state, N Germany, bounded on the N by Denmark, on the E by the Baltic Sea and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, on the S by Hamburg and Lower Saxony, and on the W by the North Sea. It includes a number of islands in the Baltic and North seas. Kiel is the capital and largest city. Lübeck and Flensburg are the other main cities. The state contains the lower half of the Jutland Peninsula, which is part of the N German plain. The low, harborless W coast is mainly reclaimed marsh. The center of the peninsula is a sandy upland, which rises to the steep, rocky E coast. This coast is cut by numerous long, narrow inlets. Schleswig-Holstein’s main rivers are the Eider and the Elbe. The Nord-Ostsee Kanal extends SW from Kiel Bay to the Elbe R. There are several lakes located in the NE. Area, 15,710 sq km (6066 sq mi); pop. (1992 est.) 2,649,000.

Agriculture is the chief economic activity, and wheat, rye, oats, barley, potatoes, and beets are the main crops. Schleswig-Holstein is famous for its cattle, which are exported throughout the world for breeding purposes. Poultry, horses, and sheep are also raised. Fishing is carried on extensively. Shipbuilding is one of the principal industries. Other major industries are machine construction, electrical engineering, and food processing.

Under the 1949 constitution, the state is governed by a cabinet, headed by a minister-president. The cabinet is responsible to a popularly elected unicameral diet (legislature).

The duchies of Schleswig and Holstein long figured prominently in the political history of NW Europe. The Danes always regarded Schleswig as Danish, and Holstein had at an early period become completely Germanized. In 1460 Schleswig and Holstein became allied to the Danish government when an heir to Schleswig and Holstein became Christian I of Denmark. They remained legally separate, however, from Denmark. Frederick VII of Denmark in 1848 announced his intention of incorporating them into Denmark. The people of Schleswig-Holstein rebelled and appealed to Germany for military aid. Prussian troops and Schleswig-Holstein forces drove the Danes from Schleswig. In 1849, aided by Britain, Russia, and France, Denmark renewed the struggle, and eventually Prussia abandoned Schleswig-Holstein.

In 1864 Prussian and Austrian forces advanced into Schleswig. Christian IX of Denmark had to relinquish his claims to Schleswig and Holstein. Under the terms of the Treaty of Vienna, written in 1864, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were ceded to Prussia and Austria. The terms of the Convention of Gastein in 1865 gave the administration of Schleswig to Prussia and that of Holstein to Austria. The ambitions of these rival powers soon led to the Seven Weeks’ War, which was followed by the formal incorporation of Schleswig-Holstein, including the former duchy of Lauenburg, as a province of Prussia.

Among the terms of the Treaty of Versailles following World War I was a provision calling for a plebiscite in Schleswig. The N zone, which voted three to one for Danish control, was incorporated into Denmark. The S zone voted overwhelmingly in favor of Germany, and became part of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. At the end of World War II, German Schleswig-Holstein was included in the British Zone of Occupation. It subsequently became a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.