Map of Germany | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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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 (now 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 reunification 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.


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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

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 357,022 km²
Land: 348,672 km²
Water: 8,350 km²
Comparative: three times the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Montana

Land boundaries
Total: 3,694 km
Border countries: (9) Austria 801 km; Belgium 133 km; Czechia 704 km; Denmark 140 km; France 418 km; Luxembourg 128 km; Netherlands 575 km; Poland 447 km; Switzerland 348 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
Highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m
Lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.5 m
Mean elevation: 263 m

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

Land use
Agricultural land: 48% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land arable land: 34.1% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent pasture: 13.3% (2018 est.)
Forest: 31.8% (2018 est.)
Other: 20.2% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 5,056 km² (2020)

Major rivers
By length in km:

Major watersheds area km²: Atlantic Ocean drainage: Rhine-Maas (198,735 km²), (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 km²)

Total water withdrawal
Municipal: 10.4 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
Industrial: 17.68 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
Agricultural: 400 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources: 154 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding

Geography
Note: strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea; most major rivers in Germany - the Rhine, Weser, Oder, Elbe - flow northward; the Danube, which originates in the Black Forest, flows eastward


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Population
Distribution: second most populous country in Europe; a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations, particularly in the far western part of the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia: 84,220,184 (2023 est.)
Growth rate: -0.12% (2023 est.)
Below poverty line: 14.8% (2018 est.)

Nationality
Noun: German(s)
Adjective: German

Ethnic groups: German 86.3%, Turkish 1.8%, Polish 1%, Syrian 1%, Romanian 1%, other/stateless/unspecified 8.9% (2020 est.)
Note: data represent population by nationality

Languages: German (official); note - Danish, Frisian, Sorbian, and Romani are official minority languages; Low German, Danish, North Frisian, Sater Frisian, Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbian, and Romani are recognized as regional languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
Major-language samples:

Religions: Roman Catholic 26%, Protestant 23.7%, Muslim 3.6%, other 4.8%, none 41.9% (2021 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 13.75% (male 5,905,124/female 5,673,727)
15-64 years: 62.97% (male 26,934,889/female 26,097,401)
65 years and over: 23.28% (2023 est.) (male 8,784,872/female 10,824,171)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 56.4
Youth dependency ratio: 21.7
Elderly dependency ratio: 34.7
Potential support ratio: 2.9 (2021 est.)

Median age
Total: 46.7 years (2023 est.)
Male: 45.4 years
Female: 48.2 years

Population growth rate: -0.12% (2023 est.)

Birth rate: 9 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Death rate: 12 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Population distribution: second most populous country in Europe; a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations, particularly in the far western part of the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia

Urbanization
Urban population: 77.8% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 0.13% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 3.574 million BERLIN (capital), 1.788 million Hamburg, 1.576 million Munich, 1.144 million Cologne, 796,000 Frankfurt (2023)

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 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
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 10.73 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 727.97 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 49.92 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 29.9 years (2020 est.)

Maternal mortality ratio: 4 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 3.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Male: 3.5 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 2.8 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 81.7 years (2023 est.)
Male: 79.4 years
Female: 84.2 years

Total fertility rate: 1.58 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 67% (2018)
Note: percent of women aged 18-49

Drinking water source
Improved urban: 100% of population
Improved rural: 100% of population
Improved total: 100% of population
Unimproved urban: 0% of population
Unimproved rural: 0% of population
Unimproved total: 0% of population (2020 est.)

Current health expenditure: 12.8% of GDP (2020)

Physicians density: 4.44 physicians/1,000 population (2020)

Hospital bed density: 8 beds/1,000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access
Improved urban:
Unimproved urban:

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 22.3% (2016)

Alcohol consumption
Per capita total: 10.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita beer: 5.57 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita wine: 3.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita spirits: 1.97 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use
Total: 22% (2020 est.)
Male: 24.1% (2020 est.)
Female: 19.9% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 0.5% (2014/17)

Education expenditures: 4.7% of GDP (2020 est.)

