| One of the sixteen Länder (federal states) of Germany; German name Niedersachsen.
Population: 7,800,000
Area: 47,300 sq. km.
Capital: Hannover, pop. 520,000
Political division: Nine cities, 38 Kreise (districts)
Named for its physical height rather than geographical location, Lower Saxony, in the north-west of the country, is a sparsely populated region. Two-thirds of it is farmland and much of it is below sea level, although it becomes hillier and more wooded towards the south-east. The East Frisian islands of the North Sea also constitute a part of this Bundesland.
Places of interest include the historical cities of Hannover and Braunschweig, and a number of smaller picturesque towns, such as Hildesheim, Lüneburg, and the university town of Göttingen. The Frisian islands also attract a lot of tourists.
The city of Bremen is encircled by the territory of Lower Saxony, but is an autonomous city state with no official ties to the Land. | 
