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Germany Historical and Political Profile








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Germany Index

  • Germany-Uniforms, Ranks, and Insignia
  • Germany-Women in Society
  • Germany-The Economic Miracle and Beyond The Social Market Economy
  • Germany-Bismarck's Foreign Policy The Tariff Agreement of 1879 and Its Social Consequences
  • Germany-History Patterns of Development
  • Germany-The German Military in Two World Wars Prussia's Emergence as a Military Power
  • Germany-Historical Background Education
  • Germany-Free Democratic Party
  • Germany-Chapter 8 - Foreign Relations
  • Germany-Chapter 4 - Social Welfare, Health Care, and Education
  • Germany-Radio and Television
  • Germany-The French Revolution and Germany
  • Germany-The Smaller States
  • Germany-Defense Production and Export
  • Germany-Early History Military Tradition
  • Germany-Preface
  • Germany-Business and Industry Extraparty Political Forces
  • Germany-Chapter 3 - The Society and Its Environment
  • Germany-Germany and the European Monetary Union
  • Germany-The Environment Climate
  • Germany-Bundesrat
  • Germany-Early Developments Major Foreign Policy Goals and Strategies
  • Germany-Labor Labor and Codetermination
  • Germany-Workers
  • Germany-Current Education Issues and Outlook for the Future
  • Germany-Table A - English Equivalents of Selected German Place-Names
  • Germany-Chapter 5 - The Domestic Economy
  • Germany-Educational Policy Making and Administration
  • Germany-Government Expenditures and the National Debt Government Subsidies
  • Germany-Political Developments since Unification
  • Germany-Current Health Care Issues and Outlook for the Future Remuneration of Health Care Providers
  • Germany-Development of the Health Care System
  • Germany-Ethnic Minorities
  • Germany-Bismarck and Unification
  • Germany-Imperial Germany
  • Germany-Historical Background Population
  • Germany-Party of Democratic Socialism The Republikaner and the German People's Union
  • Germany-Eurocorps Western European Union
  • Germany-The Greens
  • Germany-Benefits Service Obligations
  • Germany-Political Parties and Democratization The Nuremberg Trials and Denazification
  • Germany-The Warsaw Pact and the National People's Army Planned Economy
  • Germany-The Judiciary
  • Germany-The Electoral System
  • Germany-Command and Control The Armed Forces
  • Germany-Education in the New L�nder Tertiary or Higher Education
  • Germany-Military Justice
  • Germany-Willy Brandt The Social Democratic-Free Democratic Coalition, 1969-82
  • Germany-Health Care Providers Health Insurance
  • Germany-Trade Philosophy and the Trade Balance Foreign Trade and Investment
  • Germany-Foreword
  • Germany-Introduction
  • Germany-Consolidation of the New State The Ulbricht Era, 1949-71
  • Germany-The Peace Movement and Internal Resistance Relations Between the Two Germanys
  • Germany-The Legislature The Chancellor and the Cabinet
  • Germany-The Counter-Reformation and Religious Tensions The Thirty Years' War, 1618-48
  • Germany-Forestry Agriculture
  • Germany-Training Air Force
  • Germany-Age-Gender Distribution Fertility
  • Germany-Telecommunications Transportation
  • Germany-Codetermination
  • Germany-Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
  • Germany-Germany in World Finance and in the Group of Seven Germany in the World Economy
  • Germany-Acknowledgments
  • Germany-Foreign Military Relations
  • Germany-International Military Missions
  • Germany-North German Lowland
  • Germany-The Peace of Augsburg Resistance to Lutheranism
  • Germany-Navy Franco-German Brigade and Eurocorps
  • Germany-Early History
  • Germany-Total Mobilization, Resistance, and the Holocaust The Outbreak of World War II
  • Germany-Transportation and Telecommunications
  • Germany-The President Government Institutions
  • Germany-The Empire under the Early Habsburgs The Hohenstaufen Dynasty, 1138-1254
  • Germany-The Deutsche Mark as an International Currency
  • Germany-Central German Uplands
  • Germany-Institutional Framework Foreign Policy Formulation
  • Germany-The Stresemann Era Problems of Parliamentary Politics
  • Germany-Austria and Prussia The Age of Enlightened Absolutism, 1648-1789
  • Germany-Tourism
  • Germany-The Birth of the Federal Republic of Germany The Creation of the Bizone
  • Germany-The "Socialist State of the German Nation" The Berlin Wall
  • Germany-The Associations
  • Germany-The Culture of German Management
  • Germany-Germany
  • Germany-The Bundesbank
  • Germany-Fishing
  • Germany-Industry
  • Germany-Social Assistance
  • Germany-Economic and Political Trends Toward Unification The German Confederation, 1815-66
  • Germany-Foreign Policy The Consolidation of Power
  • Germany-The Weimar Constitution The Weimar Republic, 1918-33
  • Germany-Salaried Employees
