Oldenburg Land (german: Oldenburger Land) is a region and regional association in the German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

in the area of the former

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (, also known as Holstein-Oldenburg) was a grand duchy within the German Confederation, North German Confederation and German Empire that consisted of three widely separated territories: Oldenburg, Eutin and B ...

(1815–1918), the later Free State of Oldenburg (1918–1946) and administrative district of Oldenburg (1946 to 1978), without its exclaves, along the rivers Hunte and

Hase The Hase is a long river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ems, but part of its flow goes to the Else, that is part of the Weser basin. Its source is in the Teutoburg Forest, south-east of Osnabrück, on the north slope ...

. In the region between Waterkant,

Dümmer The Dümmer () or officially Dümmer See is a large lake in southern Lower Saxony (Germany). It has a surface of 13.5 km2 and an average depth of one metre. Its elevation is 37 metres. Dümmer is a popular resort for water sports, but a ...

and Damme Hills some of the population still speak

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle ...

today and, in Saterland also Saterland Frisian. The region is rich in old Lower Saxon customs such as '' Schützenfests'' or '' Kohlfahrten''. Typical country sports include ''

Klootschießen Klootschieten (NL) (German: Klootschießen, Bosseln or Boßeln; English: Ball shooting or Road bowling) is a sport in the Netherlands, East Frisia, and Northern Germany, most popular in the eastern regions of Twente and Achterhoek. The game is ...

'' and '' Boßeln''. The mainly Catholic southern part of the Oldenburg Land is known as Oldenburg Münsterland, the mainly Lutheran northern part is known as Oldenburg Land (''Old Oldenburg'') in its narrower sense. In terms of Germany's modern administrative

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

, Oldenburg Land roughly corresponds to Ammerland, Cloppenburg,

Delmenhorst Delmenhorst (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Demost'') is an urban district ('' Kreisfreie Stadt'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located west of downtown Bremen with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the ...

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, Oldenburg (rural), Oldenburg (urban),

Vechta Vechta (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the Vechta district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is home to the University of Vechta. It is known for the 'Stoppelmarkt' fair, which takes place every summer and has a hi ...

Wesermarsch Wesermarsch is a '' Kreis'' (district) in the northwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. Neighboring are (from the east clockwise) the districts of Cuxhaven and Osterholz, the city of Bremen in the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, the urba ...

, and

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelms ...

. These 9 districts have a combined population of about 1.1 million (per the end of 2016) and an area of about 5,700 km2 (2,200

mi2 MI2, the British Military Intelligence Section 2, was a department of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence, part of the War Office. It was originally set up to handle geographic information. MI2a handled the Americas (excluding Ca ...

). The borders of the Oldenburg Land are still clear today from the boundaries of institutions such the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg) is a Lutheran church in the German state of Lower Saxony. The seat of the church leaders is in Oldenburg, as is the preaching venue of its bishop at St ...

, the ''Offizialatsbezirk Vechta'' of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Münster and the ''Landessparkasse zu Oldenburg''.

Towns and villages

The largest towns, apart from the former state and district capital of Oldenburg with about 160,000 inhabitants are

(~ 83,000) and

(~75,000). Other large towns include:

Sources

*Gerhard Wietek: ''Oldenburger Land'' (Deutsche Lande – Deutsche Kunst). 2. Auflage, München/Berlin 1974 {{coord missing, Lower Saxony Geography of Oldenburg Regions of Lower Saxony