North Rhine-Westphalia | state, Germany | Britannica North Rhine-Westphalia, German Nordrhein-Westfalen, Land (state) of western Germany. It is bordered by the states of Lower Saxony to the north and northeast, Hessen to the east, and Rhineland-Palatinate to the south and by the countries of Belgium to the southwest and the Netherlands to the west. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia was created in 1946 through the amalgamation of the former ...