Literacy
Total population: NA
Male: NA
Female: NA

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 17 years
Male: 17 years
Female: 17 years (2020)

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 7% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 7.2%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 6.6%


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Country name
Conventional long form: Federal Republic of Germany
Conventional short form: Germany
Local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Local short form: Deutschland
Former: German Reich
Etymology: the Gauls (Celts) of Western Europe may have referred to the newly arriving Germanic tribes who settled in neighboring areas east of the Rhine during the first centuries B.C. as "Germani," a term the Romans adopted as "Germania"; the native designation "Deutsch" comes from the Old High German "diutisc" meaning "of the people"

Government type: federal parliamentary 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
Etymology: the origin of the name is unclear but may be related to the old West Slavic (Polabian) word "berl" or "birl," meaning "swamp"

Administrative divisions: 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); note - Bayern, Sachsen, and Thueringen refer to themselves as free states (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat), while Bremen calls itself a Free Hanseatic City (Freie Hansestadt) and Hamburg considers itself a Free and Hanseatic City (Freie und Hansestadt)

Dependent areas

Independence: 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)

National holiday: German Unity Day, 3 October (1990)

Constitution
History: previous 1919 (Weimar Constitution); latest drafted 10-23 August 1948, approved 12 May 1949, promulgated 23 May 1949, entered into force 24 May 1949
Amendments: proposed by Parliament; passage and enactment into law require two-thirds majority vote by both the Bundesrat (upper house) and the Bundestag (lower house) of Parliament; articles including those on basic human rights and freedoms cannot be amended; amended many times, last in 2020; note - in early 2021, the German federal government introduced a bill to incorporate children’s rights into the constitution

Legal system: civil law system

International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a German citizen or a resident alien who has lived in Germany at least 8 years
Dual citizenship recognized: yes, but requires prior permission from government
Residency requirement for naturalization: 8 years

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal; age 16 for some state and municipal elections

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (since 19 March 2017)
Head of government: Chancellor Olaf SCHOLZ (since 8 December 2021)
Cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) recommended by the chancellor, appointed by the president
Elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by a Federal Convention consisting of all members of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and an equivalent number of delegates indirectly elected by the state parliaments; president serves a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 13 February 2022 (next to be held in February 2,027); following the most recent Federal Parliament election, the party or coalition with the most representatives usually elects the chancellor who is appointed by the president to serve a renewable 4-year term; Federal Parliament vote for chancellor last held on 8 December 2021 (next to be held after the Bundestag election in 2025)
Election results:

Legislative branch
Description:
Elections:
Election results:
Note: due to Germany's recognition of the concepts of "overhang" (when a party's share of the nationwide votes would entitle it to fewer seats than the number of individual constituency seats won in an election under Germany's mixed member proportional system) and "leveling" (whereby additional seats are elected to supplement the members directly elected by each constituency in order to ensure that each party's share of the total seats is roughly proportional to the party's overall shares of votes at the national level), the 20th Bundestag is the largest to date

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Federal Court of Justice (court consists of 127 judges, including the court president, vice presidents, presiding judges, 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)
Judge selection and term of office: Federal Court of Justice judges selected by the Judges Election Committee, which consists of the Secretaries of Justice from each of the 16 federated states and 16 members appointed by the Federal Parliament; judges appointed by the president; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; Federal Constitutional Court judges - one-half elected by the House of Representatives and one-half by the Senate; judges appointed for 12-year terms with mandatory retirement at age 68
Subordinate courts: Federal Administrative Court; Federal Finance Court; Federal Labor Court; Federal Social Court; each of the 16 federated states or Land has its own constitutional court and a hierarchy of ordinary (civil, criminal, family) and specialized (administrative, finance, labor, social) courts; two English-speaking commercial courts opened in late 2020 in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg - English-speaking Stuttgart Commercial Court and English-speaking Mannheim Commercial Court

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: 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, 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, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNSOM, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Andreas MICHAELIS (since 15 September 2023)
In the us chancery: 4,645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20,007
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 298-4,000
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 298-4,261
In the us email address and website:
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Amy GUTMANN (since 17 February 2022)
From the us embassy:
From the us mailing address: 5,090 Berlin Place, Washington DC 20,521-5,090
From the us telephone: [49] (30) 8,305-0
From the us FAX: [49] (30) 8,305-1215
From the us email address and website:

Flag description: 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

National symbols: eagle; national colors: black, red, yellow

National anthem
Name: "Das Lied der Deutschen" (Song of the Germans)
Lyrics/music: August Heinrich HOFFMANN VON FALLERSLEBEN/Franz Joseph HAYDN
Note: adopted 1922; the anthem, also known as "Deutschlandlied" (Song of Germany), was originally adopted for its connection to the March 1848 liberal revolution; following appropriation by the Nazis of the first verse, specifically the phrase, "Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles" (Germany, Germany above all) to promote nationalism, it was banned after 1945; in 1952, its third verse was adopted by West Germany as its national anthem; in 1990, it became the national anthem for the reunited Germany

