Background: Germany_first united in 1871_suffered defeats in successive world wars and was occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the beginning of the Cold War and increasing tension between the US and Soviet Union, two German states were formed in 1949:the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The newly democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the EU and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War cleared the path for the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and German re-unification in 1990. Germany has expended considerable funds; roughly $100 billion a year; in subsequent years working to bring eastern productivity and wages up to western standards, with mixed results. Unemployment which in the east is nearly double that in the west; has grown over the last several years, primarily as a result of structural problems like an inflexible labor market.

Area
Total: 356,910 km²
Land: 349,520 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Montana
Comparative note: Includes the formerly separate Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and Berlin following formal unification on 3 October 1990

Land boundaries: Total 3,621 km, 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
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, tropical foehn wind; high relative humidity

Terrain: Lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Freepsum Lake -2 m
Extremes highest point: Zugspitze 2,962 m

Natural resources:

Land use
Arable land: 34%
Permanent crops: 1%
Permanent pastures: 16%
Forests and woodland: 30%
Other: 19%

Irrigated land: 4,800 km² (1989 est.)

Population:
Growth rate:

Nationality
Noun: German(s)
Adjective: German

Ethnic groups:

Languages: German

Religions:

Population growth rate:

Birth rate:

Death rate:

Net migration rate:

Environment
Current issues: emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries and lead emissions from vehicle exhausts (the result of continued use of leaded fuels) contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; heavy pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany
Current issues Natural hazards: NA
International agreements: party to_Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified_Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Tropical Timber 94
International agreements note: Strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.57 male(s)/female
All ages:

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 75.95 years (1996 est.), 76.62 years (1995 est.)
Male: 72.8 years (1996 est.), 73.5 years (1995 est.)
Female: 79.27 years (1996 est.), 79.92 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate:

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over that can read and write (1991 est.)
Total population: 99%

Country name
Conventional long form: Federal Republic of Germany
Conventional short form: Germany
Local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Local short form: Deutschland

Government type: Federal republic

Capital: Berlin
Note: The shift from Bonn to Berlin will take place over a period of years with Bonn retaining many administrative functions and several ministries

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 (U.K., U.S., 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 U.K., U.S., 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 power rights formally relinquished 15 March 1991

National holiday: German Unity Day (Day of Unity), 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 Roman HERZOG (since 1 July 1994); elected by the Federal Convention including members of the Bundestag and an equal number of members elected by the Land Parliaments
Head of government: Chancellor Dr. Helmut KOHL (since 4 October 1982)
Cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president upon the proposal of the chancellor

Legislative branch: Bicameral chamber (no official name for the two chambers as a whole) Federal Assembly (Bundestag):Last held 16 October 1994 (next to be held by NA 1998; results_CDU 34.2%, SPD 36.4%, Alliance 90/Greens 7.3%, CSU 7.3%, FDP 6.9%, PDS 4.4%, Republicans 1.9% ; seats_(662 total, but number can vary) CDU 244, SPD 252, Alliance 90/Greens 49, CSU 50, FDP 47, PDS 30; elected by direct popular vote under a system combining direct and proportional representation; a party must win 5% of the national vote or 3 direct mandates to gain representation Federal Council (Bundesrat):State governments are directly represented by votes; each has 3 to 6 votes depending on size and are required to vote as a block; current composition:votes_(68 total) SPD-led states 41, CDU-led states 27

Judicial branch: Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht), half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat

International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EBRD, ECE, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMIR, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNOMIG, UNPROFOR, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Flag description: Three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and yellow

