Branches:
Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops), National Guard; CIS
Forces (Ground, Navy, Air, and Air Defense)
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, NA fit for military service; NA reach military age (18)
annually
Defense expenditures:
$NA, NA% of GNP
:Germany Geography
Total area:
356,910 km2
Land area:
349,520 km2; comprises the formerly separate Federal Republic of Germany,
the German Democratic Republic, and Berlin following formal unification on 3
October 1990
Comparative area:
slightly smaller than Montana
Land boundaries:
3,790 km; Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czechoslovakia 815 km, Denmark 68
km, France 451 km, Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km,
Switzerland 334 km
Coastline:
2,389 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf:
200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone:
200 nm
Territorial sea:
North Sea and Schleswig-Holstein coast of Baltic Sea - 3 nm (extends, at one
point, to 16 nm in the Helgolander Bucht); remainder of Baltic Sea - 12 nm
Disputes:
the boundaries of Germany were set by the Treaty on the Final Settlement
With Respect to Germany signed 12 September 1990 in Moscow by the Federal
Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, France, the United
Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union; this Treaty entered into
force on 15 March 1991; a subsequent Treaty between Germany and Poland,
reaffirming the German-Polish boundary, was signed on 14 November 1990 and
took effect on 16 January 1992
Climate:
temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional
warm, tropical foehn wind; high relative humidity
Terrain:
lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south
Natural resources:
iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt,
nickel
Land use:
arable land 34%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 16%; forest and
woodland 30%; other 19%; includes irrigated 1%
Environment:
air and water pollution; groundwater, lakes, and air quality in eastern
Germany are especially bad; significant deforestation in the eastern
mountains caused by air pollution and acid rain
Note:
strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the
Baltic Sea
:Germany People
Population:
80,387,283 (July 1992), growth rate 0.5% (1992)
Birth rate:
11 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
11 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
5 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
7 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
73 years male, 79 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
1.4 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - German(s); adjective - German
Ethnic divisions:
primarily German; small Danish and Slavic minorities
Religions:
Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 37%, unaffiliated or other 18%
Languages:
German
Literacy:
99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1970 est.)
Labor force:
36,750,000; industry 41%, agriculture 6%, other 53% (1987)
Organized labor:
47% of labor force (1986 est.)
:Germany Government
Long-form name:
Federal Republic of Germany
Type:
federal republic
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
Administrative divisions:
16 states (lander, singular - land); Baden-Wurttemberg, Bayern, Berlin,
Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen,
Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt,
Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringen
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
Constitution:
23 May 1949, provisional constitution known as Basic Law
Legal system:
civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative
acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
National holiday:
German Unity Day, 3 October (1990)
Executive branch:
president, chancellor, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
bicameral parliament (no official name for the two chambers as a whole)
consists of an upper chamber or Federal Council (Bundesrat) and a lower
chamber or Federal Diet (Bundestag)
Judicial branch:
Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht)
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Dr. Richard von WEIZSACKER (since 1 July 1984)
Head of Government:
Chancellor Dr. Helmut KOHL (since 4 October 1982)
*** No entry for this item ***
Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Helmut KOHL, chairman; Christian Social
Union (CSU), Theo WAIGEL; Free Democratic Party (FDP), Otto Count
LAMBSDORFF, chairman; Social Democratic Party (SPD), Bjoern ENGHOLM, -
chairman; - Green - Party - Ludger VOLMER, Christine WEISKE, co-chairmen
(after the 2 December 1990 election the East and West German Green Parties
united); Alliance 90 united to form one party in September 1991, Petra
MORAWE, chairwoman; Republikaner, Franz SCHOENHUBER; National Democratic
Party (NPD), Walter BACHMANN; Communist Party (DKP), Rolf PRIEMER
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
:Germany Government
Elections:
Federal Diet:
last held 2 December 1990 (next to be held October 1994); results - CDU
36.7%, SPD 33.5%, FDP 11.0%, CSU 7.1%, Green Party (West Germany) 3.9%, PDS
2.4%, Republikaner 2.1%, Alliance 90/Green Party (East Germany) 1.2%, other
2.1%; seats - (662 total, 656 statutory with special rules to allow for
slight expansion) CDU 268, SPD 239, FDP 79, CSU 51, PDS 17, Alliance
90/Green Party (East Germany) 8; note - special rules for this election
allowed former East German parties to win seats if they received at least 5%
of vote in eastern Germany
*** No entry for this item ***
Communists:
West - about 40,000 members and supporters; East - about 200,000 party
members (December 1991)
Other political or pressure groups:
expellee, refugee, and veterans groups
Member of:
AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, BDEAC, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, EC,
ECE, EIB, ESA, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NATO, NEA, OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UNHCR, UPU, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Dr. Immo STABREIT will become Ambassador in late summer/early
fall 1992; Chancery at 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007;
telephone (202) 298-4000; there are German Consulates General in Atlanta,
Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and
New York, and Consulates in Miami and New Orleans
US:
Ambassador Robert M. KIMMITT; Embassy at Deichmanns Avenue, 5300 Bonn 2
(mailing address is APO AE 09080); telephone [49] (228) 3391; there is a US
Branch Office in Berlin and US Consulates General in Frankfurt, Hamburg,
Leipzig, Munich, and Stuttgart
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and yellow
:Germany Economy