Background
Geography
People
Government
Economy
Communications
Transportation
Military
Transnational Issues


Background
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. In January 2011, Germany assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2011-12 term.

National flag
Three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold; these colours 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.

Geography
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
Total area: 357,022 sq km
Land area: 348,672 sq km
Water area: 8,350 sq km
Comparative area: Slightly smaller than Montana.
Total land boundaries: 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 centre, Bavarian Alps in south.
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 percent; permanent crops 0.6 percent; other 66.27 percent (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 percent/68 percent/20 percent); per capita 460 cu m/yr (2001)
Natural hazards: Flooding
Environment 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 agreements: 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.

People
Population: 81,471,834 (July 2011 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 13.3% (male 5,569,390/female 5,282,245) 15-64 years: 66.1% (male 27,227,487/female 26,617,915) 65 years and over: 20.6% (male 7,217,163/female 9,557,634) (2011 est.).
Population growth rate: -0.208% (2011 est.)
Birth rate: 8.3 births/1,000 population (2011 est.) country comparison to the world: 219
Death rate: 10.92 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.) country comparison to the world: 39
Net migration rate: 0.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.) country comparison to the world: 62
Urban population: 74% of total population (2010)
Rate of urbanization: 0% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
Major cities- population: BERLIN (capital) 3.438 million; Hamburg 1.786 million; Munich 1.349 million; Cologne 1.001 million (2009)
Sex ratio: At birth: 1.055 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2011 est.) .
Infant mortality rate: Total: 3.54 deaths/1,000 live births country comparison to the world: 208 male: 3.84 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.21 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.).
Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 80.07 years country comparison to the world: 27   male: 77.82 years female: 82.44 years (2011 est.) .
HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 131
People living with HIV/AIDS: 67,000 (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 51.
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).
ReligionsProtestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%.
Languages: German.
Literacy (age 15+ can read and write):  total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.)
School-life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): total: 16 years male: 16 years female: 16 years (2006).
Education expenditures: 4.4% of GDP (2006) country comparison to the world: 91
Note: Second most populous country in Europe after Russia.

Government
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 (geographic coordinates 52 31 N, 13 24 E); time zone UTC+1; daylight saving time (+1hr) begins last Sunday in March, ends last Sunday in October.
Administrative divisions: 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).
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; West Germany and East Germany unified 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.
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:

Legislative branch: 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 is required to vote as a block) and the Federal Diet 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) elections: Bundestag - last held on 27 September 2009 (next to be held no later than autumn 2013); 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 33.8%, SPD 23%, FDP 14.6%, Left 11.9%, Greens 10.7%, other 6%; seats by party - CDU/CSU 239, SPD 146, FDP 93, Left 76, Greens 68.

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 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 [Klaus ERNST and Gesine LOETZSCH]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Sigmar GABRIEL].
Political pressure groups and leaders: Business associations and employers' organizations; trade unions; religious, immigrant, expellee, and veterans groups.
International organisation participation: 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, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, 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 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.

Economy
Overview: 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. 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 7.4%in 2010. GDP contracted 4.7% in 2009 but grew by 3.6% in 2010. In its annual projection for 2011, the Federal Government expects the upswing to continue, with GDP forecast to grow this year at a real rate of 2.3%. The recovery was attributable primarily to rebounding manufacturing orders and exports - increasingly outside the Euro Zone. Domestic demand, however, is becoming more significant driver of Germany's economic expansion. Stimulus and stabilization efforts initiated in 2008 and 2009 and tax cuts introduced in Chancellor Angela MERKEL's second term increased Germany's budget deficit to 3.5% in 2010. The Bundesbank expects the deficit to drop to about 2.5% in 2011, below the EU's 3% limit. A constitutional amendment approved in 2009 likewise limits the federal government to structural deficits of no more than 0.35% of GDP per annum as of 2016.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $2.96 trillion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 6 $2.857 trillion (2009 est.) $2.998 trillion (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars.
GDP (official exchange rate): $3.306 trillion (2010 est.).
GDP real growth rate: 3.6% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 103 -4.7% (2009 est.) 1% (2008 est.).
GDP per capita (PPP): $35,900 (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 32 $34,700 (2009 est.) $36,400 (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars.
GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 0.8% industry: 27.9% services: 71.3% (2010 est.).
Labour force: 43.35 million (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 14.
Labour force by occupation: agriculture: 2.4% industry: 29.7% services: 67.8% (2005).
Unemployment rate: 7.4% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 78 7.5% (2009 est.) note: this is the International Labor Organization's estimated rate for international comparisons; Germany's Federal Employment Agency estimated a seasonally adjusted rate of 10.8%.
Population below poverty line: 15.5% (2010 est.).
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.6% highest 10%: 24% (2000).
Distribution of family income (Gini index): 27 (2006) country comparison to the world: 124 30 (1994)
Investment (gross fixed): 18% of GDP (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 112.
Budget: revenues: $1.396 trillion expenditures: $1.516 trillion (2010 est.).
Public debt: 78.8% of GDP (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 19   72.5% of GDP (2009 est.).
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.1% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 23   0.4% (2009 est.).
Central bank discount rate: 1.75% (31 December 2010) country comparison to the world: 129 1.75% (31 December 2009) note: this is the European Central Bank's rate on the marginal lending facility, which offers overnight credit to banks in the euro area.
Commercial bank prime lending rate: 4.96% (31 December 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 133 5.97% (31 December 2008 est.).
Stock of domestic credit: USD 5.2 trillion (31 December 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 5  USD 5.019 trillion (31 December 2008 est.).
Market value of publicly traded shares: USD 1.298 trillion (31 December 2009) country comparison to the world: 9 USD 1.108 trillion (31 December 2008) USD 2.106 trillion (31 December 2007).
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: 9% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 24.
Electricity production: 593.4 billion kWh (2007 est.). Country comparison to the world: 8
Electricity consumption: 547.3 billion kWh (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 7.
Electricity exports: 61.7 billion kWh (2008 est.).
Electricity imports: 41.67 billion kWh (2008 est.).
Oil production: 156,800 bbl/day (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 45
Oil consumption: 2.437 million bbl/day (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 8
Oil exports: 536,600 bbl/day (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 28
Oil imports: 2.862 million bbl/day (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 7
Proved oil reserves: 276 million bbl (1 January 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 55
Natural gas production: 15.29 billion cu m (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 34
Natural gas consumption: 96.26 billion cu m (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 5
Natural gas exports: 12.64 billion cu m (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 16
Natural gas imports: 94.57 billion cu m (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 2
Proved natural gas reserves: 175.6 billion cu m (1 January 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 47
Current account balance: $162.3 billion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 3 $168.1 billion (2009 est.).
Export commodities: Machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles.
Exports: $1.337 trillion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 3 $1.145 trillion (2009 est.)
Export partners: 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.).
Imports: $1.12 trillion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 4 $956.7 billion (2009 est.)
Import commodities: Machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals.
Import partners: Netherlands 12.5 percent, France 8.3 percent, Belgium 7.5 percent, China 6.2 percent, Italy 5.7 percent, UK 5.4 percent, Austria 4.3 percent, Russia 4.2 percent, US 4.2 percent (2008)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:$NA (31 December 2010 est.) $180.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
External debt: $4.713 trillion (30 June 2010) country comparison to the world: 4 $5.158 trillion (31 December 2008)
Stock of direct foreign investment (at home): $1.057 trillion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 4 $1.054 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment (abroad): $1.484 trillion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 4 $1.46 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
Exchange rates: Euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.755 (2010) 0.7198 (2009) 0.6827 (2008) 0.7345 (2007) 0.7964 (2006)

