Germany Population: 81,147,265
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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. |
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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 (2003) |
| 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: | 81,147,265 (July 2013 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 13.1% (male 5,435,658/female 5,155,065) 15-24 years: 10.8% (male 4,457,412/female 4,267,366) 25-54 years: 42% (male 17,268,604/female 16,786,146) 55-64 years: 13.3% (male 5,354,690/female 5,469,884) 65 years and over: 20.9% (male 7,360,711/female 9,591,729) (2013 est.) population pyramid: |
| Median age: | total: 45.3 years male: 44.2 years female: 46.3 years (2012 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | -0.2% (2012 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 8.33 births/1,000 population (2012 est.) |
| Death rate: | 11.04 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | 0.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2011 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 3.51 deaths/1,000 live births male: 3.81 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 80.19 years male: 77.93 years female: 82.58 years (2012 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.42 children born/woman (2013 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-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) |
| 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: | 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 Joachim GAUCK (since 23 March 2012) 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 Convention, including all members of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments; election last held on 19 February 2012 (next to be held by June 2017); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Parliament for a four-year term; Federal Parliament vote for Chancellor last held after 27 September 2009 (next to be held 2013) election results: Joachim GAUCK elected president; received 991 votes of the Federal Convention against 126 for Beate KLARSFELD and 3 for Olaf ROSE; Angela MERKEL reelected chancellor; vote by Federal Parliament 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 Parliament 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); most all postwar German governments have been coalitions; 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 OEZDEMIR]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Horst SEEHOFER]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Philipp ROESLER]; Left Party or Die Linke [Katia KIPPING and Bernd RIEXINGER]; 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, CD, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-20, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Peter AMMON chancery: 2300 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 298-4000 FAX: [1] (202) 298-4261 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: Clayallee 170, 14191 Berlin mailing address: Unit 5090, Box 1000, DPO AE09265 telephone: [49] (30) 48305-0 FAX: [49] (30) 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. 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 6.5% in 2012. GDP contracted 5.1% in 2009 but grew by 4.2% in 2010, and 3.0% in 2011, before dipping to 0.7% in 2012 - a reflection of low investment spending due to crisis-induced uncertainty and the decreased demand for German exports from recession-stricken periphery countries. Stimulus and stabilization efforts initiated in 2008 and 2009 and tax cuts introduced in Chancellor Angela MERKEL's second term increased Germany's total budget deficit - including federal, state, and municipal - to 4.1% in 2010, but slower spending and higher tax revenues reduced the deficit to 0.8% in 2011. In 2012 Germany reached a budget surplus of 0.1%. A constitutional amendment approved in 2009 limits the federal government to structural deficits of no more than 0.35% of GDP per annum as of 2016 though the target was already reached in 2012. By 2014, the federal government wants to balance its butget. Following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced in May 2011 that eight of the country's 17 nuclear reactors would be shut down immediately and the remaining plants would close by 2022. Germany hopes to replace nuclear power with renewable energy. Before the shutdown of the eight reactors, Germany relied on nuclear power for 23% of its electricity generating capacity and 46% of its base-load electricity production. | |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | GDP (purchasing power parity): $3.123 trillion (2012 est.) $3.101 trillion (2011 est.) $2.976 trillion (2010 est.) note: data are in 2012 US dollars |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | GDP (official exchange rate): $3.367 trillion (2012 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 0.7% (2012 est.) 3% (2011 est.) 4.2% (2010 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | GDP - per capita (PPP): $39,100 (2012 est.) $38,700 (2011 est.) $37,500 (2010 est.) note: data are in 2012 US dollars |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 0.8% industry: 28.1% services: 71.1% (2012 est.) |
