Editing Cloppenburg (district) (section)

== History ==
The region was part of the [[County of Tecklenburg]] in medieval times. It was then for a long time (1400-1803) property of the [[Prince-Bishopric of Münster]]. In 1803 it was annexed by [[Duchy of Oldenburg|Oldenburg]] and remained a part of Oldenburg until 1945. The district was established in 1933.

In terms of political history, both Cloppenburg and neighbouring Vechta are, as one of the few historically Catholic districts in an otherwise majority-Protestant state, some of the most conservative areas in Germany. The federal constituency [[Cloppenburg – Vechta]] is frequently the Christian Democratic Union's safest constituency, winning a majority in all but two elections since WWII.

The district, alongside neighborging Vechta, have due to their large Catholic population the highest birth rates and lowest median ages in Germany.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schröder |first=Miriam |date=2006-03-24 |title=Kinderparadies: Der Cloppenburg-Faktor |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/kinderparadies-der-cloppenburg-faktor-a-407570.html |access-date=2024-04-21 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Demografieportal - Niedersachsen - Demografisches Profil |url=https://www.demografie-portal.de/DE/Politik/Niedersachsen/laendermonate-demografisches-profil.html |access-date=2024-04-21 |website=www.demografie-portal.de}}</ref>