1996 Edition

Description

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

Location

51 00 N, 9 00 E -- Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark Flag ----

Area

comparative area

slightly smaller than Montana

land area

349,520 sq km

note

includes the formerly separate Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and Berlin, following formal unification on 3 October 1990

total area

356,910 sq km

Climate

temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm, tropical foehn wind; high relative humidity

Coastline

2,389 km

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

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, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Desertification, Tropical Timber 94

natural hazards

NA

Geographic coordinates

51 00 N, 9 00 E

Geographic note

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

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

4,800 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

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

total

3,621 km

Land use

arable land

34%

forest and woodland

30%

meadows and pastures

16%

other

19%

permanent crops

1%

Location

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

Map references

Europe

Maritime claims

continental shelf

200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

exclusive economic zone

200 nm

territorial sea

12 nm

Natural resources

iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel

Terrain

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

highest point

Zugspitze 2,962 m

lowest point

Freepsum Lake -2 m

Age structure

0-14 years: 16.15% (male 6,928,750; female 6,563,026) 15-64 years: 68.52% (male 29,339,780; female 27,902,549) 65 years and over: 15.33% (male 4,658,014; female 8,143,996) (July 1996 est.)

Birth rate

9.66 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate

12.21 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

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)

Infant mortality rate

6 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Languages

German

Life expectancy at birth

female

79.27 years (1996 est.)

male

72.8 years

total population

75.95 years

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1977 est.)

female

NA%

male

NA%

total population

99%

Nationality

adjective

German

noun

German(s)

Net migration rate

8.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Population

83,536,115 (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate

0.67% (1996 est.)

Religions

Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 37%, unaffiliated or other 18%

Sex ratio

all ages

0.96 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

at birth

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years

1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.57 male(s)/female

Total fertility rate

1.3 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Administrative divisions

16 states (laender, singular - land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen

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

Constitution

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

Data code

GM

Diplomatic representation in US

chancery

4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007

chief of mission

Ambassador Juergen CHROBOG

telephone

[1] (202) 298-4000

Executive branch

cabinet

Cabinet was appointed by the president upon the proposal of the chancellor

chief of state

President Roman HERZOG (since 1 July 1994) was elected by the Federal Convention including members of the Bundestag and an equal number of members elected by the Land Parliaments

head of government

Chancellor Dr. Helmut KOHL (since 4 October 1982) was elected by an absolute majority of the Bundestag

FAX

[1] (202) 298-4249

[49] (228) 339-2663

branch office

Berlin

consulate(s) general

Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle

consulate(s) general

Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, and Stuttgart

Federal Assembly (Bundestag)

election last held 16 October 1994 (next to be held by NA 1998); results - CDU 34.2%, SPD 36.4%, Alliance 90/Greens 7.3%, CSU 7.3%, FDP 6.9%, PDS 4.4%, Republicans 1.9%; seats - (usually 656 total, but 672 for the 1994 term) CDU 244, SPD 252, Alliance 90/Greens 49, CSU 50, 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 three 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 41, CDU-led states 27

Flag

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

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

International organization participation

AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EBRD, ECE, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, 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, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMIR, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNOMIG, UNPROFOR, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Judicial branch

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

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

bicameral chamber (no official name for the two chambers as a whole)

Name of country

conventional long form

Federal Republic of Germany

conventional short form

Germany

local long form

Bundesrepublik Deutschland

local short form

Deutschland

National holiday

German Unity Day (Day of Unity), 3 October (1990)

Other political or pressure groups

expellee, refugee, and veterans groups

Political parties and leaders

Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Helmut KOHL, chairman; Christian Social Union (CSU), Theo WAIGEL, chairman; Free Democratic Party (FDP), Wolfgang GERHARDT, chairman; Social Democratic Party (SPD), Oskar LA FONTAINE, chairman; Alliance '90/Greens, Krista SAGER, Juergen TRITTIN, cochairpersons; Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), Lothar BISKY, chairman; Republikaner, Rolf SCHLIERER, chairman; National Democratic Party (NPD), Ellen-Doris SCHERER; Communist Party (DKP), Rolf PRIEMER and Heinz STEHR, cochairpersons

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type of government

federal republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission

Ambassador Charles E. REDMAN

embassy

Deichmanns Aue 29, 53170 Bonn

mailing address

APO AE 09080, PSC 117, Bonn

telephone

[49] (228) 3391

Agriculture

eastern

wheat, rye, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, fruit; pork, beef, chicken, milk, hides

western

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

Budget

expenditures

$780 billion, including capital expenditures of $96.5 billion (1994)

revenues

$690 billion

Currency

1 deutsche mark (DM) = 100 pfennige

Economic aid

donor

ODA, $6.954 billion (1993)

Economic overview

Germany, the world's third-most powerful economy, faces its own unique problem of bringing its eastern area up to scratch after 45 years of communist rule. Despite substantial progress toward economic integration, the eastern states will continue to rely on subsidies from the federal government into the next century. Assistance to the east of about $100 billion annually has helped the region average nearly 8% annual economic growth since 1991, even though the overall German economy has averaged less than 2% growth. The economic recovery in the east has been led by the construction industries, with growth increasingly supported by the service sectors and light manufacturing industries. Western Germany, which accounts for 90% of overall German GDP and has three times the per capita income of eastern Germany, is perennially the first- or second-largest exporter, after the US, in the world. Nonetheless, business and political leaders have in recent years become increasingly concerned about Germany's apparent decline in attractiveness as a business location. They cite the increasing preference of German companies to locate manufacturing facilities - long the strength of the postwar economy - to foreign countries, including the US, rather than in Germany, so they can be closer to their markets and avoid Germany's high production costs. The conditions under which European economic integration - especially movement toward a single European currency - will proceed will be another key issue facing Germany in the next few years.