| Labor force: | 44.01 million (2012 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 1.6% industry: 24.6% services: 73.8% (2011) |
| Unemployment rate: | 6.5% (2012 est.) 7.1% (2011 est.) |
| 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): 2% (2012 est.) 2.3% (2011 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | Investment (gross fixed): 17.8% of GDP (2012 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $1.511 trillion expenditures: $1.507 trillion (2012 est.) |
| Public debt: | 81.7% of GDP (2012 est.) 80.6% of GDP (2011 est.) 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 euro; 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-year exchange rates provided by the European Central Bank |
| 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: | 8% (2011 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 558 billion kWh (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 9 |
| Electricity - consumption: | 549.1 billion kWh (2010 est.) |
| Electricity - exports: | 57.92 billion kWh (2010 est.) |
| Electricity - imports: | 42.96 billion kWh (2010 est.) |
| Natural gas - production: | 11.9 billion cu m (2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - consumption: | 78.99 billion cu m (2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - exports: | 19.74 billion cu m (2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - imports: | 87.57 billion cu m (2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - proved reserves: | 175.6 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.) |
| Current account balance: | $208.1 billion (2012 est.) $204.3 billion (2011 est.) |
| Exports: | $1.492 trillion (2012 est.) $1.547 trillion (2011 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, metals, transport equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, rubber and plastic products |
| Imports: | $1.276 trillion (2012 est.) $1.333 trillion (2011 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | machinery, data processing equipment, vehicles, chemicals, oil and gas, metals, electric equipment, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, agricultural products |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $238.9 billion (31 December 2011 est.) $216.5 billion (2010 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $5.624 trillion (30 June 2011) $4.713 trillion (30 June 2010) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: | $932.8 billion (31 December 2012 est.) $899.4 billion (31 December 2011 est.) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: | $1.464 trillion (31 December 2012 est.) $1.405 trillion (31 December 2011 est.) |
| Market value of publicly traded shares: | $1.184 trillion (31 December 2011) $1.43 trillion (31 December 2010) $1.298 trillion (31 December 2009) |
| Exchange rates: | euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.7838 (2012 est.) 0.7185 (2011 est.) 0.755 (2010 est.) 0.7198 (2009 est.) 0.6827 (2008 est.) |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year |
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| Communications | |
| Telephones in use: | 51.8 million (2011) country comparison to the world: 4 |
| Cellular Phones in use: | 108.7 million (2011) |
| 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 (2011) |
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| Television broadcast stations: | |
| Internet country code: | .de |
| Internet hosts: | 20.043 million (2012) |
| Internet users: | 65.125 million (2009) |
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| Transportation | |
| Airports: | 541 (2012) country comparison to the world: 13 |
| Airports (paved runways): | total: 322 over 3,047 m: 14 2,438 to 3,047 m: 48 1,524 to 2,437 m: 60 914 to 1,523 m: 70 under 914 m: 130 (2012) |
| Airports (unpaved runways): | total: 219 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 32 under 914 m: 185 (2012) |
| Heliports: | 22 (2012) |
| 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) (2008) |
| Roadways: | total: 644,480 km paved: 644,480 km (includes 12,800 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) (2012) |
| Merchant marine: | total: 427 by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 6, cargo 51, carrier 1, chemical tanker 15, container 298, liquefied gas 6, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 24, petroleum tanker 10, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 6, vehicle carrier 1 foreign-owned: 6 (Finland 3, Netherlands 1, Switzerland 2) registered in other countries: 3,420 (Antigua and Barbuda 1094, Australia 2, Bahamas 30, Bermuda 14, Brazil 6, Bulgaria 12, Burma 1, Cayman Islands 3, Cook Islands 1, Curacao 25, Cyprus 192, Denmark 9, Dominica 5, Estonia 1, France 1, Gibraltar 123, Hong Kong 10, Isle of Man 56, Jamaica 10, Liberia 1185, Luxembourg 9, Malta 135, Marshall Islands 248, Morocco 1, Netherlands 86, NZ 2, Panama 24, Papua New Guinea 1, Philippines 2, Portugal 14, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3, Singapore 32, Slovakia 3, Spain 4, Sri Lanka 8, Sweden 3, UK 59, US 5, 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) (2013) |
| 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 (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.) |
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