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Westphalia

American  
[west-fey-lee-uh, -feyl-yuh] / wɛstˈfeɪ li ə, -ˈfeɪl jə /

noun

  1. a former province in NW Germany, now a part of North Rhine-Westphalia: treaty ending the Thirty Years' War 1648.


Westphalia British  
/ wɛstˈfeɪlɪə /

noun

  1. German name: Westfalen.  a historic region of NW Germany, now mostly in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Since the modern nation-state system was organized by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1688, state sovereignty has been the bedrock of international law.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 23, 2026

"We know that there is a lot of money circulating right now," Stephanie Thien, head of the state office for combating financial crime in North-Rhine Westphalia, told AFP.

From Barron's Oct. 9, 2025

Last summer, Göttingen in Lower Saxony and Siegen in North Rhine Westphalia allowed women to swim topless.

From BBC Mar. 9, 2023

In North Rhine Westphalia, Germany's most-populous state, the consumer price index surged to 11% in October compared to 10.1% the previous month, data showed.

From Reuters Oct. 28, 2022

Westphalia, then, was the birth-place of this institution, and over Westphalia alone did it exercise authority.

From Secret Societies of the Middle Ages by Thomas Keightley

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