THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 357,868 sq km
Population: 82.5 million
Capital City: Berlin (population û 3.4
million)
People (ethnicity): Germans 94%,
Turks 2.3%
Language: German
Religion: Protestant 34%, Roman
Catholic 34%, unaffiliated or other
28.3%, Muslim 3.7%
Currency: euro (EUR)
Major Political Parties: Social
Democrats (SPD); Christian Democrats
(CDU); Christian Social Alliance (CSU);
Alliance 90/The Greens; Free
Democrats (FDP); Democratic
Socialists (PDS)
Government: Germany is a federal
republic made up of 16 states called
LSnder. The Federal Assembly
comprises two chambers: the
directly-elected Bundestag, which is
elected by a mixed constituency and PR
list system every 4 years; and the
Bundesrat, which represents the 16
state governments. The Federal
Government is formed by whichever
party or coalition of parties has a
majority in the Bundestag and is lead by
the Chancellor. The Federal President,
elected by a Federal Convention for a
term of five years, is the formal Head
of State, but only acts on the advice of
the Federal Government.
GEOGRAPHY
Germany is in Central Europe,
bordering the North Sea and the Baltic
Sea between the Netherlands and
Poland, and to the south of Denmark. It
has land boundaries with Austria,
Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark,
France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Poland and Switzerland. Germany has a
coastline of 2,389 km. The terrain is
generally lowland in the north, with
uplands in the centre and the Bavarian
Alps in the south. The climate is
temperate with cool, cloudy, wet
winters and occasional warm summers.
Over 30% of the country is forest and
woodland.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
Following the end of the Second World
War, Germany was divided up into four
zones, as was the capital, Berlin.
Following the Potsdam conference in
1945, the introduction of the
Deutschmark in the Western zones in
1948 and the Berlin blockade, the
Federal Republic of Germany FRG
(West Germany) and the German
Democratic Republic GDR (East
Germany) were founded in 1949. The
Berlin wall was built in 1961, as the East
German authorities fought to prevent
the exodus of citizens fleeing to the
West. The FRG became a member of
NATO and a founding member of the
EU, whilst the GDR became firmly
entrenched in the Soviet pact. Political
pressure and the increasing dTtente
between East and West led to a lifting
of travel restrictions from the GDR
and to the eventual fall of the Berlin
Wall. Following free elections in the
GDR, the two countries were
re-united on 3 October 1990.
More than a decade after reunification,
there are still differences in living
standards between the eastern (or
new) and western LSnder and
unemployment is still a key issue in the
East. Germany has been at the
forefront of EU economic union and
since 1 January 2002, the Euro has
been legal tender.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: $2,360.77 billion
GDP per head: $28,824
Annual Growth: 0.2% (2002)
Inflation: 1.1% (2002)
Major industries: car manufacturing,
engineering, banking, insurance
Aid & Development: DM7.045bn
(?3.602bn) in 2000. Plus 22%
contribution to EUÆs external aid
budget.
Defence expenditure: 1.54% of GDP
(2000); 1.42% (2001 estimate)
Trade Partners UK country profile:
Germany
Germany is the worldÆs largest
exporter and the second largest
importer. It is also the UKÆs second
largest export market world-wide,
after the US. But economic growth has
been sluggish for two years with the
economy expanding by only 0.6% in 2001
and 0.2% in 2002. Forecasts for the
year 2003 have also been revised down
continually and lie now at around 0.8%
(the GovernmentÆs official forecast is
1.0%).
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Germany enjoys good relations with
other EU member states and with the
US. As a founding member of the EU,
Germany has maintained a close
post-war relationship with France.
Following reunification Germany has
sought to strengthen its relations with
Eastern Europe and Russia. Particular
emphasis has been placed on fostering
GermanyÆs relationship with Poland.
After re-unification, Germany signed a
treaty with Poland recognising its
external borders.
GermanyÆs relations with the UK
The British community in Germany is
approximately 110,000. The British
Embassy in Berlin runs tours of the
building for organised groups
(pre-booking essential).
UK representation to Germany
German representation in the UK
Trade and Investment with the UK
Germany is the UKÆs second largest
export market world-wide and the
largest in Europe. Exports to Germany
in 2002 totalled ú21bn, with UK
imports from Germany totalling
ú30.2bn. The UK is GermanyÆs fourth
largest supplier with a 6.4% market
share. UK export success in Germany
covers a broad field, including
machinery, vehicles, oil, aircraft and
chemicals. Both countries are also
major investors in each other.
Meanwhile, the UK is the third largest
export market for German goods,
attracting 8.4% of total German
exports.
Flags Of The World: Federal Republic of Germany
privacy policy
disclaimer
credits
