VG5000: German Administrative Areas at 1:5,000,000 Scale

Administrative boundaries for the Federal Republic of Germany at a scale of 1:5,000,000, representing the status as of January 1st. The Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie provides this data, which includes all hierarchical levels from states down to municipalities. It contains official names, alternative names, statistical key figures, and overviews of administrative assignments.

Use Cases

• Create thematic maps of Germany based on administrative boundaries mentioned in the description
• Analyze regional statistics using the statistical key figures referenced in the description
• Study administrative structure changes over time based on the annual status updates
• Generate maps with official and regional-language names for minority communities

Strengths

• Data is provided at a consistent scale of 1:5,000,000
• Includes all hierarchical administrative levels from state to municipality
• Contains official names and names for national minorities or regional languages

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download

Provenance

Source

Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie

Collection Method

Official administrative database (VG5000).

Time Range

Status as of January 1st.

Freshness

Status is as of January 1st of a given year; last update date is unknown.

Geography

Federal Republic of Germany.