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| Germany | Introduction | Back to Top |
Germany, Federal Republic of (in German, Bundesrepublik Deutschland), country in central Europe, bordered on the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; on the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; on the south by Austria and Switzerland; and on the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. For much of German history, Germany was a geographical term for an area occupied by many states. A unified nation for 74 years (1871-1945), it was divided after World War II into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; commonly known as West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR; commonly known as East Germany). On October 3, 1990, East Germany, or the GDR, became part of the FRG, and Germany once again became a unified nation. It has an area of 356,959 sq km (137,823 sq mi). Berlin is Germany's capital and largest city.
Population 83,536,115 (1996 estimate) Population Density 234 people/sq km (606 people/sq mi) (1996 estimate) Urban/Rural Breakdown 85% Urban 15% Rural Largest Cities Berlin 3,477,900 Hamburg 1,703,800 Munich 1,251,100 Cologne 963,300 Frankfurt 656,200 (1994 estimates) Ethnic Groups 96% German 4% Other including Turks, Poles, Italians, and Yugoslavs Languages Official Language German Other Languages Sorbian, other minority languages Religions 35% Protestantism mainly Lutheranism 34% Roman Catholicism 2% Islam 29% Other including Judaism
| Germany | Provinces | Back to Top |
16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen
| Germany | People | Back to Top |
The German population is overwhelmingly urban. In 1994 Germany had 39 cities with more than 200,000 residents, and 12 metropolises with more than 500,000 residents. Three of Germany’s federal states are city-states: Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg. Berlin is the capital and largest city. Germany’s population density is highest in the northwest, especially in North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), which includes Germany’s old industrial heartland, the Ruhr Valley, and a number of large cities. Population density is lower in the former East Germany and in the more rural states of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), and Bavaria.
Characteristic of Germany, throughout its history, has been the lack of clearly defined geographic boundaries, particularly on the great lowland of northern Europe; both the area occupied by the German peoples and the boundaries of the German state (at such times as it existed) have fluctuated constantly. The German people appear to have originated on the coastal region of the Baltic Sea and in the Baltic islands in the Bronze and early Iron ages. From about 500 BC they began to move southward, crushing and absorbing the existing Celtic kingdoms; from 58 BC onward they clashed along the line of the Rhine and Danube rivers with the power of Rome. With the fall of the Roman Empire, German peoples, predominantly under Frankish tribal leadership, closely settled a large area west of the Rhine River in what is still German territory; they also penetrated deeply into Belgium and areas that later became France. The Merovingian and Carolingian empires knew no distinction between what are now France and western Germany; it is understandable that Charlemagne is recognized as an important figure in the history of both countries.
| Germany | History | Back to Top |
The idea of a single German people, or Volk, is likewise a relatively recent development, largely invented by 19th- and 20th-century writers and politicians. From ancient times, several ethnic groups have mixed to shape the history of Germany, resulting in a stunning diversity of cultures and dialects. Political definitions of Germany have tended to reflect this ambiguity, at various times including many regions that today are sovereign nations (such as Austria and Switzerland) or parts of other countries (such as France, Poland, Russia, and Hungary). Modern Germany is the product of centuries of social, political, and cultural evolution. This history section provides a brief survey of that evolution.
Solid historical information begins in about 50 BC when Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars brought him into contact with Germans as well as Celts. He did cross the Rhine in 55 and 53 BC, but the province of Gaul he created used the river as a boundary and most Germans lived beyond it. Direct Roman attacks on German tribes began again under Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, who pushed across the Rhine in 12–9 BC, while other Roman forces assaulted Germanic tribes through the middle Danube (in modern Austria and Hungary). Fierce fighting in both areas, and the famous victory of the German Arminius in the Teutoburger Forest in AD 9 (when three Roman legions were massacred), showed that conquering these tribes would require too much effort. The Roman frontier thus stabilized on the Rhine and Danube rivers, although sporadic campaigns (notably under Domitian in AD 83 and 88) extended control over Frisia in the north and some lands east of the confluence of the Rhine and the Danube.
