Free Hanseatic City of Bremen: International seaport and trading centre right near the North Sea. Independent state of the Federal Republic of Germany, consisting of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven Two-city state covering an area of 400 square kilometres - smallest of the 16 German states. State's total population: 663.129 , thereof 544.853 in Bremen, making it the tenth largest town in Germany, and 118.276 in Bremerhaven. Significance: second most important foreign trade location in the Federal Republic of Germany.

History: 1,200 years old, early centre of the Christian missions to North and Northeast Europe, major role among the towns of the mediaeval Hanseatic League, historically evolved as city republic in the tradition of a trading centre on which patricians left their mark.

Economy: World-ranking seaport, important location for automobile manufacture, electronics, steel, shipbuilding, and aerospace industry. Centre of food and semi-luxury goods industry, ongoing structural transformation into location for services, and high-tech, convention and trade fair centre.

Science: University, polytechnics, well-developed research scene with numerous non-university institutes: also headquarters of the German Centre for Polar Research at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven.

Culture: Museums, art collections, theatres for opera, ballet, drama, children's, youth and dialect productions. City of music with festivals and concert series. Home of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, centres for fringe and youth cultural scene.

Sport: Stronghold of soccer, riding and cycling. Top-class soccer team SV Werder, international riding tournaments and 6-day professional cycle race. Leaders in international ballroom dancing with world champion formation dance team, TSG Bremerhaven.

Leisure: Plenty to see and do in the historic city centre with its sights, lively pub and restaurant scene, extensive parks and recreation areas, attractive destinations for days out in the surrounding area.

Text-copy from official site: http://www.bremen.de Work done by Carsten Heer from Hamburg - the bigger brother city at the Elbe;