Hesse, officially Hessen, became a state of the German Federal Republic (West Germany) in 1949. Hesse lies in west-central Germany. It was formed in 1945, during the American military occupation after World War II, by combining the former state of Hesse, also called Hesse-Darmstadt, and parts of the former Prussian provinces of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Nassau. Hesse covers 8,153 square miles (21,115 square kilometers) and has a population of 5,971,816.
Barley, oats, potatoes, and wheat are the chief farm products of the state. The chief minerals are coal and iron. The principal towns are Darmstadt, Frankfurt am Main, Kassel, and Wiesbaden, which is the state capital.