  • Germany-Immigration
  • Germany-Hitler and the Rise of National Socialism
  • Germany-The Third Reich, 1933-45
  • Germany-Geography
  • Germany-Society
  • Germany-The Education System Educational Finances
  • Germany-Social Structure Social Structure and Social Mobility
  • Germany-The Churches Labor Unions
  • Germany-The Christian Democratic/Christian Socialist-Free Democratic Coalition, 1983
  • Germany-The Honecker Era, 1971-89
  • Germany-Morale Reserves
  • Germany-Economy
  • Germany-The Carolingian Dynasty, 752-911 The Merovingian Dynasty, ca - 500-751
  • Germany-The Birth of the German Democratic Republic
  • Germany-The Salian Dynasty, 1024-1125 The Saxon Dynasty, 919-1024
  • Germany-The Restoration The Revolutions of 1848
  • Germany-Chapter 6 - International Economic Relations
  • Germany-The Economy and Population Growth Political Parties
  • Germany-Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union Political Parties
  • Germany-Citizens' Initiative Associations Agriculture
  • Germany-European Union
  • Germany-Social Democratic Party of Germany
  • Germany-World War I Foreign Policy in the Wilhelmine Era
  • Germany-Helmut Schmidt Ostpolitik
  • Germany-Free Churches
  • Germany-The Establishment of Occupation Zones Postwar Occupation and Division
  • Germany-Manufacturing
  • Germany
  • Germany-Chapter 1 - Historical Setting: Early History to 1945
  • Germany-Army
  • Germany-Population Distribution and Urbanization Mortality
  • Germany-Defense Budget
  • Germany-Integration of East German Armed Forces
  • Germany-Postwar Christianity Religion
  • Germany-Foreign Aid
  • Germany-International Investment in and by Germany
  • Germany-Land Police Agencies
  • Germany-United Nations Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
  • Germany
  • Germany
  • Germany-Personnel Policies Citizens in Uniform
  • Germany-Dissidence and Terrorist Activity
  • Germany-North Atlantic Treaty Organization International Cooperation
  • Germany-Unemployment Insurance
  • Germany-Islam Judaism
  • Germany-The New East German Constitution and the Question of Identity The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
  • Germany-The Peace of Westphalia Military Campaigns
  • Germany-The European Single Market Germany in the European Community
  • Germany-Energy and Natural Resources
  • Germany-The Financial System Germany
  • Germany-Unification and Its Aftermath
  • Germany-Opening of the Berlin Wall and Unification
  • Germany-The Last Days of East Germany
  • Germany
  • Germany-Creation of the Bundeswehr
  • Germany-Strategic Concerns and Military Missions
  • Germany-Incidence of Crime and Incarceration Criminal Justice
  • Germany-Martin Luther The Protestant Reformation
  • Germany-Banking and Its Role in the Economy
  • Germany-Land and Local Government
  • Germany-Domestic Influences on Foreign Policy
  • Germany-Newspapers The Mass Media
  • Germany-Chapter 2 - Historical Setting: 1945 to 1990
  • Germany-Marriage and Family
  • Germany-The Greens The Student Movement and Terrorism
  • Germany-Unification Postwar Developments
  • Germany-Federal Police Agencies Internal Security
  • Germany-Government and Politics
  • Germany-National Security
  • Germany-Provisions of the Social Welfare System
  • Germany
  • Germany-Topography Physical Setting
  • Germany-The Search for a New National Identity
  • Germany
  • Germany-Nonbank Financing
  • Germany-Other Services
  • Germany-Ethnic Germans
  • Germany
  • Germany-Table B - Selected Abbreviations
  • Germany-Senior Secondary Education
  • Germany-Germany in the European Monetary System Germany and the European Union
  • Germany-Bundestag
  • Germany-The Elite
  • Germany-Elementary and Primary Education
  • Germany-Structural and Technological Questions
  • Germany
  • Germany-Land and Local Governments The Bundeskartellamt
  • Germany
  • Germany-Roman Catholicism
  • Germany
  • Germany
  • Germany-Federalism
  • Germany-Defeat
  • Germany-The Chancellor
  • Germany -Country Profile
  • Germany-Current Social Welfare Issues and Outlook for the Future
  • Germany-National Health Insurance and Medical Care
  • Germany
  • Germany-Historical Development Social Insurance and Welfare Programs
  • Germany-Germany in the European Economy
  • Germany-Medieval Germany
  • BackgroundAs Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation (after Russia), Germany is 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. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern productivity and wages up to Western standards. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.
    LocationCentral Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
    Area(sq km)total: 357,022 sq km
    land: 348,672 sq km
    water: 8,350 sq km
    Geographic coordinates51 00 N, 9 00 E
    Land boundaries(km)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

