Germany...

                ...from CIA World Factbook 1995

This document is outdated and historic. A newer version can be found here.

Geography

Location:
Central Europe, bordering the North Sea and the Baltic Sea between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Area:
Total area: 356,910 km^2
Land area: 349,520 km^2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Montana.
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 depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone:
200 nm
Territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
none
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
Land use:
arable land: 34%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 16%
forest and woodland: 30%
other: 19%
Irrigated land:
4,800 km2 (1989 est.)
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
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
Note:
strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea

People

Population:
81,337,541 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
16% (female 6,518,108; male 6,857,577)
15-64 years:
68% (female 27,167,824; male 28,130,083)
65 years and over:
16% (female 8,127,938; male 4,536,011) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.26% (1995 est.)
Birth rate:
10.98 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate:
10.83 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate:
2.46 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
6.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: (1993 est.)
total population: 76.62 years
male: 73.5 years
female: 79.92 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.5 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: German(s) (Deutscher, Deutsche)
adjective: German (deutsch)
Ethnic divisions:
German 95.1%
Turkish 2.3%
Italians 0.7%
Greeks 0.4%
Poles 0.4%
other 1.1% (made up largely of people fleeing the war in the former Yugoslavia)
Religions:
Protestant 45%
Roman Catholic 37%
unaffiliated or other 18%
Languages:
German (Deutsch)
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1991 est.)
total population: 99%
Labor force:
36.75 million
by occupation: industry 41%, agriculture 6%, other 53% (1987)

Government

Names:
conventional long form: Federal Republic of Germany
conventional short form: Germany
local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
local short form: Deutschland
Digraph:
GM
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 ( Bundesländer, singular: Bundesland):
Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thüringen.
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.
Constitution:
23 May 1949, known as Basic Law (Grundgesetz); 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
National holiday:
German Unity Day, 3 October (1990)
Political parties and leaders:
Other political or pressure groups:
expellee, refugee, and veterans groups
Suffrage:
universal at 18 years of age
Elections:
Federal Assembly (Bundestag):
16 October 1994 (outdated!)
Results:
SPD 36.4%
CDU 34.2%
Alliance 90/Greens 7.3%
CSU 7.3%
FDP 6.9%
PDS 4.4%
Republicans 1.9%
other 1.6%
Seats:
(662 total, but number can vary)
SPD 252
CDU 244
CSU 50
Alliance 90/Greens 49
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 37, CDU-led states 31
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President
head of government:
Chancellor
cabinet:
Cabinet; appointed by the president upon the proposal of the chancellor
Legislative branch:
bicameral parliament (no official name for the two chambers as a whole) consists of an upper chamber or Federal Council (Bundesrat) and a lower chamber or Federal Assembly (Bundestag).
Judicial branch:
Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht).
Member of:
AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australian Group, BDEAC, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EBRD, EC, ECE, EIB, ESA, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-10, GATT, 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, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNOMIG, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador
chancery: 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA
telephone: +1 (202) 298-4000
consulates general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle
consulates: Manila (Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands) and Wellington (America Samoa)
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador
embassy: Berlin
consulates general: Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, and Stuttgart
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold (schwarz, rot, gold).

