Statistics
State:Lower Saxony
Adm. Region:Weser-Ems
Capital:Aurich
Area:1287 km²
Inhabitants:187,700 (2002)
pop. density:146 inh./km²
Car identification:AUR
Website:landkreis-aurich.de
Map

Aurich is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the North Sea, the districts of Wittmund and Leer, and the city of Emden.

Table of contents
1 History
2 Geography
3 Coat of arms
4 Towns and municipalities
5 External links

History

The history of the district is linked with the history of the region of Ostfriesland.

The district was established in 1977 by merging the former districts of Aurich and Norden.

Geography

The district is located in the westernmost part of Eastern Frisia (Ostfriesland). In the west there is the mouth of the Ems river and the Krummhörn peninsula protruding into the estuary.

The district includes the three populated islands of Juist, Norderney and Baltrum, which belong to the East Frisian Islands. The small island of Memmert south of Juist is a nature reserve housing rare birds.

Islands: Norderney 26 km², pop. 6100; Juist 16 km², pop. 1800; Baltrum 6.5 km², pop. 500; Memmert 5.2 km², pop. 0.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms displays the so called virgin eagle (or harpy), which was the heraldic animal of the Cirksena family, a local clan providing East Frisian chieftains during the Middle Ages. The acorns in the arms are symbols of the city of Aurich, the six-pointed stars are symbols of Norden.

Towns and municipalities

  1. Aurich
  2. Norden
  3. Norderney
    Samtgemeinden
  1. Brookmerland
  2. Hage
    Free Municipalities
  1. Baltrum
  2. Dornum
  3. Großefehn
  4. Großheide
  5. Hinte
  6. Ihlow
  7. Juist
  8. Krummhörn
  9. Südbrookmerland
  10. Wiesmoor

External links

Official website (German)
Island of Norderney (German)
Island of Juist (German)
Island of Baltrum (German)\n