In 751 the Merovingian dynasty was overthrown by the Frankish noble Pepin the Short. In order to boost his own claims to legitimate rule, Pepin secured the endorsement of the kingdom’s bishops and the pope; this was the beginning of a long tradition of church leaders conferring kingship. The rule of Pepin’s son Charles had a major impact on German and European history. Known as Charlemagne (Charles the Great), the ambitious king expanded the Frankish kingdom to include large parts of modern-day Germany and Italy during his long reign (768-814). He fought the Slavs south of the Danube River, annexed Bavaria, and ferociously subdued and converted the pagan Saxons in the northwest. Charlemagne was received in Rome as the champion of Christianity and restorer of the western empire. Just as importantly, he supported the papacy against Rome’s restive populace. On Christmas Day in 800, he was crowned emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III, thereby reviving the Roman imperial tradition in the west as well as setting a precedent for dependence of the emperors on papal approval.
| Germany | Culture | Back to Top |
Germany's older regions, was custodian to the greater portion of the country's rich cultural legacy. The major wealth of Germany's architectural monuments—of Roman Germany, of medieval Romanesque, of south German Baroque—fell within the borders of West Germany after World War II, as did many of the great libraries, archives, and facilities for the performing arts. Yet some of the greatest monuments of Germany's cultural and historical achievement were located in the German Democratic Republic, including the Wartburg of Luther near Eisenach, the Weimar of Goethe, the Leipzig of Bach; a large share of prewar Germany's art treasures rested in East Germany, especially in East Berlin and Dresden. After the division of Germany, many of the cultural assets originally from the eastern sector were removed to the west. Many of East Germany's artists, writers, and institutions, including entire publishing houses, transplanted themselves to West Germany or set up successor organizations there.
During the 40 years of separation it was inevitable that some divergence would occur in the cultural life of the two parts of the severed nation. Both West Germany and East Germany followed along traditional paths of the common German culture, but West Germany, being obviously more susceptible to influences from western Europe and North America, became more cosmopolitan. Conversely, East Germany, while remaining surprisingly conservative in its adherence to some aspects of the received tradition, was powerfully molded by the dictates of a socialist ideology of predominantly Soviet inspiration. Guidance in the required direction was provided by exhortation through a range of associations and by some degree of censorship; the state, as virtually the sole market for artistic products, inevitably had the last word.
the antecedents of contemporary German art, music, and literature are so thoroughly embedded in the broader European intellectual traditions as to defy most attempts to separate any specifically German cultural roots. A visitor, for example, can see abundant evidence of early medieval art and architecture in the many splendid cathedrals, monasteries, and castles of Germany, but these follow the same styles and style periods that are be found in other European countries—Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, baroque, and so on. German literature and music were similarly part of the larger European culture. Two important events—the construction of a printing press using movable type around 1450 by German printer Johannes Gutenberg and the translation of the Bible into German in 1521 by religious reformer Martin Luther—had a profound impact on Western culture as a whole. They also opened new possibilities for a specifically German literature, because they founded a uniform High German language above the regional dialects, and made it accessible to all who could read. Religious unrest and the Thirty Years’ War put an end to most German literary efforts until a revival occurred in the 18th century.
| Germany | Life | Back to Top |
Germany has a highly urbanized society, with lifestyles that emphasize recreational, leisure, and physical fitness activities. Many Germans enjoy hiking, camping, skiing, and other outdoor pursuits. Soccer is the most popular sport in the nation, and many Germans belong to local soccer clubs. Germans are also known for their love of food, especially rich pastries, veal and pork dishes, and various types of sausages and cheeses. German-made wine and beer are famous all over the world. Also popular are lively social gatherings at outdoor beer or wine gardens or cellar restaurants where wine or beer is stored.
