Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% (1977 est.) male: NA% female: NA%
Government Germany
Country name: conventional long form: Federal Republic of Germany conventional short form: Germany local short form: Deutschland former: German Empire, German Republic, German Reich local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Government type: federal republic
Capital: Berlin
Administrative divisions: 16 states (Laender, singular - Land);
Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg,
Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen,
Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein,
Thueringen
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 powers formally relinquished rights 15 March 1991
National holiday: Unity Day, 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