tributary of the Rhine), which runs through the state from the south to the northwest. While slightly larger than the combined area of the three city-states, Saarland is by far the smallest of the Flächenländer ("area-states"). It is less than one sixth the size of Schleswig-Holstein, the next smallest German state. One third of the land area of the Saarland is covered by forest, one of the highest percentages in Germany. The state is generally hilly; the highest mountain is the Dollberg with a height of . Most inhabitants live in a city agglomeration on the French border, surrounding the capital of Saarbrücken. See also List of places in Saarland. Saar-Warndt coal mining basin Districts Saarland is divided into six districts (): Merzig-Wadern Neunkirchen Saarbrücken Saarlouis Saarpfalz-Kreis Sankt Wendel Demographics Largest cities The following table shows the ten largest cities of Saarland: Vital statistics Births from January–June 2016 = 3,880 Births from January–June 2017 = 4,023 Deaths from January–June 2016 = 6,434 Deaths from January–June 2017 = 6,942 Natural growth from January–June 2016 = -2,554 Natural growth from January–June 2017 = -2,919 Religion Saarland is the most religious state in Germany. The adherents of the Catholic Church comprise 56.8% of the population, organised in the two dioceses of Trier (comprising the formerly Prussian part of Saarland) and Speyer (for the smaller eastern formerly Palatine part). 17.5% of the Saarlandic population adhere to the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), organised in the two Landeskirchen named Evangelical Church in the Rhineland and Evangelical Church of the Palatinate, both following the same former territorial partition. 25.7% are not affiliated with one of these churches. Saarland has the highest concentration of Roman Catholics of any German state, and is the only state in which Catholics form an absolute majority (over 50%). Politics Except for the periods between 1985 and 1999, as well as since 2022 – when the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) has held a majority of seats in the Landtag (state diet) – the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has governed the Saarland, either alone or in coalition, since the accession of the state to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957. After the 2022 state elections the previous Grand Coalition between the CDU and SPD, the two largest parties in the Landtag, was replaced by an SPD majority government, the only single-party majority government of any German state, led