| Germany | Land | Back to Top |
In the major lineaments of its physical geography, Germany is not unique; it spans the great east-west morphological zones that are characteristic of the western part of central Europe. In the south, Germany impinges on the outermost ranges of the Alps. From there it extends across the Alpine Foreland (Alpenvorland), the plain on the northern edge of the Alps. Forming the core of the country is the large zone of the Central German Uplands, which is part of a wider European arc of territory stretching from the Massif Central of France in the west into Czechoslovakia and Poland in the east. In Germany it manifests itself as a landscape with a complex mixture of forested block mountains, intermediate plateaus with scarped edges, and lowland basins. In the northern part of the country, the North German Plain, or Lowland, forms part of the greater North European Plain, which from the Low Countries broadens eastward across Germany and Poland into Belarus, the Baltic States, and Russia and extends northward through Schleswig-Holstein into the Jutland peninsula of Denmark.
| Germany | Plants and Animal | Back to Top |
Germany today includes mostly areas that have long been cleared. However, forest conservation since the 18th century has preserved large areas of oak, ash, elm, beech, birch, pine, fir, and larch. About one-third of the country is woodland. Of the many animals that once roamed the forests, deer, red foxes, hares, and weasels are still common, but these animals and wilder game such as wild boars, wildcats, and badgers depend increasingly on conservation efforts. Private hunting licenses are extremely expensive, and even fishing in the streams and lakes where edible species abound is not encouraged. Instead, there is a good deal of fish farming, including trout and carp; deer are also commercially produced to satisfy the demand for venison. Many species of songbirds migrate to Germany every year, as do storks, geese, and other larger fowl that fly in over the Mediterranean Sea from Africa. Herring, flounder, cod, and ocean perch are found in coastal waters.
| Germany | Economy | Back to Top |
Germany’s economic development was based on an alliance of industrial business people with the Prussian aristocracy who controlled much of the land. It emphasized the production of coal and steel, machines and machine tools, chemicals, electronic equipment, ships, and, later, motor vehicles. Well-organized business, labor, and farm associations in league with the government produced a distinctive “organized capitalism,” different from the less regulated capitalism of Britain and the United States. This strong economy carried the country into two world wars and, despite Allied bombing from 1942 to 1945, survived largely intact. After World War II ended in 1945, the Western powers saw the need to build up European economies in order to resist the threatened encroachment of the Soviet Union and Communism. To this end, the U.S. government in 1947 initiated the European Recovery Program, commonly called the Marshall Plan, which offered generous investment loans to all European countries that had been devastated by the war. Under the stewardship of economics minister Ludwig Erhard, the Marshall Plan helped launch a 20-year economic expansion in West Germany that raised living standards and industrial production far above prewar levels.
West Germany's economic achievement was impressive; the gross national product (GNP) rose by 8 percent per year from 1951 to 1961, or at a per capita rate double that of Britain or the United States and nearly double that of France. At the same time exports trebled. This period of exceptional growth was undoubtedly an outstanding event in the economic history of both West Germany and Europe. Yet the postwar advance of the West German economy did not follow an unbroken line; there were occasional checks, as, for example, the one following the oil crisis of 1973–74. However, the upward trend was always resumed. At the moment of economic unification on July 1, 1990, the economy was riding high on a cycle of business expansion that had lasted since the early 1980s. West Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) had increased at current prices by more than 70 percent since 1983; it was by far the highest of all the 12 EC countries, constituting one-quarter of the community's total. The country ranked fourth in the world for GDP, following the United States, Japan, and the U.S.S.R., and it was a leader in world trade. All this was achieved while maintaining the customarily low rate of inflation. West Germany was thus well prepared to sustain the economic shocks of unification with the much weaker economy of former East Germany, even though these proved to be considerably more severe than anticipated.
