|
Background: |
As Europe's largest economy and
second most populous nation, Germany is a key member of the continent's
economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles
immersed Germany in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the
20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers
of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of
the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal
Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic
(GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and
security organizations, the EC, which became the EU, and NATO, while the
Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The
decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German
unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds
to bring Eastern productivity and wages up to Western standards. In
January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common
European exchange currency, the euro. |
|
Location: |
Central Europe, bordering the
Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of
Denmark |
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Geographic coordinates: |
51 00 N, 9 00 E |
|
Map references: |
Europe |
|
Area: |
total: 357,021 sq km
land: 349,223 sq km
water: 7,798 sq km |
|
Area - comparative: |
slightly smaller than Montana
|
|
Land boundaries: |
total: 3,621 km
border countries: Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czech
Republic 646 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, Luxembourg 138 km,
Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km, Switzerland 334 km |
|
Coastline: |
2,389 km |
|
Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
|
Climate: |
temperate and marine; cool,
cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind
|
|
Terrain: |
lowlands in north, uplands in
center, Bavarian Alps in south |
|
Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Neuendorf
bei Wilster -3.54 m
highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m |
|
Natural resources: |
coal, lignite, natural gas,
iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials,
timber, arable land |
|
Land use: |
arable land: 33.13%
permanent crops: 0.6%
other: 66.27% (2005) |
|
Irrigated land: |
4,850 sq km (2003) |
|
Total renewable water resources: |
188 cu km (2005) |
|
Freshwater withdrawal
(domestic/industrial/agricultural): |
Total: 38.01 cu km/yr
(12%/68%/20%)
Per capita: 460 cu m/yr (2001) |
|
Natural hazards: |
flooding |
|
Environment - current issues: |
emissions from coal-burning
utilities and industries contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting
from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; pollution in the
Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern
Germany; hazardous waste disposal; government established a mechanism for
ending the use of nuclear power over the next 15 years; government working
to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with
the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive |
|
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
|
|
Geography - note: |
strategic location on North
European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea |
|
Population: |
82,400,996 (July 2007 est.)
|
|
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 13.9% (male
5,894,724/female 5,590,373)
15-64 years: 66.3% (male
27,811,357/female 26,790,222)
65 years and over: 19.8% (male
6,771,972/female 9,542,348) (2007 est.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 43 years
male: 41.8 years
female: 44.3 years (2007 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate: |
-0.033% (2007 est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
8.2 births/1,000 population
(2007 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
10.71 deaths/1,000 population
(2007 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
2.18 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2007 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.06
male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.054 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.038 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.966 male(s)/female
(2007 est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 4.08 deaths/1,000
live births
male: 4.51 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 3.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 78.95
years
male: 75.96 years
female: 82.11 years (2007
est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
1.4 children born/woman (2007
est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
0.1% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
43,000 (2001 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
less than 1,000 (2003 est.)
|
|
Nationality: |
noun: German(s)
adjective: German |
|
Ethnic groups: |
German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%,
other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian,
Serbo-Croatian, Spanish) |
|
Religions: |
Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic
34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3% |
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Languages: |
German |
|
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write
total population: 99%
male:
99%
female: 99% (2003 est.) |
|
People - note: |
second most populous country in
Europe after Russia |
|
Country name: |
conventional long form:
Federal Republic of Germany
conventional short form: Germany
local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
local short
form: Deutschland
former: German Empire, German Republic,
German Reich |
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Government type: |
federal republic |
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Capital: |
name: Berlin
geographic coordinates: 52 31 N, 13 24 E
time
difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March;
ends last Sunday in October |
|
Administrative divisions: |
16 states (Laender, singular -
Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern (Bavaria), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen,
Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania),
Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North
Rhine-Westphalia), Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarland,
Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein,
Thueringen (Thuringia); note - Bayern, Sachsen, and Thueringen refer to
themselves as free states (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat) |
|
Independence: |
18 January 1871 (German Empire
unification); divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and
later, France) in 1945 following World War II; Federal Republic of Germany
(FRG or West Germany) proclaimed 23 May 1949 and included the former UK,
