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Location: Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea,
between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Geographic coordinates: 51 00 N, 9 00 E
Area: total: 357,021 sq km land: 349,223 sq km
water: 7,798 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Montana
Land 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
Climate: temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers;
occasional warm foehn wind
Terrain: lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south
Population: 82,424,609 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 14.7% (male 6,197,490; female 5,879,052)
15-64 years: 67% (male 28,119,536; female 27,132,713)
65 years and over: 18.3% (male 6,096,106; female 8,999,712) (2004 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.02% (2004 est.)
Ethnic groups: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely
of Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish)
Religions: Protestant 38%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 1.7%,
unaffiliated or other 26.3%
Languages: German
Government type: federal republic
Capital: Berlin
National holiday: German Unity Day (Day of Unity), 3 October (1990)
Constitution: 23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; 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
Labor force: 41.9 million (2001)
Unemployment rate: 10.7% (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles
Imports - commodities: machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals
Currency: euro (EUR)
Military branches: Army, Navy (includes Naval Air Arm), Air Force,
Medical Corps, Border Police, Coast Guard
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $35.063 billion (2003)
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