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Census results of great significance: numbers of inhabitants - Part 2: Bundesrat (Federal Council)

Like the German Bundestag, the Bundesrat participates in the legislative process, being the body which represents the interests of the Länder. In the Bundesrat, the representatives of the 16 governments of the Länder are directly involved in shaping federal policy.

The Bundesrat has a total of 69 regular members and thus 69 votes. These votes are distributed among the 16 Länder in accordance with their number of inhabitants. The more inhabitants it has, the more votes a Land is entitled to.

Smaller Länder always have 3 votes. Länder with more than 2 million inhabitants have 4 votes, Länder with more than 6 million inhabitants 5 votes and Länder with more than 7 million inhabitants have 6 votes.

The Land of Hessen is certainly awaiting the census results with great excitement: presently, Hessen has slightly over 6 million inhabitants and consequently 5 votes in the Bundesrat. If it turns out in the 2011 Census that Hessen’s official number of inhabitants actually is below 6 million, Hessen will lose a vote in the Bundesrat.

Distribution of votes in the Bundesrat

Land

Number of inhabitants
in millions 

Votes in the Bundesrat

Baden-Württemberg10,786
Bayern12,586
Berlin3,504
Brandenburg2,514
Bremen0,663
Hamburg1,813
Hessen6,095
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern1,643
Niedersachsen7,926
Nordrhein-Westfalen17,846
Rheinland-Pfalz4,004
Saarland1,013
Sachsen4,144
Sachsen-Anhalt2,324
Schleswig-Holstein2,844
Thüringen2,224

Source: Bundesrat

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