US, and French zones; German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany)
proclaimed 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone; unification
of West Germany and East Germany took place 3 October 1990; all four
powers formally relinquished rights 15 March 1991 |
|
National holiday: |
Unity Day, 3 October (1990)
|
|
Constitution: |
23 May 1949, known as Basic
Law; became constitution of the united Germany 3 October 1990 |
|
Legal system: |
civil law system with
indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal
Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal
|
|
Executive branch: |
chief of state:
President Horst KOEHLER (since 1 July 2004)
head of government:
Chancellor Angela MERKEL (since 22 November 2005)
cabinet:
Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president
on the recommendation of the chancellor
elections: president
elected for a five-year term (eligible for a second 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 2004 (next scheduled for 23 May 2009); chancellor elected by an
absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; Bundestag
vote for Chancellor last held 22 November 2005 (next will follow the
national elections to be held by autumn 2009)
election results:
Horst KOEHLER elected president; received 604 votes of the Federal
Convention against 589 for Gesine SCHWAN; Angela MERKEL elected
chancellor; vote by Federal Assembly 397 to 202 with 12 abstentions |
|
Legislative branch: |
bicameral Parliament or
Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (614 seats;
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 proportional representation and caucus recognition; to
serve four-year terms) and the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes;
state governments are directly represented by votes; each has three to six
votes depending on population and are required to vote as a block)
elections: Bundestag - last held on 18 September 2005 (next to
be held no later than autumn 2009); 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: Bundestag - percent of vote by party - CDU/CSU 35.2%, SPD
34.3%, FDP 9.8%, Left 8.7%, Greens 8.1%, other 3.9%; seats by party -
CDU/CSU 225, SPD 222, FDP 61, Left 53, Greens 51, and independents 2
|
|
Judicial branch: |
Federal Constitutional Court or
Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and
half by the Bundesrat) |
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Alliance '90/Greens [Claudia
ROTH and Reinhard BUETIKOFER]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela
MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Erwin HUBER]; Free Democratic
Party or FDP [Guido WESTERWELLE]; Left Party or Die Linke [Lothar BISKY
and Oskar LAFONTAINE]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Kurt BECK] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
business associations and
employers' organizations; religious, trade unions, immigrant, expellee,
and veterans groups |
|
International organization participation: |
ADB (nonregional members),
AfDB, Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer),
CBSS, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8,
G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC,
MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris
Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WADB
(nonregional), WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Klaus SCHARIOTH
chancery: 4645 Reservoir Road NW,
Washington, DC 20007
telephone: [1] (202) 298-4000
FAX: [1] (202) 298-4249
consulate(s) general:
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San
Francisco |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador William R. TIMKEN, Jr.
embassy: Neustaedtische
Kirchstrasse 4-5, 10117 Berlin; note - a new embassy is being built near
the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin; ground was broken in October 2004 and
completion is scheduled for 2008
mailing address: PSC 120, Box
1000, APO AE 09265
telephone: [49] (030) 2375174
FAX: [49] (030) 8305-1215
consulate(s) general:
Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich |
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Flag description: |
three equal horizontal bands of
black (top), red, and gold |
|
Economy - overview: |
Germany's affluent and
technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world in PPP
terms - showed considerable improvement in 2007 with 2.6% growth. After a
long period of stagnation with an average growth rate of 0.7% between
2001-05 and chronically high unemployment, stronger growth led to a
considerable fall in unemployment to about 8% near the end of 2007. Among
the most important reasons for Germany's high unemployment during the past
decade were macroeconomic stagnation, the declining level of investment in
plant and equipment, company restructuring, flat domestic consumption,
structural rigidities in the labor market, lack of competition in the
service sector, and high interest rates. The modernization and integration
of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process,
with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $80 billion.
The former government of Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER launched a
comprehensive set of reforms of labor market and welfare-related
institutions. The current government of Chancellor Angela MERKEL has
initiated other reform measures, such as a gradual increase in the
mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67 and measures to increase female
participation in the labor market. Germany's aging population, combined
with high chronic unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a
level exceeding contributions, but higher government revenues from the
cyclical upturn in 2006-07 and a 3% rise in the value-added tax pushed
Germany's budget deficit well below the EU's 3% debt limit. Corporate
restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that
could help Germany meet the long-term challenges of European economic
integration and globalization, although some economists continue to argue
the need for change in inflexible labor and services markets. Growth may
fall below 2% in 2008 as the strong euro, high oil prices, tighter credit
markets, and slowing growth abroad take their toll. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity): |
$2.833 trillion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP (official exchange rate): |
$3.024 trillion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
2.6% (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita (PPP): |
$34,400 (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 0.9%
industry: 29.6%
services: 69.5% (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
43.63 million (2007 est.)
