Germany

.de

2,686,119 (2004)

39 million (2003)

AM 51, FM 787, shortwave 4 (1998)

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)

54.35 million (2003)

64.8 million (2003)

373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995)

potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry

revenues: $1.2 trillion expenditures: $1.3 trillion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

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

$73.59 billion (2004 est.)

NA

30 (1994)

ODA, $5.6 billion (1998)

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. 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.

519.5 billion kWh (2003)

53.8 billion kWh (2003)

45.8 billion kWh (2003)

560 billion kWh (2003)

euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)

$893.3 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles

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

calendar year

$2.362 trillion (2004 est.)

agriculture: 1% industry: 31% services: 68% (2002 est.)

purchasing power parity - $28,700 (2004 est.)

1.7% (2004 est.)

lowest 10%: 3.6% highest 10%: 25.1% (1997)

$716.7 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals

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

2.2% (2004 est.)

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

1.6% (2004 est.)

17.6% of GDP (2004)

42.63 million (2004 est.)

agriculture 2.8%, industry 33.4%, services 63.8% (1999)

99.55 billion cu m (2003)

7.731 billion cu m (2003)

85.02 billion cu m (2003)

21 billion cu m (2003)

293 billion cu m (1 January 2004)

2.891 million bbl/day (2003)

12,990 bbl/day (2003)

2.135 million bbl/day (2003)

74,100 bbl/day (2003)

395.8 million bbl (1 January 2004)

NA

65.8% of GDP (2004 est.)

$96.84 billion (2003)

10.6% (2004 est.)

total: 357,021 sq km land: 349,223 sq km water: 7,798 sq km

slightly smaller than Montana

temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind

2,389 km

lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m

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

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

51 00 N, 9 00 E

strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea

4,850 sq km (1998 est.)

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

arable land: 33.85% permanent crops: 0.59% other: 65.56% (2001)

Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark

Europe

territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

flooding

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

lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south

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*

Berlin

23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990

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

chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel R. COATS 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) 8305-0 FAX: [49] (030) 8305-1215 consulate(s) general: Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich

chief of mission: Ambassador Wolfgang Friedrich ISCHINGER chancery: 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-8140 FAX: [1] (202) 298-4249 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco

chief of state: President Horst KOEHLER (since 1 July 2004) head of government: Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (since 27 October 1998); Vice Chancellor Joschka FISCHER (since 17 October 1998) 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 September 2002 (next to be held September 2006) election results: Horst KOEHLER elected president; received 604 votes of the Federal Convention against 589 for Gesine SCHWAN; Gerhard SCHROEDER elected chancellor; percent of Federal Assembly vote 50.7%

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

federal republic

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

AfDB, 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, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC

Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)

civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

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 3 to 6 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; Federal Council - current composition - NA

Unity Day, 3 October (1990)

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]

business associations, employers' organizations; expellee, refugee, trade unions, and veterans groups

18 years of age; universal

As Europe's largest economy and 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.

males age 18-49: 18,917,537 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49: 15,258,931 (2005 est.)

males: 497,048 (2005 est.)

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

$35.063 billion (2003)

1.5% (2003)

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

0-14 years: 14.4% (male 6,078,885/female 5,766,065) 15-64 years: 66.7% (male 28,006,268/female 27,003,958) 65 years and over: 18.9% (male 6,359,776/female 9,216,438) (2005 est.)

8.33 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

10.55 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish)

0.1% (2001 est.)

less than 1,000 (2003 est.)

43,000 (2001 est.)

total: 4.16 deaths/1,000 live births male: 4.61 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

German

total population: 78.65 years male: 75.66 years female: 81.81 years (2005 est.)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% (1997 est.) male: NA% female: NA%

total: 42.16 years male: 40.88 years female: 43.53 years (2005 est.)

noun: German(s) adjective: German

2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

82,431,390 (July 2005 est.)

0% (2005 est.)

Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%

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: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

1.39 children born/woman (2005 est.)

none

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

550 (2004 est.)

total: 331 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 51 1,524 to 2,437 m: 62 914 to 1,523 m: 71 under 914 m: 134 (2004 est.)

total: 219 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 31 under 914 m: 185 (2004 est.)

34 (2004 est.)

total: 230,735 km paved: 230,735 km (including 11,515 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (1999)

total: 332 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 5,721,495 GRT/6,810,631 DWT by type: cargo 69, chemical tanker 13, container 208, liquefied gas 3, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 25, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 5 (Finland 2, Netherlands 1, Switzerland 1, UAE 1) registered in other countries: 2,289 (2005)

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

Bremen, Bremerhaven, Brunsbuttel, Duisburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Mainz, Rostock, Wilhemshaven

total: 46,142 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)

7,300 km note: Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea (2004)