The Deutscher Landkreistag (DLT) is the association of the 294 German counties at the federal level. Its direct members are the Landkreistage (county councils) of the 13 Flächenländer (federal states), which represent the municipal interests in their respective federal state. It represents three quarters of the local authorities, around 96% of the land area and, with 55 million inhabitants, 68% of the population of Germany.
The DLT represents public interest concerns and therefore differs from other associations such as economic interest groups in that the counties bear political responsibility for the citizens. The central task of the DLT is to promote the constitutional guarantee of local self-government for the counties, to foster the exchange of experience among the counties and to promote the common interests of the local authorities vis-à-vis the state and the public.