Economy

Overview:
Five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, progress towards economic integration between eastern and western Germany is clearly visible, yet the eastern region almost certainly will remain dependent on subsidies funded by western Germany until well into the next century. The staggering $390 billion in western German assistance that the eastern states have received since 1990 - 40 times the amount in real terms of US Marshall Fund aid sent to West Germany after World War II - is just beginning to have an impact on the eastern German standard of living, which plummeted after unification. Assistance to the east continues to run at roughly $100 billion annually. Although the growth rate in the east was much greater than in the west in 1993-94, eastern GDP per capita nonetheless remains well below preunification levels; it will take 10-15 years for the eastern states to match western Germany's living standards. The economic recovery in the east is led by the construction industries which account for one-third of industrial output, with growth increasingly supported by the service sectors and light manufacturing industries. Eastern Germany's economy is changing from one anchored on manufacturing to a more service-oriented economy. Western Germany, with three times the per capita output of the eastern states, has an advanced market economy and is a world leader in exports. The strong recovery in 1994 from recession began in the export sector and spread to the investment and consumption sectors in response to falling interest rates. Western Germany has a highly urbanized and skilled population that enjoys excellent living standards, abundant leisure time, and comprehensive social welfare benefits. It is relatively poor in natural resources, coal being the most important mineral. Western Germany's world-class companies manufacture technologically advanced goods. The region's economy is mature: services and manufacturing account for the dominant share of economic activities, and raw materials and semimanufactured goods constitute a large portion of imports.
National product:
Germany: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $1.3446 trillion (1994 est.)
western: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $1.2363 trillion (1994 est.)
eastern: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $108.3 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate:
Germany: 2.9% (1994 est.)
western: 2.3% (1994 est.)
eastern: 9.2% (1994 est.)
National product per capita:
Germany: $16,580 (1994 est.)
western: $19,660 (1994 est.)
eastern: $5,950 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
western: 3% (1994)
eastern: 3.2% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate:
western: 8.2% (December 1994)
eastern: 13.5% (December 1994)
Budget:
revenues $690 billion; expenditures $780 billion, including capital expenditures of $96.5 billion (1994)
Exports:
$437.0 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities:
manufactures 89.3% (including machines and machine tools, chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products), agricultural products 5.5%, raw materials 2.7%, fuels 1.3% (1993)
partners:
EC 46.4% (France 11.3%, Netherlands 7.4%, Italy 7.5%, UK 7.7%, Belgium and Luxembourg 6.6%), EFTA 15.5%, US 7.7%, Eastern Europe 5.2%, OPEC 3.0% (1993)
Imports:
$362 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities:
manufactures 89.3% (including machines and machine tools, chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products), agricultural products 5.5%, raw materials 2.7%, fuels 1.3% (1993)
partners:
EC 46.4 (France 11.3%, Netherlands 8.4%, Italy 8.1%, UK 6.0%, Belgium and Luxembourg 5.7%), EFTA 14.3%, US 7.3%, Eastern Europe 5.2%, OPEC 2.6% (1993)
External debt:
NA
Industrial production:
western: growth rate 2.8% (1994)
eastern: growth rate NA
Electricity:
115,430,000 kW capacity
493,000 million kWh produced, 5.683 kWh per capita (1993)
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
Agriculture:
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
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
Economic aid:
western:
donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $75.5 billion
eastern:
donor - $4.0 billion extended bilaterally to non-Communist less developed countries (1956-89)
Currency:
1 Deutsche Mark (DM) = 100 Pfennige
Exchange rates:
Deutsche Mark (DM) per US$:
1.5313 (January 1995)
1.6228 (1994)
1.6533 (1993)
1.5617 (1992)
1.6595 (1991)
1.6157 (1990)
1.8800 (1989)
1.7562 (1988)
Fiscal year:
calendar year

Transportation

Railroads:
total: 43,457 km
standard gauge: 43,190 km (electrified 16,694 km)
narrow gauge: 267 km (1994)
Highways:
total: 636,282 km
paved: 501,282 km (10,955 km of autobahn)
unpaved: 135,000 km (1991)
Inland 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)
Pipelines:
crude oil 3,644 km
petroleum products 3,946 km
natural gas 97,564 km (1988)
Ports:
Berlin, Bonn, Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Brunsbüttel, Cuxhaven, Cologne, Dresden, Duisburg, Emden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Lübeck, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Rostock, Saßnitz, Stralsund, Stuttgart, Wilhelmshaven, Wismar
Merchant marine:
total: 481 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,065,074 GRT/6,409,198 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 6, bulk 8, cargo 224, chemical tanker 16, combination bulk 4, combination ore/oil 5, container 158, liquefied gas tanker 13, oil tanker 10, passenger 3, railcar carrier 4, refrigerated cargo 7, roll-on/roll-off cargo 18, short-sea passenger 5
Note: the German register includes ships of the former East and West Germany
Airports:
total: 660
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 13
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 64
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 68
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 53
with paved runways under 914 m: 381
with unpaved runways over 3,047 m: 2
with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 9
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 62

Communications

Telecommunications:
western:
40,300,000 telephones; highly developed, modern telecommunication service to all parts of the country; fully adequate in all respects; intensively developed, highly redundant cable and microwave radio relay networks, all completely automatic
local:
very modern
intercity:
domestic satellite, microwave radio relay, and cable systems
international:
12 INTELSAT (Atlantic Ocean), 2 INTELSAT (Indian Ocean), and 1 EUTELSAT earth station; 2 HF radiocommunication centers; tropospheric scatter links
eastern:
3,970,000 telephones; badly needs modernization
local:
NA
intercity:
NA
international:
1 INTELSAT earth station and 1 Intersputnik system
Radio:
western:
broadcast stations:
AM 80, FM 470, shortwave 0
eastern:
broadcast stations:
AM 23, FM 17, shortwave 0
radios: 67 million
Television:
broadcast stations:
246 (repeaters 6,000); note - there are 15 Russian repeaters in eastern Germany
televisions:
25 million in western Germany, 6 million in eastern Germany

Defense Forces

Branches:
Army, Navy (includes Naval Air Arm), Air Force, Border Police, Coast Guard
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49: 20,274,127
fit for military service: 17,472,940
reach military age (18) annually 428,082 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $40 billion, 1.8% of GDP (1995 est.)
HTML-Version by Heiko Schlichting
updated 13.04.96 by Vera Heinau
outdated 18.07.2000 by Heiko Schlichting.