    Coastline(km)2,389 km

    Climatetemperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind

    Elevation extremes(m)lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m
    highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m
    Natural resourcescoal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber, arable land
    Land use(%)arable land: 33.13%
    permanent crops: 0.6%
    other: 66.27% (2005)

    Irrigated land(sq km)4,850 sq km (2003)
    Total renewable water resources(cu km)188 cu km (2005)
    Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)total: 38.01 cu km/yr (12%/68%/20%)
    per capita: 460 cu m/yr (2001)
    Natural hazardsflooding
    Environment - current issuesemissions from coal-burning utilities and industries contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany; hazardous waste disposal; government established a mechanism for ending the use of nuclear power over the next 15 years; government working to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive
    Environment - international agreementsparty to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
    signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
    Geography - notestrategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea
    Population82,329,758 (July 2009 est.)
    Age structure(%)0-14 years: 13.7% (male 5,768,366/female 5,470,516)
    15-64 years: 66.1% (male 27,707,761/female 26,676,759)
    65 years and over: 20.3% (male 7,004,805/female 9,701,551) (2009 est.)
    Median age(years)total: 43.8 years
    male: 42.6 years
    female: 45.2 years (2009 est.)
    Population growth rate(%)-0.053% (2009 est.)
    Birth rate(births/1,000 population)8.18 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
    Death rate(deaths/1,000 population)10.9 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

    Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population)2.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
    Urbanization(%)urban population: 74% of total population (2008)
    rate of urbanization: 0.1% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
    Sex ratio(male(s)/female)at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
    under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
    15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
    65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
    total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
    Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births)total: 3.99 deaths/1,000 live births
    male: 4.41 deaths/1,000 live births
    female: 3.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

    Life expectancy at birth(years)total population: 79.26 years
    male: 76.26 years
    female: 82.42 years (2009 est.)

    Total fertility rate(children born/woman)1.41 children born/woman (2009 est.)
    Nationalitynoun: German(s)
    adjective: German
    Ethnic groups(%)German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish)

    Religions(%)Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%
    Languages(%)German

    Country nameconventional long form: Federal Republic of Germany
    conventional short form: Germany
    local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
    local short form: Deutschland
    former: German Empire, German Republic, German Reich
    Government typefederal republic
    Capitalname: Berlin
    geographic coordinates: 52 31 N, 13 24 E
    time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
    daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
    Administrative divisions16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wurttemberg, Bayern (Bavaria), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarland, Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringen (Thuringia); note - Bayern, Sachsen, and Thuringen refer to themselves as free states (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat)
    Constitution23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united Germany 3 October 1990