National heritage
Total World Heritage Sites: 52 (49 cultural, 3 natural)
Selected World Heritage Site locales:


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Economy overview: leading EU service-based export-driven economy; highly skilled and educated labor force; fairly fiscally conservative; energy-related economic disruptions due to Russian gas cessations; increased defense spending and rising debts

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 53.1% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 19.5% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 20.4% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: -0.5% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 47.3% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -39.7% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 0.7% (2017 est.)
Industry: 30.7% (2017 est.)
Services: 68.6% (2017 est.)

Agriculture products: milk, pork, wheat, beef, potatoes, barley, rapeseeds, chicken, eggs, sugar beets

Industries: automotive, mechanical engineering, chemicals, electrical and batteries, manufacturing, metals, finance and banking, telecommunications, healthcare, retail

Industrial production growth rate: 3.61% (2021 est.)

Labor force: 43.968 million (2021 est.)

Unemployment rate:

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 7% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 7.2%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 6.6%

Population below poverty line: 14.8% (2018 est.)

Gini index
Coefficient distribution of family income: 31.7 (2018 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10%: 3.6%
Highest 10%: 24% (2000)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $1.785 trillion (2020 est.)
Expenditures: $1.945 trillion (2020 est.)
Surplus  or deficit: 1.3% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: 10.55% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

Public debt:
Note: general government gross debt is defined in the Maastricht Treaty as consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year in the following categories of government liabilities (as defined in ESA95): currency and deposits (AF.2), securities other than shares excluding financial derivatives (AF.3, excluding AF.34), and loans (AF.4); the general government sector comprises the sub-sectors of central government, state government, local government and social security funds; the series are presented as a percentage of GDP and in millions of euros; GDP used as a denominator is the gross domestic product at current market prices; data expressed in national currency are converted into euro using end-of-year exchange rates provided by the European Central Bank

Revenue
From forest resources: 0.03% of GDP (2018 est.)
From coal: 0.02% of GDP (2018 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices:

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance:

Exports:
Partners: United States 9%, China 8%, France 8%, Netherlands 6%, Italy 6% (2021)
Commodities: cars and vehicle parts, packaged medicines, medical cultures and vaccines, aircraft, industrial machinery, medical instruments (2021)

Imports:
Partners: China 10%, Netherlands 10%, Poland 7%, Italy 6%, France 6% (2021)
Commodities: cars and vehicle parts, medical cultures/vaccines, packaged medicines, crude petroleum, natural gas, computers (2021)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Debt external:

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Access electrification-total population: 100% (2021)
Installed generating capacity: 248.265 million kW (2020 est.)
Consumption: 500.35 billion kWh (2020 est.)
Exports: 66.931 billion kWh (2020 est.)
Imports: 48.047 billion kWh (2020 est.)
Transmission/distribution losses: 25.97 billion kWh (2020 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 40.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 11.1% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources solar: 9.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources wind: 23.9% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 4.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources tide and wave: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources biomass and waste: 10.4% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources note: as of April 2023, Germany has closed its three remaining nuclear power plants

Coal
Production: 114.86 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Consumption: 145.379 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Exports: 2.317 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Imports: 31.503 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 35.9 billion metric tons (2019 est.)

Petroleum
Total petroleum production: 135,000 bbl/day (2021 est.)
Refined petroleum consumption: 2,346,500 bbl/day (2019 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate imports: 1,720,600 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil estimated reserves: 115.2 million barrels (2021 est.)

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 2.158 million bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products exports: 494,000 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products imports: 883,800 bbl/day (2017 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 5.129 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
Consumption: 8.755 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
Exports: 0 cubic meters (2020 est.)
Imports: 83.12 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 23.39 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions: 726.881 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From coal and metallurgical coke: 218.636 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 316.064 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From consumed natural gas: 192.181 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

Energy consumption per capita: 161.174 million Btu/person (2019 est.)


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 38.58 million (2022 est.)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 46 (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 106.4 million (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 128 (2021 est.)

Telephone system

Broadcast media: a mixture of publicly operated and privately owned TV and radio stations; 70 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

Internet
Country code: .de
Users total: 75.53 million (2021 est.)
Users percent of population: 91% (2021 est.)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 36,215,303 (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 43 (2020 est.)


