GERMANY
GEOGRAPHY
Geography—note: strategic location on North European Plain and
along the entrance to the Baltic Sea
Area:
total: 356,910 sq km
land: 349,520 sq km
water: 7,390 sq km
note: includes the formerly separate Federal Republic of Germany,
the German Democratic Republic, and Berlin, following formal unification
on 3 October 1990
Area—comparative: slightly smaller than Montana
Coastline: 2,389 km
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
Natural resources: iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel
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; hazardous waste disposal
Age structure:
0-14 years: 16% (male 6,570,582; female 6,240,671)
15-64 years: 68% (male 28,688,052; female 27,532,099)
65 years and over: 16% (male 4,866,122; female 8,181,928) (July
1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.02% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 8.84 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 10.77 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 5.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.99 years
male: 73.83 years
female: 80.33 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.25 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Ethnic groups: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, Italians 0.7%, Greeks 0.4%, Poles 0.4%, other 4.6% (made up largely of people fleeing the war in the former Yugoslavia)
Religions: Protestant 38%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 1.7%, unaffiliated or other 26.3%
Languages: German
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1977 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%
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 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
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Helmut KOHL, chairman]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Theodor WAIGEL, chairman]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Wolfgang GERHARDT, chairman]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Oskar LAFONTAINE, chairman]; Alliance '90/Greens [Christa NICKELS]; Party of Democratic Socialism or PDS [Lothar BISKY, chairman]; Republikaner [Rolf SCHLIERER, chairman]; National Democratic Party or NPD [Gunter DECKERT]; Communist Party or DKP [Rolf PRIEMER and Heinz STEHR, cochairpersons]
GDP—real growth rate: 2.4% (western 2.5%, eastern 1.7%) (1997 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.1%
industry: 34.5%
services: 64.4% (1995)
Agriculture—products: western: potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbage; cattle, pigs, poultry; eastern: wheat, rye, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, fruit; pork, beef, chicken, milk, hides
Exports:
total value: $521.1 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: manufactures 88.2% (including machines and machine
tools, chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products), agricultural
products 5.0%, raw materials 2.3%, fuels 1.0%, other 3.5% (1995)
partners: EU 57.7% (France 11.7%, UK 8.1%, Italy 7.6%, Netherlands
7.5%, Belgium-Luxembourg 6.5%, Austria 5.5%), Eastern Europe 8.0%, other
West European countries 7.5%, US 7.3%, NICs 5.6%, Japan 2.5%, OPEC 2.2%,
China 1.4% (1996 est.)
Imports:
total value: $455.7 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: manufactures 74.2%, agricultural products 9.9%,
fuels 6.4%, raw materials 5.9%, other 3.6% (1995)
partners: EU 55.5% (France 10.8%, Netherlands 8.6%, Italy 8.4%,
Belgium-Luxembourg 6.6%, UK 6.4%, Austria 3.9%), Eastern Europe 8.7%, other
West European countries 7.2%, US 6.8%, Japan 5.3%, NICs 5.3%, China 2.4%,
OPEC 1.7%, other 7.1% (1995)
Debt—external: $NA
Currency: 1 deutsche mark (DM) = 100 pfennige
Military manpower—fit for military service:
males: 17,888,396 (1998 est.)
Military manpower—reaching military age annually:
males: 465,179 (1998 est.)
Military expenditures—dollar figure: $42.8 billion (1995)
Military expenditures—percent of GDP: 1.5% (1995)