Germany Population: 81,471,834
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| 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. |
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| Geography | |
| Strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea | |
| 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: 357,022 sq km land: 348,672 sq km water: 8,350 sq km Size comparison: slightly smaller than Montana |
| Land Boundaries: | total: 3,790 km border countries: Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czech Republic 815 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 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 |
| Land use: | arable land: 33.13% permanent crops: 0.6% other: 66.27% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 4,850 sq km (2008) |
| Natural hazards: | flooding |
| Current 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 |
| International Environment Agreements: | party to: 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 signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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| 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.) |
| Median age: | total: 44.9 years male: 43.7 years female: 46 years (2011 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | -0.208% (2011 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 8.3 births/1,000 population (2011 est.) |
| Death rate: | 10.92 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | 0.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.) |
| 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 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 male: 77.82 years female: 82.44 years (2011 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.41 children born/woman (2011 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.1% (2009 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 67,000 (2009 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | fewer than 1,000 (2009 est.) |
| 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 |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.) |
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| 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: | name: Berlin geographic coordinates: 52 31 N, 13 24 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) 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 (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); note - Bayern, Sachsen, and Thueringen 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 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) |
| 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 |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President Christian WULFF (since 30 June 2010) 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 (For more information visit the World Leaders website ) elections: president elected for a five-year term (eligible for a second term) by a Federal Assembly, including all members of the Federal Diet and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments; election last held on 30 June 2010 (next to be held by June 2015); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Diet for a four-year term; Bundestag vote for Chancellor last held after 27 September 2009 (next to follow the legislative election to be held no later than 2013) election results: Christian WULFF elected president; received 625 votes of the Federal Assembly against 494 for GAUCK and 121 abstentions; Angela MERKEL reelected chancellor; vote by Federal Diet 323 to 285 with four abstentions |
| 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); Federal Court of Justice; Federal Administrative Court |
| 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 organization 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, 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 Niels Peter Georg AMMON 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 Philip D. MURPHY embassy: Pariser Platz 2, 14191 Berlin; note - new embassy opened 4 July 2008 mailing address: PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE 09265, Clayallee 170, 14195 Berlin telephone: [49] (030) 2385174 FAX: [49] (030) 8305-1215 consulate(s) general: Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich |
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| Economy | |
| 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 3.3% 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): | GDP (purchasing power parity): $2.94 trillion (2010 est.) $2.841 trillion (2009 est.) $2.98 trillion (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | GDP (official exchange rate): $3.316 trillion (2010 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 3.5% (2010 est.) -4.7% (2009 est.) 0.7% (2008 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | GDP - per capita (PPP): $35,700 (2010 est.) $34,500 (2009 est.) $36,200 (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 0.9% industry: 27.8% services: 71.3% (2010 est.) |
| Labor force: | 43.44 million (2010 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 2.4% industry: 29.7% services: 67.8% (2005) |
| Unemployment rate: | 7.1% (2010 est.) 7.7% (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) 30 (1994) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.1% (2010 est.) 0.3% (2009 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | Investment (gross fixed): 17.9% of GDP (2010 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $1.435 trillion expenditures: $1.543 trillion (2010 est.) |
| Public debt: | 83.2% of GDP (2010 est.) 73.5% of GDP (2009 est.) |
| 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: | 10.9% (2010 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 556.4 billion kWh (2009 est.) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 544.5 billion kWh (2008 est.) |
| Electricity - exports: | 54.13 billion kWh (2009 est.) |
| Electricity - imports: | 12.28 billion kWh (2009 est.) |
| Oil - production: | 147,200 bbl/day (2010 est.) |
| Oil - consumption: | 2.495 million bbl/day (2010 est.) |
| Oil - exports: | 470,200 bbl/day (2009 est.) |
| Oil - imports: | 2.671 million bbl/day (2009 est.) |
| Oil - proved reserves: | 276 million bbl (1 January 2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - production: | 12.65 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
| Natural gas - consumption: | 99.5 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
| Natural gas - exports: | 16.19 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
| Natural gas - imports: | 99.63 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
| Natural gas - proved reserves: | 175.6 billion cu m (1 January 2011 est.) |
| Current account balance: | $188.4 billion (2010 est.) $188.6 billion (2009 est.) |
| Exports: | $1.303 trillion (2010 est.) $1.161 trillion (2009 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles |
| Exports - partners: | France 10.1%, US 6.7%, UK 6.6%, Netherlands 6.6%, Italy 6.3%, Austria 5.7%, Belgium 5.2%, China 4.7%, Switzerland 4.5% (2009) |
| Imports: | $1.099 trillion (2010 est.) $972.5 billion (2009 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals |
| Imports - partners: | Netherlands 13%, France 8.2%, Belgium 7.2%, China 6.8%, Italy 5.6%, UK 4.7%, Austria 4.4%, US 4.2%, Switzerland 4.1% (2009) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $216.5 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $180.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $4.713 trillion (30 June 2010) $5.158 trillion (31 December 2008) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: | $1.102 trillion (31 December 2010 est.) $1.056 trillion (31 December 2009 est.) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: | $1.576 trillion (31 December 2010 est.) $1.47 trillion (31 December 2009 est.) |
| Market value of publicly traded shares: | $1.43 trillion (31 December 2010) $1.298 trillion (31 December 2009) $1.108 trillion (31 December 2008) |
| Exchange rates: | euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.755 (2010) 0.7198 (2009) 0.6827 (2008) 0.7345 (2007) 0.7964 (2006) |
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| Communications | |
| Telephones in use: | 48.7 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 3 |
| Cellular Phones in use: | 105 million (2009) |
| 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, 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) |
| Radio broadcast stations: | |
| Television broadcast stations: | |
| Internet country code: | .de |
| Internet hosts: | 21.729 million (2010) |
| Internet users: | 65.125 million (2009) |
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| Transportation | |
| Airports: | 549 (2010) country comparison to the world: 13 |
| Airports (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 (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: 41,981 km standard gauge: 41,722 km 1.435-m gauge (20,053 km electrified) narrow gauge: 220 km 1.000-m gauge (75 km electrified); 39 km 0.750-m gauge (24 km electrified) (2009) |
| Roadways: | total: 644,480 km paved: 644,480 km (includes 12,800 km of expressways) note: includes local roads (2010) |
| Waterways: | 7,467 km (Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea) (2010) |
| Merchant marine: | total: 421 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 oil terminals: Brunsbuttel Canal terminals |
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| 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: | 17-23 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; conscription ended 1 July 2011; 1-2 year service obligation; women have been eligible for voluntary service in all military branches and positions since 2001 (2011) |
| 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.) |
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