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Military expenditures:

Military and security forces: Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr): Army (Heer), Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm), Air Force (Luftwaffe, includes air defense), Joint Support and Enabling Service (Streitkraeftebasis, SKB), Central Medical Service (Zentraler Sanitaetsdienst, ZSanDstBw), Cyber and Information Space Command (Kommando Cyber und Informationsraum, Kdo CIR) (2023)
Note: responsibility for internal and border security is shared by the police forces of the 16 states, the Federal Criminal Police Office, and the Federal Police; the states’ police forces report to their respective interior ministries while the Federal Police forces report to the Federal Ministry of the Interior

Military service age and obligation: 17-23 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women (must have completed compulsory full-time education and have German citizenship); conscription ended July 2011; service obligation 7-23 months or 12 years; in July 2020, the government launched a new voluntary conscript initiative focused on homeland security tasks; volunteers serve for 7 months plus 5 months as reservists over a 6 year period (2023)
Note: women have been eligible for voluntary service in all military branches and positions since 2001 and accounted for about 12% of the active-duty German military in 2023

Space program
Overview: has one of Europe’s largest space programs; is a key member of the European Space Agency (ESA) and one of its largest contributors; builds and operates satellites, satellite/space launch vehicles (SLVs), space probes, unmanned orbiters, and reusable space planes; conducts research and develops a range of other space-related capabilities technologies, including satellite payloads (cameras, remote sensing, communications, optics, sensors, etc.), rockets and rocket propulsion, propulsion assisted landing technologies, and aeronautics; participates in ESA’s astronaut training program and human space flight operations and hosts the European Astronaut Center; participates in other international space programs, such as the International Space Station (ISS); hosts the mission control centers for the ISS and the ESA, as well as the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT); in addition to ESA/EU and their member states, has ties to a range of foreign space programs, including those of China, Japan, Russia, and the US; has a robust commercial space industry sector that develops a broad range of space capabilities, including satellite launchers, and cooperates closely with DLR, ESA, and other international commercial entities and government agencies (2023)
Overview note: further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in space programs

Terrorist groups
Terrorist groups: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Qods Force; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS); al-Qa'ida
Note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in terrorist organizations


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National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 20 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 1,113
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 109,796,202 (2018)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 7,969,860,000 (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: D

Airports: 539 (2021)
With paved runways: 318
With paved runways civil airports: 49
With paved runways military airports: 21
With paved runways joint use (civil-military) airports: 6
With paved runways other airports: 242
With paved runways note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
With unpaved runways: 221
With unpaved runways note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Heliports: 23 (2021)

Pipelines: 37 km condensate, 26,985 km gas, 2,400 km oil, 4,479 km refined products, 8 km water (2013)

Railways
Total:

Roadways
Total: 830,000 km (2022) 830,000 km
Paved: 830,000 km (2022) (includes 13,155 km of expressways)
Note: includes local roads

Waterways: 7,300 km (2022) (Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea)

Merchant marine
Total: 592 (2022)
By type: bulk carrier 1, container ship 72, general cargo 79, oil tanker 34, other 406

Ports and terminals
Major seaports:
Oil terminals: Brunsbuttel Canal terminals
Container ports teus: Bremen/Bremerhaven (5,018,900), Hamburg (8,715,000) (2021)
Lng terminals import: Hamburg; Brunsbuettel (FSRU); Lubmin (FSRU); Wilhelmshaven (FSRU)
River ports: Bremen (Weser); Bremerhaven (Geeste); Duisburg, Karlsruhe, Neuss-Dusseldorf (Rhine); Lubeck (Wakenitz); Brunsbuttel, Hamburg (Elbe)


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Disputes international: none identified

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 664,238 (Syria), 183,631 (Afghanistan), 151,254 (Iraq), 64,496 (Eritrea), 47,658 (Iran), 38,755 (Turkey), 32,155 (Somalia), 13,334 (Russia), 12,155 (Nigeria), 9,250 (Pakistan), 6,257 (Serbia and Kosovo), 6,912 (Ethiopia), 5,532 (Azerbaijan) (mid-year 2022); 1,123,640 (Ukraine) (as of 24 November 2023)
Stateless persons: 28,941 (2022)

Illicit drugs: maritime transshipment point for cocaine heading for European drug; a major source of precursor or essential chemicals used in the production of illicit narcotics