Germany

National name:
Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Government
Federal republic.

Geography
Located in central Europe, Germany is made up of the North German Plain, the Central German Uplands (Mittelgebirge), and the Southern German Highlands. The Bavarian plateau in the southwest averages 488 m above sea level, but it reaches 2,962m in the Zugspitze Mountains, the highest point in the country. Germany’s major rivers are the Danube, the Elbe, the Oder, the Weser, and the Rhine.

Historical Background
As Europe's largest economy and second 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. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.

Facts & Figures

Name

Germany

Capital

Berlin

Government

Federal parliamentary republic

Language

German

Race/Ethnicity

91.5% German, 2.4% Turkish, 6.1% other

Religion

(62.8%) Christianity,  Protestants (29.9%)

Area

357,021 km2

Population

81,757,600

Currency

Euro (€) (2002 – present) (EUR)