...from CIA World Factbook 1995
This document is outdated and historic. A newer version can be found here.
- 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
- 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)
- 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).
- 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
- 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
- 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.