Germany possesses the world's third most technologically powerful economy after the US and Japan, but structural market rigidities - including the substantial non-wage costs of hiring new workers - have made unemployment a long-term, not just a cyclical, problem. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy remains a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from western Germany amounting to roughly $70 billion. Growth picked up to 3% in 2000, largely due to recovering global demand; newly passed business and income tax cuts are expected to keep growth strong in 2001. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are transforming the German economy to meet the challenges of European economic integration and globalization in general.
| Germany | Communications | Back to Top |
Germany has one of the world's most technologically advanced telecommunications systems; as a result of intensive capital expenditures since reunification, the formerly backward system of the eastern part of the country has been modernized and integrated with that of the western part domestic: Germany is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available and includes roaming service to many foreign countries international: satellite earth stations - 14 Intelsat (12 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean), 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), 2 Intersputnik (1 Atlantic Ocean region and 1 Indian Ocean region); 7 submarine cable connections; 2 HF radiotelephone communication centers; tropospheric scatter links
| Germany | Languages | Back to Top |
The principal and official language of Germany is German, an Indo-European language. Standard High German is used for official, educational, and literary purposes. Spoken German, however, differs from High German in the form of dozens of distinctive dialects and simplified street usage. One version, Low German, or Plattdeutsch, resembles Dutch and is spoken in the seaboard areas of the northwest. Southern dialects such as Swabian and Bavarian may be hard to understand for North Germans or for foreign visitors who learned only High German in school. There are small language minorities, such as the Sorbs of southeastern Brandenburg and the Danes of northern Schleswig-Holstein; both of these groups also have some cultural autonomy. The various immigrant populations also retain their separate languages, such as Turkish, Greek, Italian, Spanish, and Serbo-Croatian. However, the public schools insist that all children learn German.
| Germany | Politics | Back to Top |
Alliance '90/Greens [Renate KUENAST and Fritz KUHN]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Edmund STOIBER, chairman]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Wolfgang GERHARDT, chairman]; note - Wolfgang GERHARDT will probably be replaced by Guido WESTERWELLE in May 2001; Party of Democratic Socialism or PDS [Gabi ZIMMER]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Gerhard SCHROEDER, chairman]
| Germany | Government | Back to Top |
The Basic Law has many affinities with the constitutions in the Anglo-American democracies and its predecessor, the Weimar Constitution (upon which it drew heavily). The parliamentary form of government incorporated many features of the British system, but, since West Germany, unlike Great Britain, was to be a federation, many political structures were drawn from the models of the United States and other federative governments. In reaction to the unitary state of the Nazi era, the Basic Law gave the states considerable autonomy, much of which has been eroded by constitutional amendments, fiscal developments, and a political insistence on uniform living conditions throughout the Federal Republic. In addition to federalism, the Basic Law has two other features similar to the Constitution of the United States: (1) its formal declaration of the principles of human rights and of bases for the government of the people and (2) the strongly independent position of the courts, especially in the right of the Federal Constitutional Court to declare a law unconstitutional and void.
| Germany | Legal | Back to Top |
Legal system: civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Executive branch: chief of state: President Johannes RAU (since 1 July 1999) head of government: Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (since 27 October 1998) cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor elections: president elected for a five-year term by a Federal Convention including all members of the Federal Assembly and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments; election last held 23 May 1999 (next to be held 23 May 2004); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; election last held 27 September 1998 (next to be held in the fall of 2002) election results: Johannes RAU elected president; percent of Federal Convention vote - 57.6%; Gerhard SCHROEDER elected chancellor; percent of Federal Assembly - 52.7% Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (656 seats usually, but 669 for the 1998 term; elected by popular vote under a system combining direct and proportional representation; a party must win 5% of the national vote or three direct mandates to gain representation; members serve four-year terms) and the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments are directly represented by votes; each has 3 to 6 votes depending on population and are required to vote as a block) elections: Federal Assembly - last held 27 September 1998 (next to be held by the fall of 2002); note - there are no elections for the Bundesrat; composition is determined by the composition of the state-level governments; the composition of the Bundesrat has the potential to change any time one of the 16 states holds an election election results: Federal Assembly - percent of vote by party - SPD 40.9%, Alliance '90/Greens 6.7%, CDU/CSU 35.1%, FDP 6.2%, PDS 5.1%; seats by party - SPD 298, Alliance '90/Greens 47, CDU/CSU 245, FDP 43, PDS 36; Federal Council - current composition - votes by party - SPD-led states 26, CDU-led states 28, grand coalitions 15 Judicial branch: Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)
| Germany | organization | Back to Top |
AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
| Germany | Education | Back to Top |
school attendance in Germany is free and mandatory from age 6 to age 14, after which most children either continue in secondary schools or participate in vocational education until the age of 18. Kindergarten is not part of the public school system, although before unification East Germany had a nearly universal system of childcare facilities. Under the treaty of unification, the East German public education system was required to conform to the model in use in West Germany. Education in Germany is under the jurisdiction of the individual state governments, which results in a great deal of variety. Most states in the former West Germany have a three-track system that begins with four years of Grundschule (primary school), attended by all children between the ages of 6 and 9.
