CIA - The World Factbook

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.

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

slightly smaller than Montana

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

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

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

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

strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea

82,282,988 (July 2010 est.)

8.21 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

11 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

2.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

1.42 children born/woman (2010 est.)

fewer than 500 (2007 est.)

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

Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%

second most populous country in Europe after Russia

16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wurttemberg, 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, Thuringen (Thuringia); note - Bayern, Sachsen, and Thuringen refer to themselves as free states (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat)

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; West Germany and East Germany unified 3 October 1990; all four powers formally relinquished rights 15 March 1991

Unity Day, 3 October (1990)

23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united Germany 3 October 1990

civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

bicameral legislature consists of the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments sit in the Council; each has three to six votes in proportion to population and are required to vote as a block) and the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (622 seats; members elected by popular vote for a four-year term under a system of personalized proportional representation; a party must win 5% of the national vote or three direct mandates to gain proportional representation and caucus recognition)

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

Alliance '90/Greens [Claudia ROTH and Cem OZDEMIR]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Horst SEEHOFER]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Guido WESTERWELLE]; Left Party or Die Linke [Lothar BISKY and Oskar LAFONTAINE]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Sigmar GABRIEL]

business associations and employers' organizations; trade unions; religious, immigrant, expellee, and veterans groups

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-20, 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, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

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

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. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy - where unemployment can exceed 20% in some municipalities - continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting in 2008 alone to roughly $12 billion. 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 in 2006 and 2007 and falling unemployment, which in 2008 reached a new post-reunification low of 7.8%. These advances, as well as a government subsidized, reduced working hour scheme, have helped to explain the relatively modest increase in unemployment during Germany's 2008-09 recession - the deepest since World War II. GDP grew just over 1% in 2008 and contracted roughly 5% in 2009. Germany crept out of recession in the second and third quarters of 2009, thanks largely to rebounding manufacturing orders and exports - primarily outside the Euro Zone - and relatively steady consumer demand. The German economy probably will recover to about 1.5% growth for the year 2010. However, a relatively strong euro, tighter credit markets, and an anticipated bump in unemployment could cloud Germany's medium-term recovery prospects. Stimulus and stabilization efforts initiated in 2008 and 2009 and tax cuts introduced in Chancellor Angela MERKEL's second term will increase Germany's record budget deficit, which is expected to exceed 5% of GDP in 2010. The EU has given Germany until 2013 to get its consolidated budget deficit below 3% of GDP. A new constitutional amendment likewise limits the federal government to structural deficits of no more than 0.35% of GDP per annum as of 2016.

$2.811 trillion (2009 est.)

$2.959 trillion (2008 est.)

$2.921 trillion (2007 est.)

$3.273 trillion (2009 est.)

43.51 million (2009 est.)

18.9% of GDP (2009 est.)

77.2% of GDP (2009 est.)

66% of GDP (2008 est.)

1.75% (31 December 2009)

3% (31 December 2008)

5.97% (31 December 2008)

5.96% (31 December 2007)

$5.019 trillion (31 December 2008)

$4.457 trillion (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$2.106 trillion (31 December 2007)

$1.638 trillion (31 December 2006)

potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry

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

593.4 billion kWh (2007 est.)

547.3 billion kWh (2007 est.)

61.7 billion kWh (2008 est.)

41.67 billion kWh (2008 est.)

150,800 bbl/day (2008 est.)

2.569 million bbl/day (2008 est.)

582,900 bbl/day (2008 est.)

2.777 million bbl/day (2008 est.)

276 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

16.36 billion cu m (2008 est.)

95.79 billion cu m (2008 est.)

12.68 billion cu m (2008 est.)

91.99 billion cu m (2008 est.)

175.6 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

$109.7 billion (2009 est.)

$243.6 billion (2008 est.)

$1.121 trillion (2009 est.)

$1.498 trillion (2008 est.)

machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles

France 10.2%, US 6.7%, Netherlands 6.7%, UK 6.6%, Italy 6.3%, Austria 6%, China 4.5%, Switzerland 4.4% (2009 est.)

$931.3 billion (2009 est.)

$1.232 trillion (2008 est.)

machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals

Netherlands 8.5%, China 8.2%, France 8.2%, US 5.9%, Italy 5.9%, UK 4.9%, Belgium 4.3%, Austria 4.3%, Switzerland 4.2% (2009 est.)

$NA (31 December 2009 est.)

$138 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$5.208 trillion (30 June 2009)

$5.158 trillion (31 December 2008)

$1.021 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)

$1.027 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)

$1.403 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)

$1.407 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)

euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.7338 (2009), 0.6827 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005)

107.245 million (2008)

AM 51, FM 787, shortwave 4 (1998)

373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995)

23.796 million (2009)

61.973 million (2008)

gas 24,364 km; oil 3,379 km; refined products 3,843 km (2009)

Bremen, Bremerhaven, Duisburg, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Lubeck, Rostock, Wilhemshaven

Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr): Army (Heer), Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm), Air Force (Luftwaffe), Joint Support Services (Streitkraeftbasis), Central Medical Service (Zentraler Sanitaetsdienst) (2010)

18 years of age (conscripts serve a 9-month tour of compulsory military service) (2004)

1.5% of GDP (2005 est.)

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