Deutschland

As Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation (after Russia), 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.

temperate and marine cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind

Europe Western Europe Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea

lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south

Zugspitze 2 963 m 9 721 ft Neuendorf bei Wilster -4 m -13 ft Zugspitze Mount Everest

coal lignite natural gas iron ore copper nickel uranium potash salt construction materials timber arable land

Flooding

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 by 2022 government working to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with the EU\'s Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive

3714 km 2308 mi Austria 801 km/498 mi Belgium 133 km/83 mi Czech Republic 704 km/437 mi Denmark 140 km/87 mi France 418 km/260 mi Luxembourg 128 km/80 mi Netherlands 575 km/357 mi Poland 467 km/290 mi Switzerland 348 km/216 mi

2 389 km/1 484 mi 32.70 % 34.00 % 47.90 %

potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages milk products cattle, pigs, poultry

among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron steel coal cement chemicals machinery vehicles machine tools electronics automobiles food and beverages shipbuilding textiles

80 889 505	+0.30%	50.9 %	49.1 %
	0-14 13.0 %	15-64 66.0 %	65+ 21.1 %
	226.57 / km2 586.81 / mi2	75.09% 60 743 165	25% 20 146 340
	78.80 yrs	83.40 Jahre	81.14 Jahre

7.28 % 1.83 % 10.89 % 15.3 % 20.87 % 214.48 % 1.09 %

German (official)

Protestant 34% Roman Catholic 34% Muslim 3.7% Unaffiliated or other 28.3%

German 91.5% Turkish 2.4% Other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek Italian Polish Russian Serbo-Croatian Spanish)

Deutschland Germany Allemagne Alemania Germania ドイツ Federal republic Bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 seats; members appointed by each of the 16 state governments or landtags) and the Federal Diet or Bundestag (631 seats - total seats can vary each electoral term; approximately one-half of members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and approximately one-half directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote; members serve 4-year terms) Three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold; these colors have played an important role in German history and can be traced back to the medieval banner of the Holy Roman Emperor - a black eagle with red claws and beak on a gold field "Das Lied der Deutschen" (Song of the Germans) golden eagle National colors: black, red, yellow President Joachim GAUCK (since 23 March 2012) 18 January 1871 (establishment of the German Empire) divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and France) in 1945 following World War II Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) proclaimed on 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zones German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed on 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone West Germany and East Germany unified on 3 October 1990 all four powers formally relinquished rights on 15 March 1991 notable earlier dates: 10 August 843 (Eastern Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire) 2 February 962 (crowning of OTTO I, recognized as the first Holy Roman Emperor) Unity Day, 3 October (1990) ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CD, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSMA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMISS, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC Berlin 52 31 N, 13 24 E UTC+1 BERLIN 3.563 million Hamburg 1.831 million Munich 1.438 million Cologne 1.037 million 16 states (Laender, singular - Land) Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern (Bavaria), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen (Hesse), 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)

539 (2013)

Baltic Sea - Rostock; North Sea - Wilhelmshaven

8.2 beds/1,000 population (2011)

3.89 physicians/1,000 population (2012)

Federal Court of Justice (court consists of 127 judges including the court president, vice-presidents, presiding judges, and other judges, and organized into 25 Senates subdivided into 12 civil panels, 5 criminal panels, and 8 special panels; Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (consists of 2 Senates each subdivided into 3 chambers, each with a chairman and 8 members)

18 years of age universal

Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) Army (Heer), Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm), Air Force (Luftwaffe), Joint Support Services (Streitkraeftebasis, SKB), Central Medical Service (Zentraler Sanitaetsdienst, ZSanDstBw) (2013)

The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its Western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and declining net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms. Reforms launched by the government of Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (1998-2005), deemed necessary to address chronically high unemployment and low average growth, contributed to strong growth and falling unemployment. These advances, as well as a government subsidized, reduced working hour scheme, help explain the relatively modest increase in unemployment during the 2008-09 recession - the deepest since World War II - and its decrease to 5.2% in 2014. The new German government introduced a minimum wage of about $11.60 (8.50 euros) per hour to take effect in 2015. Stimulus and stabilization efforts initiated in 2008 and 2009 and tax cuts introduced in Chancellor Angela MERKEL's second term increased Germany's total budget deficit - including federal, state, and municipal - to 4.1% in 2010, but slower spending and higher tax revenues reduced the deficit to 0.8% in 2011 and in 2012 Germany reached a budget surplus of 0.1%. The budget was essentially in balance in 2014. A constitutional amendment approved in 2009 limits the federal government to structural deficits of no more than 0.35% of GDP per annum as of 2016 though the target was already reached in 2012. The German economy suffers from low levels of investment, and a government plan to invest 15 billion euros 2016-18, largely in infrastructure, is intended to spur needed private investment. Following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Chancellor Angela MERKEL announced in May 2011 that eight of the country's 17 nuclear reactors would be shut down immediately and the remaining plants would close by 2022. Germany plans to replace nuclear power with renewable energy, which accounted for 27.8% of gross electricity consumption in 2014, up from 9% in 2000. Before the shutdown of the eight reactors, Germany relied on nuclear power for 23% of its electricity generating capacity and 46% of its base-load electricity production. Extremely low inflation, caused largely by low global energy prices and a weak euro, are expected to boost German GDP growth in 2015. 3 704 910 866 882.9 $USD 45 802.1 $USD +1.60 % machinery, data processing equipment, vehicles, chemicals, oil and gas, metals, electric equipment, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, agricultural products Netherlands 13.8% France 8% China 6.6% Belgium 6.3% Italy 5.4% UK 4.8% Poland 4.6% Czech Republic 4.4% Austria 4.3% Switzerland 4.1% motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, metals, transport equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, rubber and plastic products France 9.6% UK 7.9% US 6.9% Netherlands 6.9% China 5.8% Austria 5.3% Italy 5.1% Poland 4.5% Switzerland 4.3% euros (EUR) per US dollar 0.7489 (2014 est.) 0.8% (2014 est.)

645 000 km 400 784 mi	43 468 km 27 010 mi	7 467 km 4 640 mi (Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea)
58 per 100 people 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 (2011)	120.42 / 100	86.19 / 100 .de

a mixture of publicly operated and privately owned TV and radio stations national and regional public broadcasters compete with nearly 400 privately owned national and regional TV stations more than 90% of households have cable or satellite TV hundreds of radio stations including multiple national radio networks, regional radio networks, and a large number of local radio stations (2008)

AM 51 FM 787 shortwave 4 (1998)

729 457.98 kt 8.92 kt pro kopf

15.35 μg/m3

42 431.60 kt CO2 equivalent

57 229.70 kt CO2 equivalent

4

24

24

5 336

100 %	100 %

3 874 kg of oil equivalent per capita	81 %	11 %