Economy overview: Germany, the world's third-most powerful economy, faces its own unique problem of bringing its eastern area up to scratch after 45 years of communist rule. Despite substantial progress toward economic integration, the eastern states will continue to rely on subsidies from the federal government into the next century. Assistance to the east of about $100 billion annually has helped the region average nearly 8% annual economic growth since 1991, even though the overall German economy has averaged less than 2% growth. The economic recovery in the east has been led by the construction industries, with growth increasingly supported by the service sectors and light manufacturing industries. Western Germany, which accounts for 90% of overall German GDP and has three times the per capita income of eastern Germany, is perennially the first- or second-largest exporter, after the US, in the world. Nonetheless, business and political leaders have in recent years become increasingly concerned about Germany's apparent decline in attractiveness as a business location. They cite the increasing preference of German companies to locate manufacturing facilities_long the strength of the postwar economy_to foreign countries, including the US, rather than in Germany, so they can be closer to their markets and avoid Germany's high production costs. The conditions under which European economic integration_especially movement toward a single European currency_will proceed will be another key issue facing Germany in the next few years. Germany:

Real gdp per capita
Purchasing power parity Germany:
Western: $21,100 (1995 est.), $19,660 (1994 est.)
Eastern: $6,600 (1995 est.), $5,950 (1994 est.)

Agriculture products
Western: accounts for about 1% of GDP (including fishing and forestry); diversified crop and livestock farming; principal crops and livestock include potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbage, cattle, pigs, poultry; net importer of food
Eastern: accounts for about 10% of GDP (including fishing and forestry); principal crops_wheat, rye, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, fruit; livestock products include pork, beef, chicken, milk, hides and skins; net importer of food

Industries
Western: among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics; food and beverages
Eastern: metal fabrication, chemicals, brown coal, shipbuilding, machine building, food and beverages, textiles, petroleum refining

Industrial production growth rate
Western: growth rate 2.8% (1994)
Eastern: growth rate NA

Labor force: 36.75 million
By occupation Industry: 41%
By occupation Agriculture: 6%
By occupation Other: 53% (1987)

Unemployment rate:

Budget
Revenues: $690 billion
Expenditures: $780 billion, including capital expenditures of $96.5 billion (1994)

Fiscal year: Calendar year

Exports: total value. $437 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
Commodities:
Partners:

Imports: total value:$362 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
Commodities:
Partners:

Debt external: NA

Exchange rates: Deutsche marks (DM) per US$1: 1.4617 (January 1996), 1.4331 (1995), 1.6228 (1994), 1.6533 (1993), 1.5617 (1992), 1.6595 (1991), 1.6157 (1990)

Electricity
Capacity: 115,430,000 kW
Production: 493 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 5,683 kWh (1993)

Telephone system: 44 million telephones; 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 is being rapidly modernized and integrated with that of the western part
Domestic: the region which was formerly West 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; since the reunification of Germany, the telephone system of the eastern region has been upgraded and enjoys many of the advantages of the national system
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); 6 submarine cable connections; 2 HF radiotelephone communication centers; tropospheric scatter links
Western: NA
Broadcast stations: AM 23, FM 17, shortwave 0
Eastern: NA

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $42.8 billion, 1.5% of GDP (1995), $40 billion, 1.8% of GNP (1995)

Airports
With paved runways over 3047 m: 13
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 65
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 67
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 51
With paved runways under 914 m: 351
With paved runways With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 6
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 7
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 55 (1995 est.)

Heliports: 55 (1995 est.)

Pipelines: Crude oil 3,644 km; petroleum products 3,946 km; natural gas 97,564 km (1988)

Waterways
Western: 5,222 km, of which almost 70% are usable by craft of 1,000-metric-ton capacity or larger; major rivers include the Rhine and Elbe; Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic Sea and North Sea
Eastern: 2,319 km (1988)

Merchant marine
Total: 617
Ships by type: bulk 6, cargo 193, chemical tanker 15, combination bulk 4, combination ore/oil 5, container 166, liquefied gas tanker 12, multifunction large-load carrier 6, oil tanker 11, passenger 3, railcar carrier 3, refrigerated cargo 7, roll-on/roll-off cargo 14, short-sea passenger 7 (1995 est.) Airports:

Illicit drugs: Source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors; transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and Latin American cocaine for West European markets