely distributed and wrought. The chief manufactures were of beer, coarse linen, and woollen fabrics. There were universities at Münich, Würzburg, and Erlangen. Münich, on the Isar, was the capital; Nüremberg, where watches were invented, and Angsburg, a banking centre, the other chief towns. The palatinate, on the banks of the Rhine, was added to it in 1216.

Bavaria finally became a state of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949.