|
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture: 2.8%
industry: 33.4%
services: 63.8% (1999) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
9.1%
note: this is
the International Labor Organization's estimated rate for international
comparisons; Germany's Federal Employment Office estimated a seasonally
adjusted rate of 10.8% (2007 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
11% (2001 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 22.1% (2000) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
28 (2005) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
2% (2007 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
18.4% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $1.465
trillion
expenditures: $1.477 trillion (2007 est.) |
|
Public debt: |
65.3% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products: |
potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar
beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry |
|
Industries: |
among the world's largest and
most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement,
chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and
beverages, shipbuilding, textiles |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
2.1% (2007 est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
579.4 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 61.8%
hydro: 4.2%
nuclear: 29.9%
other: 4.1%
(2001) |
|
Electricity - consumption: |
545.5 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
61.43 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
56.86 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Oil - production: |
141,700 bbl/day (2005) |
|
Oil - consumption: |
2.618 million bbl/day (2005)
|
|
Oil - exports: |
518,700 bbl/day (2004) |
|
Oil - imports: |
2.953 million bbl/day (2004)
|
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
367.2 million bbl (1 January
2006 est.) |
|
Natural gas - production: |
19.9 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
96.84 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
9.42 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - imports: |
86.99 billion cu m (2005)
|
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
246.5 billion cu m (1 January
2006 est.) |
|
Current account balance: |
$185.1 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports: |
$1.361 trillion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
machinery, vehicles, chemicals,
metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles |
|
Exports - partners: |
France 9.7%, US 8.6%, UK 7.3%,
Italy 6.7%, Netherlands 6.2%, Belgium 5.5%, Austria 5.5%, Spain 4.7%
(2006) |
|
Imports: |
$1.121 trillion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
machinery, vehicles, chemicals,
foodstuffs, textiles, metals |
|
Imports - partners: |
Netherlands 11.7%, France 8.7%,
Belgium 7.6%, UK 5.9%, China 5.9%, Italy 5.5%, US 5.1%, Austria 4.3%,
Russia 4% (2006) |
|
Economic aid - donor: |
ODA, $5.6 billion (1998) |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$111.6 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Debt - external: |
$4.489 trillion (30 June 2007)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: |
$763.9 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: |
$941.4 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Market value of publicly traded shares: |
$1.221 trillion (2005) |
|
Currency (code): |
euro (EUR)
note: on
1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a
common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries;
on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday
transactions within the member countries |
|
Currency code: |
EUR |
|
Exchange rates: |
euros per US dollar - 0.7345
(2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003) |
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar year |
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
54.2 million (2006) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
84.3 million (2006) |
|
Telephone system: |
general assessment:
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, dating back to World War II, 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, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to many
foreign countries
international: country code - 49; Germany's
international service is excellent worldwide, consisting of extensive land
and undersea cable facilities as well as earth stations in the Inmarsat,
Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems (2001) |
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 51, FM 787, shortwave 4
(1998) |
|
Radios: |
77.8 million (1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations: |
373 (plus 8,042 repeaters)
(1995) |
|
Televisions: |
51.4 million (1998) |
|
Internet country code: |
.de |
|
Internet hosts: |
16.494 million (2007) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
200 (2001) |
|
Internet users: |
38.6 million (2006)
|
|
Airports: |
550 (2007) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 331
over
3,047 m: 14
2,438 to 3,047 m: 52
1,524 to 2,437
m: 58
914 to 1,523 m: 72
under 914 m: 135 (2007)
|
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 219
2,438
to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523
m: 34
under 914 m: 181 (2007) |
|
Heliports: |
28 (2007) |
|
Pipelines: |
condensate 37 km; gas 25,094
km; oil 3,546 km; refined products 3,828 km (2007) |
|
Railways: |
total: 48,215 km
standard gauge: 47,962 km 1.435-m gauge (20,278 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 229 km 1.000-m gauge (16 km electrified); 24 km
0.750-m gauge (2006) |
|
Roadways: |
total: 231,581 km
paved: 231,581 km (includes 12,200 km of expressways) (2005)
|
|
Waterways: |
7,467 km
note: Rhine
River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea
(2006) |
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 382 ships (1000
GRT or over) 12,085,484 GRT/14,261,476 DWT
by type: bulk
carrier 1, cargo 50, chemical tanker 11, container 269, liquefied gas 5,
passenger 5, passenger/cargo 26, petroleum tanker 12, roll on/roll off 3
foreign-owned: 7 (China 2, Finland 4, Ireland 1)
registered in other countries: 2,716 (Antigua and Barbuda 891,
Australia 2, Bahamas 40, Belgium 1, Bermuda 21, Brazil 7, Bulgaria 1,
Burma 5, Canada 3, Cayman Islands 17, Cyprus 197, Denmark 12, Faroe
Islands 1, Finland 2, France 1, Georgia 2, Gibraltar 117, Hong Kong 10,
Isle of Man 61, Italy 1, Jamaica 1, Liberia 728, Luxembourg 10, Malaysia
2, Malta 67, Marshall Islands 214, Morocco 1, Netherlands 70, Netherlands
Antilles 48, Norway 2, NZ 1, Panama 38, Portugal 22, Russia 2, Singapore
18, Spain 9, Sri Lanka 6, St Vincent and The Grenadines 3, Sweden 4,
Turkey 1, UK 71, US 6) (2007) |
|
Ports and terminals: |
Bremen, Bremerhaven, Duisburg,
Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Lubeck, Rostock, Wilhemshaven |
|
Military branches: |
Federal Armed Forces
(Bundeswehr): Army (Heer), Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm),
Air Force (Luftwaffe), Joint Service Support Command (Streitkraeftebasis),
Central Medical Service (Zentraler Sanitaetsdienst) (2006) |
|
Military service age and obligation: |
18 years of age (conscripts
serve a 9-month tour of compulsory military service) (2004) |
|
Manpower available for military service: |
males age 18-49:
18,917,537
females age 18-49: 17,913,113 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower fit for military service: |
males age 18-49:
15,258,931
females age 18-49: 14,443,412 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower reaching military service age annually: |
males age 18-49: 497,048
females age 18-49: 470,537 (2005 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.5% (2005 est.)
|
|
Disputes - international: |
none |
|
Illicit drugs: |
source of precursor chemicals
for South American cocaine processors; transshipment point for and
consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and
European-produced synthetic drugs; major financial center |
This page was last updated on 12 February, 2008
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