North German Plain including the marshes along the coastline of the North and Baltic Seas, as well as the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the ground moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs and Luch. These features were formed during the Weichselian glaciation and contrast topographically with the adjacent Central Uplands of Germany to the south, such as the Harz and Teutoburg Forest, which are occasionally counted as part of Northern Germany. Culture Northern Germany has traditionally been dominated by Protestantism, especially Lutheranism. The two northernmost provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony have the largest percentage of self-reported Lutherans in Germany. Exceptions are the Catholic districts Emsland, Cloppenburg and Vechta in the west, traditionally linked to the Catholic region of Westphalia in the south, and the southernmost part of Lower Saxony, around the city Duderstadt, traditionally being part of the Catholic enclave region Eichsfeld. Culturally and socially, Northern Germany is characterized by higher levels of income equality and gender equality than southern and south-western Germany. While the national federal Gini coefficient for Germany stands at around 30, the southern states have a Gini coefficient of 30.6 whereas for the Northern states the Gini coefficient stands at 27.5 which is closer to the Scandinavian average of 25. Traditional society in the western part of Northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and some parts of North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt) until the early 20th century was based on well-off, literate and landowning yeoman farmers owning relatively large pieces of land, making a living growing grain crops and raising dairy cattle and pigs, and a large and educated middle class in the towns and cities working in the civil service, or as businessmen, artisans, blue-collar workers and skilled workers. Thus, the proportion of serfs, landless labourers, semi-skilled industrial workers and large landlords was relatively smaller, making for a more stable society than elsewhere in Germany like the Rhineland region and the region east of the Elbe river. Additionally, Northern cities like Hamburg, Bremen and Rostock have always been economic powerhouses of trade and commerce and have had a long tradition of innovation and creativity in business and industry. Cuisine The traditional Northern German daily diet is centered around boiled potatoes, rye bread, dairy products, cabbages, cucumbers, berries, jams, fish, and pork and beef. A breakfast specialty is the Crispbread or Knäckebrot, eaten with a variety of