| Background: |
As Western
Europe's richest and most populous nation, Germany remains a
key member of the continent's economic, political, and
defense organizations. European power struggles immersed the
country 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 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 formed a
common European currency, the euro. |
| Location: |
Central Europe,
bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the
Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
51 00 N, 9 00 E |
| 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:
3,618 km
border countries: Austria 784 km, Belgium 167
km, Czech Republic 646 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km,
Luxembourg 135 km, Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km,
Switzerland 334 km |
| Maritime
claims: |
continental
shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
| Climate: |
temperate and
marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional
warm foehn wind |
| Terrain: |
lowlands in
north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point:
Freepsum Lake -2 m
highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m |
| Natural
resources: |
iron ore, coal,
potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt,
nickel, arable land |
| Land
use: |
arable land:
33%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 15%
forests and woodland: 31%
other: 20% (1993 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
4,750 sq km (1993
est.) |
| 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
currently attempting to define mechanism for ending the use
of nuclear power; 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-Sulphur
85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands,
Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air
Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol |
| Geography
- note: |
strategic
location on North European Plain and along the entrance to
the Baltic Sea |
| Population: |
83,029,536 (July
2001 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years:
15.57% (male 6,635,328; female 6,289,994)
15-64 years: 67.82% (male 28,619,237; female
27,691,698)
65 years and over: 16.61% (male 5,336,664;
female 8,456,615) (2001 est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
0.27% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
9.16 births/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
10.42
deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
4 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth:
1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001
est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
4.71 deaths/1,000
live births (2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 77.61 years
male: 74.47 years
female: 80.92 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
1.38 children
born/woman (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
0.1% (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
37,000 (1999
est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
600 (1999 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun:
German(s)
adjective: German |
| Ethnic
groups: |
German 91.5%,
Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Serbo-Croatian,
Italian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish) |
| Religions: |
Protestant 38%,
Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 1.7%, unaffiliated or other 26.3% |
| Literacy: |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1977 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA% |
| 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 |
| Administrative
divisions: |
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 |
| 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 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) |
| Political
parties and leaders: |
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] |
| Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
employers'
organizations; expellee, refugee, trade unions, and veterans
groups |
| International
organization participation: |
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 |
| Diplomatic
representation in the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Juergen CHROBOG
chancery: 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington,
DC 20007
telephone: [1] (202) 298-8141
FAX: [1] (202) 298-4249
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago,
Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San
Francisco, Seattle
consulate(s): Wellington (America Samoa) |
| Diplomatic
representation from the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador John C. KORNBLUM (was due to
resign on 20 January 2001)
embassy: Neustaedtische Kirchstrasse 4-5, 10117
Berlin
mailing address: PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE
09265
telephone: [49] (30) 238-5174
FAX: [49] (30) 238-6290
consulate(s) general: Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am
Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich |
| Flag
description: |
three equal
horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold |
| Economy
- overview: |
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. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power
parity - $1.936 trillion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
3% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power
parity - $23,400 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
1.2%
industry: 30.4%
services: 68.4% (1999) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
NA% |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
2% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
40.5 million
(1999 est.) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
industry 33.4%,
agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
9.9% (2000 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues:
$996 billion
expenditures: $1.036 trillion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
| 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: |
4.7% (2000) |
| Electricity
- production: |
531.377 billion
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel:
63.29%
hydro: 3.59%
nuclear: 30.3%
other: 2.82% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
495.181 billion
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
39.5 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
40.5 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
potatoes, wheat,
barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry |
| Exports: |
$578 billion
(f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
machinery,
vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs,
textiles |
| Exports
- partners: |
EU 55.3% (France
11.3%, UK 8.3%, Italy 7.3%, Netherlands 6.3%,
Belgium/Luxembourg 5.1%), US 10.1%, Japan 2.0% (1999) |
| Imports: |
$505 billion
(f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
machinery,
vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals |
| Imports
- partners: |
EU 52.2% (France
10.5%, Netherlands 7.6%, Italy 7.4%, UK 6.9%,
Belgium/Luxembourg 5.6%), US 8.1%, Japan 4.9% (1999) |
| Economic
aid - donor: |
ODA, $5.6 billion
(1998) |
| Currency: |
deutsche mark
(DEM); euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the
euro as a common currency that is now being used by
financial institutions in Germany at a fixed rate of 1.95583
deutsche marks per euro and will replace the local currency
for all transactions in 2002 |
| Exchange
rates: |
euros per US
dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386
(1999); deutsche marks per US dollar - 1.69 (January 1999),
1.7597 (1998), 1.7341 (1997), 1.5048 (1996) |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
45.2 million
(1997)
note: 46.5 million main lines were installed by
yearend 1998 |
| Telephones
- mobile cellular: |
15.318 million
(April 1999) |
| 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 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 |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 51, FM 767,
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
Service Providers (ISPs): |
123 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
18 million (2000) |
| Railways: |
total:
40,826 km including at least 14,253 km electrified and
14,768 km double- or multiple-tracked (1998)
note: since privatization in 1994, Deutsche
Bahn AG (DBAG) no longer publishes details of the tracks it
owns; in addition to the DBAG system there are 102 privately
owned railway companies which own an approximate 3,000 km to
4,000 km of the total tracks |
| Highways: |
total:
656,140 km
paved: 650,891 km (including 11,400 km of
expressways)
unpaved: 5,249 km (all-weather) (1998 est.) |
| Waterways: |
7,500 km
note: major rivers include the Rhine and Elbe;
Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic Sea
and North Sea (1999) |
| Pipelines: |
crude oil 2,500
km (1998) |
| Ports
and harbors: |
Berlin, Bonn,
Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Cologne, Dresden, Duisburg,
Emden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Luebeck, Magdeburg,
Mannheim, Rostock, Stuttgart |
| Merchant
marine: |
total:
457 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,414,724 GRT/7,952,776
DWT
ships by type: cargo 169, chemical tanker 10,
combination ore/oil 1, container 243, liquefied gas 2,
passenger 3, petroleum tanker 7, railcar carrier 2,
refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 12, short-sea
passenger 7 (2000 est.) |
| Airports: |
613 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total:
322
over 3,047 m: 13
2,438 to 3,047 m: 55
1,524 to 2,437 m: 67
914 to 1,523 m: 63
under 914 m: 124 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total:
291
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 53
under 914 m: 225 (2000 est.) |
| Heliports: |
59 (2000 est.) |
| 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.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$32.8 billion
(FY98) |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.5% (FY98) |
| 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 |
|
