Germany
|
| Basic Facts |
| Country name |
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 |
| Gevernment type | federal republic |
| Capital |
name: Berlin
geographic coordinates: 52 31 N, 13 24 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
| Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold |
| Currency | 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 |
| Internet country code | .de |
| Ports and terminals | Bremen, Bremerhaven, Brunsbuttel, Duisburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Mainz, Rostock, Wilhemshaven |
| Agriculture products | potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry |
| Industries | 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 |
| Geography |
| Location | Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark |
| Coordinates | 51 00 N, 9 00 E |
| Continent | Europe |
| Area |
total: 357,021 sq km
land: 349,223 sq km water: 7,798 sq km |
| Boundaries |
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 |
| Coastline | 2,389 km |
| Climate | temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind |
| Terrain | lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south |
| Natural resources | coal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber, arable land |
| Natural hazards | flooding |
| People |
| Population | 82,422,299 (July 2006 est.) |
| Ethnic groups | German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish) |
| Religions | Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3% |
| Languages | German |