| Germany | Defence | Back to Top |
Military branches: Army, Navy (includes Naval Air Arm), Air Force, Medical Corps, Border Police, Coast Guard
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 20,851,022 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 17,760,412 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 482,318 (2001 est.)
| Germany | International Disputes | Back to Top |
None
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| Germany | Time | Back to Top |
| Germany | Currency and General Information | Back to Top |
| Countries Currency Unit | DEM/Unit | Units/DEM | |
| DZD | Algeria Dinars | 0.0290064 | 34.4751 |
| USD | United States Dollars | 2.24547 | 0.445340 |
| ARS | Argentina Pesos | 0.762470 | 1.31153 |
| AUD | Australia Dollars | 1.19799 | 0.834729 |
| ATS | Austria Schillings ** | 0.142136 | 7.03553 |
| BSD | Bahamas Dollars | 2.24547 | 0.445340 |
| BBD | Barbados Dollars | 1.12838 | 0.886227 |
| BEF | Belgium Francs ** | 0.0484838 | 20.6255 |
| BMD | Bermuda Dollars | 2.24547 | 0.445340 |
| BRL | Brazil Reals | 0.965795 | 1.03542 |
| GBP | United Kingdom Pounds | 3.20174 | 0.312331 |
| BGL | Bulgaria Leva | 1.00438 | 0.995635 |
| CAD | Canada Dollars | 1.40768 | 0.710391 |
| CLP | Chile Pesos | 0.00342063 | 292.344 |
| CNY | China Yuan Renminbi | 0.271278 | 3.68626 |
| CYP | Cyprus Pounds | 3.41777 | 0.292589 |
| CZK | Czech Republic Koruny | 0.0633439 | 15.7868 |
| DKK | Denmark Kroner | 0.263273 | 3.79834 |
| XCD | East Caribbean Dollars | 0.831657 | 1.20242 |
| EGP | Egypt Pounds | 0.484722 | 2.06304 |
| EUR | Euro | 1.95583 | 0.511292 |
| FJD | Fiji Dollars | 1.00469 | 0.995336 |
| FIM | Finland Markkaa ** | 0.328947 | 3.04000 |
| FRF | France Francs ** | 0.298164 | 3.35385 |
| DEM | Germany Deutsche Marks ** | 1.00000 | 1.00000 |
| XAU | Gold Ounces | 678.684 | 0.00147344 |
| GRD | Greece Drachmae ** | 0.00573978 | 174.223 |
| HKD | Hong Kong Dollars | 0.287896 | 3.47348 |
| HUF | Hungary Forint | 0.00804323 | 124.328 |
| ISK | Iceland Kronur | 0.0224561 | 44.5313 |
| INR | India Rupees | 0.0460101 | 21.7344 |
| IDR | Indonesia Rupiahs | 0.000228560 | 4,375.21 |
| IEP | Ireland Pounds ** | 2.48339 | 0.402675 |
| ILS | Israel New Shekels | 0.473435 | 2.11222 |
| ITL | Italy Lire ** | 0.00101010 | 989.999 |
| JMD | Jamaica Dollars | 0.0471639 | 21.2027 |
| JPY | Japan Yen | 0.0169278 | 59.0744 |
| JOD | Jordan Dinars | 3.16710 | 0.315746 |
| LBP | Lebanon Pounds | 0.00148314 | 674.245 |
| LUF | Luxembourg Francs ** | 0.0484838 | 20.6255 |
| MYR | Malaysia Ringgits | 0.591070 | 1.69185 |
| MXN | Mexico Pesos | 0.249211 | 4.01266 |
| NZD | New Zealand Dollars | 0.989094 | 1.01103 |
| NOK | Norway Kroner | 0.253621 | 3.94289 |
| NLG | Netherlands Guilders ** | 0.887517 | 1.12674 |
| PKR | Pakistan Rupees | 0.0373934 | 26.7427 |
| PHP | Philippines Pesos | 0.0440116 | 22.7213 |
| XPT | Platinum Ounces | 1,165.35 | 0.000858110 |
| PLN | Poland Zlotych | 0.546110 | 1.83113 |