Electricity

capacity

115,430,000 kW

consumption per capita

5,683 kWh (1993)

production

493 billion kWh

Exchange rates

deutsche marks (DM) per US$1 - 1.4617 (January 1996), 1.4331 (1995), 1.6228 (1994), 1.6533 (1993), 1.5617 (1992), 1.6595 (1991)

Exports

$437 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 47.9% (France 11.7%, Netherlands 7.4%, Italy 7.5%, UK 7.7%, Belgium-Luxembourg 6.6%), EFTA 15.5%, US 7.7%, Eastern Europe 5.2%, OPEC 3.0% (1993)

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP composition by sector

agriculture

1%

industry

34.2%

services

64.8% (1994)

Germany

purchasing power parity - $1.4522 trillion (1995 est.)

1.8% (1995 est.)

$17,900 (1995 est.)

eastern

purchasing power parity - $120.4 billion (1995 est.)

eastern

6.3% (1995 est.)

eastern

$6,600 (1995 est.)

western

purchasing power parity - $1.3318 trillion (1995 est.)

western

1.5% (1995 est.)

western

$21,100 (1995 est.)

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

Imports

$362 billion (f.o.b., 1994)

commodities

manufactures 75.1%, agricultural products 10.0%, fuels 8.3%, raw materials 5.0% (1993)

partners

EC 46.4% (France 11.3%, Netherlands 8.4%, Italy 8.1%, UK 6.0%, Belgium-Luxembourg 5.7%), EFTA 14.3%, US 7.3%, Japan 6.3%, Eastern Europe 5.1%, OPEC 2.6% (1993)

Industrial production growth rate

eastern

NA%

western

2.8% (1994)

Industries

eastern

metal fabrication, chemicals, brown coal, shipbuilding, machine building, food and beverages, textiles, petroleum refining

western

among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

eastern

2% (1995 est.)

western

2% (1995 est.)

Labor force

36.75 million

by occupation

industry 41%, agriculture 6%, other 53% (1987)

Unemployment rate

eastern

14.9% (December 1995)

western

8.7% (December 1995)

Branches

Army, Navy (includes Naval Air Arm), Air Force, Border Police, Coast Guard

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $42.8 billion, 1.5% of GDP (1995)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49

21,540,919

males fit for military service

18,537,347

males reach military age (18) annually

449,292 (1996 est.)

Radio broadcast stations

eastern

AM 23, FM 17, shortwave 0

western

AM 80, FM 470, shortwave 0

Radios

70 million (1991 est.)

Telephone system

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 is being rapidly modernized and integrated with that of the western part

domestic

the region which was formerly West 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 and includes roaming service to many foreign countries; since the reunification of Germany, the telephone system of the eastern region has been upgraded and enjoys many of the advantages of the national system

international

satellite earth stations - 14 Intelsat (12 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean), 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), 2 Intersputnik (1 Atlantic Ocean region and 1 Indian Ocean region); 6 submarine cable connections; 2 HF radiotelephone communication centers; tropospheric scatter links

Telephones

44 million

Television broadcast stations

246 (repeaters 6,000); note - there are 15 Russian repeaters in eastern Germany

Televisions

44.8 million (1992 est.) Defense

Airports

total

617

with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m

67

with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m

65

with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m

51

with paved runways over 3 047 m

13

with paved runways under 914 m

351

with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m

7

with unpaved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m

6

with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m

55 (1995 est.)

with unpaved runways over 3 047 m

2

Heliports

55 (1995 est.)

Highways

paved

531,018 km (including 10,955 km of expressways)

total

636,282 km

unpaved

105,264 km (1991 est.)

Merchant marine

ships by type

bulk 6, cargo 193, chemical tanker 15, combination bulk 4, combination ore/oil 5, container 166, liquefied gas tanker 12, multifunction large-load carrier 6, oil tanker 11, passenger 3, railcar carrier 3, refrigerated cargo 7, roll-on/roll-off cargo 14, short-sea passenger 7 (1995 est.)

total

452 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,054,327 GRT/6,367,036 DWT

Pipelines

crude oil 3,644 km; petroleum products 3,946 km; natural gas 97,564 km (1988)

Ports

Berlin, Bonn, Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Cologne, Dresden, Duisburg, Emden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Lubeck, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Rostock, Stuttgart

Railways

narrow gauge

389 km 1.000-m gauge (DB operates 146 km of 1.000-m gauge); 7 km 0.900-m gauge; 39 km 0.750-m gauge

note

in addition to the DB system there are 54 privately-owned industrial or excursion railways, ranging in route length from 2 km to 632 km, with a total length of 3,465 km (1995)

standard gauge

43,531 km 1.435-m; 40,355 km are owned by Deutsche Bahn AG (DB); 17,015 km of the DB system are electrified and 16,941 km are double- or more-tracked

total

43,966 km

Waterways

eastern

2,319 km (1988)

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