LOWER SAXONY

German Niedersachsen, constituent Land (state) of Germany. The second largest Land in size, it occupies an important band of territory across the northwestern part of the nation. Lower Saxony stretches from The Netherlands border in the west to the border of MecklenburgWest Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt Lnder in the east. The neck of land occupied by Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, and, farther north, Denmark borders it on the north, while to the south are the Lnder of North RhineWestphalia (containing the industrial zone of the Ruhr), Hesse, and Thuringia. Its capital is Hannover. Lower Saxony was established on Nov. 1, 1946, by the British military government, which merged the former Prussian province of Hanover with the states of Braunschweig, Oldenburg, and Schaumburg-Lippe.