perspectives an economic area presents itself germany facts & figures framework the hub internationalfacts figuresb usiness in hessen qualification technologyquality of lifeeconomic developmentnews key data schleswig holstein mecklenburg vorpommern hamburg bremen niedersachsen berlin brandenburg sachsen anhalt th ü ringen 2002 357 023 square kilometerspopulation 82 537 1 000population 231 per kilometer gdp capita 25 600 nordrhein westfalen bayern rheinland pfalz saarland baden wü rttemberg source federal statistical office finland ireland netherlands france spain portugal italy austria luxemburg greece belgium uro zone countries that introduced on january european unioncandidate for admission may 2004 candidate at a later date enlargement o f union czech hungary romania bulgaria estonia latvia lithuania poland slovakia slovenia 1957france luxemburg1973denmark united kingdom1981greece1986portugal spain1995austria sweden 1998eu receives 13 more membership applications2004cyprus republic malta cyprus commission financial times bbfaj turkey