Germany

§1. Germany Introduction

Background:
  As Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation, Germany
  remains 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.

§2. Germany 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

Map references:
  Europe

Area:
  total: 357,021 km²
  land: 349,223 km²
  water: 7,798 km²

Area - comparative:
  slightly smaller than Montana

Land boundaries:
  total: 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 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 km² (1998 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 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 - international 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

Geography - note:
  strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the
  Baltic Sea

§3. Germany People

Population:
  82,422,299 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 14.1% (male 5,973,437/female 5,665,971)
  15-64 years: 66.4% (male 27,889,936/female 26,874,858)
  65 years and over: 19.4% (male 6,602,478/female 9,415,619) (2006 est.)

Median age:
  total: 42.6 years
  male: 41.3 years
  female: 43.9 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
  -0.02% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  8.25 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  10.62 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
  total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  total: 4.12 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 4.56 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 3.66 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 78.8 years
  male: 75.81 years
  female: 81.96 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  1.39 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  43,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  less than 1,000 (2003 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.)

§4. Germany 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

Administrative divisions:
  13 states (Laender, singular - Land) and 3 free states* (Freistaaten,
  singular - Freistaat); 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 Horst KOEHLER (since 1 July 2004)
  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
  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
    2004 (next to be held 23 May 2009); chancellor elected by an absolute
    majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; election last held
    22 November 2005 (next to be held November 2009)
  election results: Horst KOEHLER elected president; received 604 votes of
    the Federal Convention against 589 for Gesine SCHWAN; Angela MERKEL
    elected chancellor; vote by Federal Assembly 397 to 202 with 12
    abstentions

Legislative branch:
  bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or
  Bundestag (613 seats; 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 three to six votes
  depending on population and are required to vote as a block)
  elections: Federal Assembly - last held 18 September 2005 (next to be held
    September 2009); 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 - CDU/CSU
    35.2%, SPD 34.3%, FDP 9.8%, Left 8.7%, Greens 8.1%; seats by party -
    CDU/CSU 225, SPD 222, FDP 61, Left 54, Greens 51

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 [Angelika BEER and Reinhard BUETIKOFER]; Christian
  Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU
  [Edmund STOIBER, chairman]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Guido
  WESTERWELLE, chairman]; Left Party or PDS/WASG [Oskar LAFONTAINE and Gregor
  GYSI]; Party of Democratic Socialism or PDS [Lothar BISKY]; Social
  Democratic Party or SPD [Franz MUENTEFERING]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  business associations, employers' organizations; expellee, refugee, trade
  unions, and veterans groups

International organization participation:
  AfDB, Arctic Council (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC
  (observer), CBSS, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5,
  G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA,
  IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU,
  MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris
  Club, PCA, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS,
  UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,
  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 William R. TIMKEN, Jr.
  embassy: Neustaedtische Kirchstrasse 4-5, 10117 Berlin; note - a new
    embassy will be built near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin; ground was
    broken in October 2004 and completion is scheduled for 2008
  mailing address: PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE 09265
  telephone: [49] (030) 2385 174
  FAX: [49] (030) 8305-1215
  consulate(s) general: Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig,
    Munich

Flag description:
  three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold

§5. Germany Economy

Economy - overview:
  Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest
  in the world - has become one of the slowest growing economies in the euro
  zone. A quick turnaround is not in the offing in the foreseeable future.
  Growth in 2001-03 fell short of 1%, rising to 1.7% in 2004 before falling
  back to 0.9% in 2005. The modernization and integration of the eastern
  German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual
  transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's
  aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social
  security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers.
  Structural rigidities in the labor market - including strict regulations on
  laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis - have made
  unemployment a chronic problem. Corporate restructuring and growing capital
  markets are setting the foundations that could allow Germany to meet the
  long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization,
  particularly if labor market rigidities are further addressed. In the short
  run, however, the fall in government revenues and the rise in expenditures
  have raised the deficit above the EU's 3% debt limit.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
  $2.454 trillion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  $2.764 trillion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  0.9% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $29,800 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 1.1%
  industry: 28.6%
  services: 70.3% (2005 est.)

Labor force:
  43.32 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 2.8%, industry 33.4%, services 63.8% (1999)

Unemployment rate:
  11.6% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 3.6%
  highest 10%: 25.1% (1997)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
  28.3 (2000)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  2% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
  17.1% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $1.249 trillion
  expenditures: $1.362 trillion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005
    est.)

Public debt:
  68.1% of GDP (2005 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:
  1.7% (2005 est.)