| PTE | Portugal Escudos ** | 0.00975564 | 102.505 |
| ROL | Romania Lei | 0.0000681790 | 14,667.28 |
| RUR | Russia Rubles | 0.0721553 | 13.8590 |
| SAR | Saudi Arabia Riyals | 0.598784 | 1.67005 |
| XAG | Silver Ounces | 10.3962 | 0.0961891 |
| SGD | Singapore Dollars | 1.21891 | 0.820406 |
| SKK | Slovakia Koruny | 0.0468294 | 21.3541 |
| ZAR | South Africa Rand | 0.197704 | 5.05807 |
| KRW | South Korea Won | 0.00170008 | 588.208 |
| ESP | Spain Pesetas ** | 0.0117548 | 85.0718 |
| XDR | IMF Special Drawing Rights | 2.79969 | 0.357182 |
| SDD | Sudan Dinars | 0.00863644 | 115.788 |
| SEK | Sweden Kronor | 0.216725 | 4.61414 |
| CHF | Switzerland Francs | 1.33558 | 0.748736 |
| TWD | Taiwan New Dollars | 0.0642482 | 15.5646 |
| THB | Thailand Baht | 0.0515588 | 19.3953 |
| TTD | Trinidad and Tobago Dollars | 0.366907 | 2.72548 |
| TRL | Turkey Liras | 0.00000167062 | 598,580.88 |
| VEB | Venezuela Bolivares | 0.00243864 | 410.065 |
| ZMK | Zambia Kwacha | 0.000502343 | 1,990.67 |
| Germany : Geographic coordinates | 51 00 N, 9 00 E |
| Germany : Population growth rate | 0.27% |
| Germany : Birth rate | 9.16 births/1,000 population |
| Germany : Death rate | 10.42 deaths/1,000 population |
| Germany : People living with HIV/AIDS | 37,000 |
| Germany : Independence | 18 January 1871 |
| Germany : National holiday | Unity Day, 3 October |
| Germany : Constitution | 23 May 1949 |
| Germany : GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.936 trillion |
| Germany : GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $23,400 |
| Germany : Electricity - consumption | 495.181 billion kWh |
| Germany : Exports | $578 billion machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles |
| Germany : Imports | $505 billion machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals |
| Germany : Telephones | 45.2 million |
| Germany : Mobile cellular | 15.318 million |
| Germany : Radio broadcast stations | AM 51, FM 767, shortwave 4 |
| Germany : Radios | 77.8 million |
| Germany : Television broadcast stations | 373 |
| Germany : Televisions | 51.4 million |
| Germany : Internet country code | .de |
| Germany : Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 123 |
| Germany : Internet users | 18 million |
| Germany : Railways | 44,000 km |
| Germany : Highways | 656,140 km |
| Germany : Waterways | 7,500 km |
| Germany : Pipelines | e oil 2,500 km |
| Germany : Ports and harbors | Berlin, Bonn, Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Cologne, Dresden, Duisburg, Emden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Luebeck, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Rostock, Stuttgart |
| Germany : Merchant marine | 457 ships |
| Germany : Airports | 613 |
| Germany : Heliports | 59 |
| Germany : Military branches | Army, Navy (includes Naval Air Arm), Air Force, Medical Corps, Border Police, Coast Guard |
| Germany : Military expenditures | $32.8 billion |