RHEINHESSEN-PFALZ

English Rhinehesse Palatinate Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), southeastern Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), southwestern Germany. Rheinhessen-Pfalz is bordered by France to the south, Saarland Land to the west, Koblenz Regierungsbezirk to the northwest, and the Lnder (states) of Hesse and Baden-Wrttemberg to the east. The district is coextensive with two historic regions bordering the Rhine River, Palatinate and southern Hessen (qq.v.), from which its name is derived. The contemporary Regierungsbezirk was created by an administrative reform in 1969 merging the former districts of Rheinhessen and Pfalz. The Rhine River forms the district's northern and eastern borders with Hesse and Baden-Wrttemberg. The river flows from south to north across the Upper Rhine Plain, a depression 20 to 25 miles (32 to 40 km) wide that is overlain in fertile alluvial and loess soils and favoured by a warm, dry climate. The plain is a rich agricultural region supporting many specialty crops including tobacco, sugar beets, hops, and vegetables, most notably asparagus. The plain is also an important transportation and industrial corridor. The Rhine-Hesse Plateau forms the northern termination of the Upper Rhine Plain. Its rich loess soils are almost completely devoted to open arable fields planted mainly in sugar beets, and its valley slopes are dominated by vineyards. The Palatinate Forest, one of Germany's largest continuous woodlands, lies in south-central Rheinhessen-Pfalz atop a sandstone plateau. Protected as a nature preserve, the plateau is almost completely forested by pine with some beech. Its highest points, found along the uptilted eastern edge known as the Haardt, rise to about 2,000 feet (600 m). Picturesque castles are situated on the steep eastern slopes of the Haardt, which overlooks the Rhine valley and approximately 80 square miles (200 square km) of vineyards that line the foot of the escarpment. The famous Deutsche Weinstrasse (German Wine Highway) tours the small towns of Germany's leading wine-producing area, which maintains more than 150 million vines. An east-west depression separates the Palatinate Forest from the North Palatinate Mountains, which are an eastern continuation of the Saar-Nahe Mountains paralleling the district's northeastern border. Mainz, situated on the west bank of the Rhine opposite the mouth of the Main River, is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate Land. The city is an important transportation junction, a leading manufacturer of chemical products, and the centre of the Rhine wine trade. Other principal cities in the Rhine valley include Ludwigshafen, noted for its large chemical industries, and Worms, famous for its Romanesque cathedral. Kaiserslautern is the cultural and economic centre of the Palatinate Forest region, and Pirmasens is Germany's leading manufacturer of boots and shoes. Neustadt an der Weinstrasse is the administrative seat of the district. The majority of the population of Rheinhessen-Pfalz are of Frankish descent and speak the Rhenish Franconian dialect. Roman Catholics and Protestants are about equally represented in the district. The district's leading university is the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. Area 2,637 square miles (6,830 square km). Pop. (1991 est.) 1,877,405.