WESER-EMS

Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), western Lower Saxony Land (state), northwestern Germany. Weser-Ems is bordered by The Netherlands to the west, the North Sea to the north, Bremen Land and the Regierungsbezirke of Lneburg and Hannover (Hanover) to the east, and North Rhine-Westphalia Land to the south. The district occupies an area of 5,773 square miles (14,952 square km) and is coextensive with portions of the former German states of Hanover and Oldenburg and part of the larger historic region of Saxony. Its contemporary boundaries were created by an administrative reorganization in 1977, merging the smaller Regierungsbezirke of Aurich (northwest) and Osnabrck (south) with Oldenburg Verwaltungsbezirk (northeast). Weser-Ems Regierungsbezirk takes its name from the two major river systems that drain the district. The North German Plain extends across all of Weser-Ems, with the exception of a small area surrounding the southern city of Osnabrck. The Ems River and Dortmund-Ems Canal flow parallel to the district's western border, while the Weser River forms the eastern border north of Bremen. Numerous shipping canals dissect the lowlands, including the heavily traveled eastwest Mittelland Canal in the south and Ksten Canal in the north. The North German Plain comprises two varied landscapesthe Ostfriesland (East Friesland) coastal strip, extending approximately 15 miles (24 km) in width along the North Sea and the Weser and Ems estuaries, and the great expanses of sandy uplands, heath, and moorland to the south. Along the coastal strip, natural sand dunes and man-made dikes protect the artificially drained coastal marshland (polders) from flooding by sea and river waters. The clay soil of the reclaimed marshland is planted in lush pasture grass that supports an important dairy and meat industry. The extensive sand beaches and dunes are the basis of a prosperous summer resort industry. The industrial and port city of Wilhelmshaven is located on the Jadebusen, a North Sea inlet near the Weser estuary. The harbour at Emden, the terminus of the Dortmund-Ems Canal, serves the Ruhr industrial region. The sandy uplands to the south are dissected into separate blocks by poorly drained rivers and low-lying depressions of marshland. With the exception of Oldenburg, a centre of food processing and light diversified manufactures, there is little industry, and the towns are small. Paralleling the district's western border, the Emsland has endured a long struggle to drain its peat bogs. Farmers have created new farmland by mixing the peat with underlying sand and artificial fertilizers. A rich belt of oil and natural-gas fields stretches from the Emsland near Linden, east to the Weser River. Most of the district's population are descendants of the western Saxons and speak a Low German (Plattdeutsch) dialect. The marshlands and inlands of the northern coast are the homeland of the Frisian cultural group, but the use of the distinctive Frisian language has declined. About two-thirds of the district's people are Protestants and one-third are Roman Catholics. Higher education in the district is centred at universities in Osnabrck and Oldenburg. Pop. (1989 est.) 2,136,735.