Situated in north-eastern Germany, Mecklenburg was a duchy within the Holy Roman Empire from 1348 until its division in 1621 into the two duchies of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (replaced in 1701 by Mecklenburg-Strelitz) and Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The two duchies subsequently existed separately as states of Germany until they were united in 1933.
After the World War II, Mecklenburg was included in East Germany. Upon Germany's reunification (1990) it was combined with the smaller neighbouring region of Western Pomerania (German Vorpommern) to constitute the state (Bundesland) of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.