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Country information - Germany

The state now known as Germany was unified as a modern nation-state only in 1871, when the German Empire, dominated by the Kingdom of Prussia, was forged. This was the second German Reich (=empire). After the German Revolution in November 1918, a Republic was proclaimed. During the years following the Revolution, German voters increasingly supported anti-democratic parties, both right- (monarchists, Nazis) and left-wing (Communists). After a succession of unsuccessful cabinets, on 30 January 1933, President von Hindenburg, seeing little alternative and pushed by advisors, appointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany.

On 27 February, the Reichstag was set on fire. Basic rights were abrogated under an emergency decree. An Enabling Act gave Hitler's government full legislative power. A centralised totalitarian state was established, no longer based on the rule of democratic law. The new regime made Germany a one-party state by outlawing all oppositional parties and repressing the different-minded parts of the public with the party's own organisations SA and SS, as well as the newly founded state security police Gestapo.

In 1936, German troops entered the demilitarised Rhineland in an attempt to rebuild national self-esteem. Emboldened, Hitler followed from 1938 onwards a policy of expansionism to establish a "Greater Germany", starting with the forced unification with Austria (called "Anschluss") and the annexation of the Sudetes region in Bohemia from Czechoslovakia.

In 1939 Germany launched a Blitzkrieg against Poland, which, following British and French war declarations, began World War II. The war resulted in the death of several million Germans, large territorial losses and the expulsion of approximately 12 to 15 million Germans from Eastern Germany (East Prussia, Silesia, Eastern parts of Pomerania and Brandenburg) and other parts of Eastern Europe (especially Sudetenland). All major and many smaller German cities lay in ruins. Germany and Berlin were occupied and partitioned by the Allies into four military occupation zones - French in the south-west, British in the north-west, American in the south, and Soviet in the east. Following the end of the Second World War, Germany was divided up into four zones, as was the capital, Berlin.

Following the Potsdam conference in 1945, the introduction of the Deutschmark in the Western zones in 1948 and the Berlin blockade, the Federal Republic of Germany FRG (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic GDR (East Germany) were founded in 1949. The Berlin wall was built in 1961, as the East German authorities fought to prevent the exodus of citizens fleeing to the West. The FRG became a member of NATO and a founding member of the EU, whilst the GDR became firmly entrenched in the Soviet pact. Political pressure and the increasing détente between East and West led to a lifting of travel restrictions from the GDR and to the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall.

Following free elections in the GDR, the two countries were re-united on 3 October 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern productivity and wages up to Western standards. As Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.

	Geography	Germany

Location

Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark

Area	total: 357,021 sq km

Land	349,223 sq km

Water

7,798 sq km

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

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

Natural hazards

flooding

	People	Germany

Population

82,431,390

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%

Languages

German

	Government	Germany

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

Government type

federal republic

Capital

Berlin

Administrative divisions

13 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and 3 free states (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat); Bayern, Sachsen and Thueringen

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 German people 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

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 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 to be held 23 May 2009); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; election last held 22 November 2005 (next to be held November 2009)

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (613 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 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 18 September 2005 (next to be held September 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

Judicial branch

Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)

Flag description

three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold

	Economy	Germany

Germany is the largest European economy and the fifth largest economy in the world measured by gross domestic product purchasing power parity, placed behind the United States, China, Japan and India. According to the World Trade Organization, Germany is also the world's top exporter, ahead of the United States and China. 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 $70 billion. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor market - including strict regulations on laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis - have made unemployment a chronic problem. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could allow Germany to meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization, particularly if labor market rigidities are further addressed.

Labor force

43.32 million

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture 2.8%, industry 33.4%, services 63.8%

Unemployment rate

11.6%

Population below poverty line

Household income by percentage share

lowest 10%: 3.6%, highest 10%: 25.1%

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

Currency (code)

euro (EUR)