Electricity - production:
  558.1 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
  510.4 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
  54.1 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
  45.4 billion kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
  158,700 bbl/day (2003)

Oil - consumption:
  2.677 million bbl/day (2003)

Oil - exports:
  12,990 bbl/day (2003)

Oil - imports:
  2.135 million bbl/day (2003)

Oil - proved reserves:
  395.8 million bbl (1 January 2004)

Natural gas - production:
  22.22 billion m³ (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  93.88 billion m³ (2003 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
  7.731 billion m³ (2003)

Natural gas - imports:
  85.02 billion m³ (2003)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
  305.8 billion m³ (1 January 2004)

Current account balance:
  $119.8 billion (2005 est.)

Exports:
  $1.016 trillion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs,
  textiles

Exports - partners:
  France 10.3%, US 8.8%, UK 8.3%, Italy 7.2%, Netherlands 6.2%, Belgium 5.6%,
  Austria 5.4%, Spain 5% (2004)

Imports:
  $801 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals

Imports - partners:
  France 9%, Netherlands 8.3%, US 7%, Italy 6.1%, UK 5.9%, China 5.6%,
  Belgium 4.9%, Austria 4.2% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
  $97.17 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
  $3.626 trillion (30 June 2005)

Economic aid - donor:
  ODA, $5.6 billion (1998)

Currency (code):
  euro (EUR)
  note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as
    a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member
    countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for
    everyday transactions within the member countries

Exchange rates:
  euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626
  (2002), 1.1175 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Germany Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  54.574 million (2004)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  71.3 million (2004)

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:
  AM 51, FM 787, shortwave 4 (1998)

Television broadcast stations:
  373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995)

Internet country code:
  .de

Internet hosts:
  7,657,162 (2005)

Internet users:
  48,722,055 (2005)

§7. Germany Transportation

Airports:
  552 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 332
  over 3,047 m: 12
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 55
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 58
  914 to 1,523 m: 73
  under 914 m: 134 (2005)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 220
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
  914 to 1,523 m: 33
  under 914 m: 183 (2005)

Heliports:
  33 (2005)

Pipelines:
  condensate 325 km; gas 25,293 km; oil 3,540 km; refined products 3,827 km
  (2004)

Railways:
  total: 46,166 km (20,100 km electrified)
  standard gauge: 45,928 km 1.435-m gauge (20,084 km electrified)
  narrow gauge: 214 km 1.000-m gauge (16 km electrified); 24 km 0.750-m gauge
    (2004)

Roadways:
  total: 231,581 km
  paved: 231,581 km (including 12,037 km of expressways) (2003)

Waterways:
  7,467 km
  note: Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and
    Black Sea (2005)

Merchant marine:
  total: 396 ships (1000 GRT or over) 10,833,329 GRT/12,866,273 DWT
  by type: barge carrier 1, cargo 72, chemical tanker 14, container 267,
    liquefied gas 3, passenger 5, passenger/cargo 25, petroleum tanker 5,
    roll on/roll off 4
  foreign-owned: 3 (Finland 2, Switzerland 1)
  registered in other countries: 2,303 (Antigua and Barbuda 853, Australia 3,
    The Bahamas 12, Belgium 1, Belize 3, Bermuda 1, Brazil 7, Bulgaria 1,
    Burma 5, Cambodia 1, Canada 3, Cayman Islands 14, Cyprus 211, Ecuador 1,
    Faroe Islands 1, French Southern and Antarctic Lands 2, Georgia 1,
    Gibraltar 106, Guyana 1, Hong Kong 7, Ireland 3, Isle of Man 55, Jamaica
    2, North Korea 1, Liberia 510, Luxembourg 8, Malaysia 2, Malta 59,
    Marshall Islands 157, Morocco 2, Netherlands 58, Netherlands Antilles 52,
    NZ 1, Norway 2, Panama 29, Philippines 2, Portugal 17, Russia 2, Saint
    Vincent and the Grenadines 11, Samoa 1, Singapore 7, Spain 11, Sri Lanka
    8, Sweden 4, Tuvalu 2, UK 63) (2005)

Ports and terminals:
  Bremen, Bremerhaven, Brunsbuttel, Duisburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe,
  Mainz, Rostock, Wilhemshaven

§8. Germany Military

Military branches:
  Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr): Army (Heer), Navy (Deutsche Marine,
    includes naval air arm), Air Force (Luftwaffe), Joint Support Service,
    Central Medical Service

Military service age and obligation:
  18 years of age (conscripts serve a nine-month tour of compulsory military
  service) (2004)

Manpower available for military service:
  males age 18-49: 18,917,537 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
  males age 18-49: 15,258,931 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
  males: 497,048 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $35.063 billion (2003)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  1.5% (2003)

§9. Germany Transnational Issues

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; major financial
  center


<Factbook 2006>
