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There are 439 German districts, administrative units in Germany. The districts are at an intermediate level of administration between the Länder ( German states) and the local / municipal levels ( Gemeinden).

1 Types of district

The majority of the districts are rural districts, Landkreise, of which there are 323. Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (and in some Länder smaller towns) do not usually belong to a district but take over district responsabilities themselves. These are known as urban districts (Kreisfreie Städte / Stadtkreise) - cities which constitute a district in their own right, and there are currently ( 2004) 116 of them, bringing the total number of districts to 439. In North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen and Neuss.

2 Responsabilities

The districts are responsible for the following:

(according to federal laws and regional laws)

• the building and upkeep of B roads
• other building plans which cover more than one local authority's area
• caring for national parks
• social welfare
• youth welfare
• the building and upkeep of hospitals
• the building and upkeep of state institutes of secondary education
• household waste collection and disposal
• car registration
• electing its own chairman

(according to local laws, differs in each region)

• financial support for culture
• the building of pedestrian zones and bicycle lanes
• financial support for school exchanges
• the building and upkeep of public libraries
• revitalisation of the economy
• encouraging tourism
• the management of Volkshochschulen (state run adult education colleges)

All these tasks are carried out by local (municipal) authorities operating together.

Urban districts have these responsabilities and also those of the municipalities.