Communications
Telephones lines in use: 48.7 million (2009)
Mobile telephones: 105 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 8
Telephone system: 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).
Broadcast media: 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 broadcasting including multiple national radio networks, regional radio networks, and a large number of local radio stations (2008).
Internet country code: .de
Internet hosts: 21.729 million (2010) country comparison to the world: 4 .
Internet users: 65.125 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 5 .

Transportation
Airports: 549 (2010) country comparison to the world: 13
Airports with paved runways: Total: 330 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 53 1,524 to 2,437 m: 59 914 to 1,523 m: 70 under 914 m: 135 (2010) .
Airports with unpaved runways: Total: 219 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 33 under 914 m: 184 (2010)
Heliports: 25 (2010).
Pipelines: Gas 24,688 km; oil 3,687 km; refined products 4,875 km (2010).
Railways: Total: 41,896 km country comparison to the world: 6 standard gauge: 41,641 km 1.435-m gauge (20,053 km electrified) narrow gauge: 75 km 1.000-m gauge (75 km electrified); 180 km 0.750-m gauge (24 km electrified) (2008).
Roadways: Total: 644,480 km country comparison to the world: 11 paved: 644,480 km (includes 12,645 km of expressways) note: includes local roads (2008).
Waterways: 7,467 km (Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea) (2010) country comparison to the world: 19
Merchant marine: Total: 421 country comparison to the world: 25 by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 7, cargo 44, carrier 1, chemical tanker 15, container 293, liquefied gas 7, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 27, petroleum tanker 10, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 9, vehicle carrier 1 foreign-owned: 10 (China 2, Finland 5, Greece 1, Sweden 1, Switzerland 1) registered in other countries: 3,287 (Antigua and Barbuda 1050, Australia 2, Bahamas 39, Belize 1, Bermuda 15, Brazil 6, Bulgaria 25, Burma 1, Cayman Islands 6, China 1, Cook Islands 1, Cyprus 189, Denmark 10, Dominica 2, Estonia 1, France 1, Georgia 4, Gibraltar 125, Hong Kong 10, Isle of Man 56, Italy 1, Jamaica 10, Liberia 1049, Luxembourg 9, Malta 127, Marshall Islands 247, Morocco 2, Netherlands 92, former Netherlands Antilles 32, NZ 2, Panama 27, Portugal 13, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2, Singapore 30, Slovakia 4, Spain 5, Sri Lanka 5, Sweden 3, Turkey 1, UK 77, US 3, Venezuela 1) (2010).

Ports and terminals: Bremen, Bremerhaven, Duisburg, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Lubeck, Neuss-Dusseldorf, Rostock, Wilhemshaven.

Military
Military branches: 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).
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 16-49: 18,529,299 females age 16-49: 17,888,543 (2010 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: Males age 16-49: 15,027,886 females age 16-49: 14,510,527 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: Male: 405,438 female: 384,930 (2010 est.)
Military expenditures: 1.5% of GDP (2005 est.) country comparison to the world: 99

Transnational issues
International disputes: 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.

Source: CIA World Factbook