    Legal systemcivil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

    Suffrage18 years of age; universal
    Executive branchchief of state: President Horst KOEHLER (since 1 July 2004)
    head of government: Chancellor Angela MERKEL (since 22 November 2005)
    cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor
    elections: president elected for a five-year term (eligible for a second term) by a Federal Convention, including all members of the Federal Assembly and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments; election last held 23 May 2009 (next scheduled for 23 May 2014); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; Bundestag vote for Chancellor last held after 27 September 2009 (next to follow the legislative election to be held no later than 2013)
    election results: Horst KOEHLER reelected president; received 613 votes of the Federal Convention against 503 for Gesine SCHWAN; Angela MERKEL reelected chancellor; vote by Federal Assembly 323 to 285 with four abstentions

    Legislative branchbicameral legislature consists of the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments sit in the Council; each has three to six votes in proportion to population and are required to vote as a block) and the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (622 seats; members elected by popular vote for a four-year term under a system of personalized proportional representation; a party must win 5% of the national vote or three direct mandates to gain proportional representation and caucus recognition)
    elections: Bundestag - last held on 27 September 2009 (next to be held no later than autumn 2013); note - there are no elections for the Bundesrat; composition is determined by the composition of the state-level governments; the composition of the Bundesrat has the potential to change any time one of the 16 states holds an election
    election results: Bundestag - percent of vote by party - CDU/CSU 33.8%, SPD 23%, FDP 14.6%, Left 11.9%, Greens 10.7%, other 6%; seats by party - CDU/CSU 239, SPD 146, FDP 93, Left 76, Greens 68

    Judicial branchFederal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)

    Political pressure groups and leadersother: business associations and employers' organizations; religious, trade unions, immigrant, expellee, and veterans groups
    International organization participationADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-20, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
    Flag descriptionthree equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold; these colors have played an important role in German history and can be traced back to the medieval banner of the Holy Roman Emperor - a black eagle with red claws and beak on a gold field

    Economy - overviewThe German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - began to contract in the second quarter of 2008 as the strong euro, high oil prices, tighter credit markets, and slowing growth abroad took their toll on Germany's export-dependent economy. At just 1% in 2008, GDP growth is expected to be negative in 2009. Recent stimulus and lender relief efforts will make demands on Germany's federal budget and undercut plans to balance its budget by 2011. The reforms launched by the former government of Chancellor Gerhard SCHOEDER, deemed necessary due to chronically high unemployment and low average growth, led to strong growth in 2007, while unemployment in 2008 fell below 8%, a new post-reunification low. Germany's aging population, combined with high chronic unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions, but higher government revenues from the cyclical upturn in 2006-07 and a 3% rise in the value-added tax cut Germany's budget deficit to within the EU's 3% debt limit in 2007. The current government of Chancellor Angela MERKEL has initiated other reform measures, such as a gradual increase in the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67 and measures to increase female participation in the labor market. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy - where unemployment still exceeds 30% in some municipalities - continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $80 billion. While corporate restructuring and growing capital markets have set strong foundations to help Germany meet the longer-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization, Germany's export-oriented economy has proved a disadvantage in the context of weak global demand.
    GDP (purchasing power parity)$2.925 trillion (2008 est.)
    $2.887 trillion (2007 est.)
    $2.817 trillion (2006 est.)
    note: data are in 2008 US dollars
    GDP (official exchange rate)$3.673 trillion (2008 est.)
    GDP - real growth rate(%)1.3% (2008 est.)
    2.5% (2007 est.)
    3.2% (2006 est.)
    GDP - per capita (PPP)$35,500 (2008 est.)
    $35,000 (2007 est.)
    $34,200 (2006 est.)
    note: data are in 2008 US dollars
    GDP - composition by sector(%)agriculture: 0.9%
    industry: 30.1%
    services: 69.1% (2008 est.)
    Labor force43.6 million (2008 est.)

    Labor force - by occupation(%)agriculture: 2.4%
    industry: 29.7%
    services: 67.8% (2005)
    Unemployment rate(%)7.8% (2008 est.)
    9% (2007 est.)
    note: this is the International Labor Organization's estimated rate for international comparisons; Germany's Federal Employment Office estimated a seasonally adjusted rate of 10.8%
    Population below poverty line(%)11% (2001 est.)
    Household income or consumption by percentage share(%)lowest 10%: 3.2%
    highest 10%: 22.1% (2000)
    Distribution of family income - Gini index27 (2006)
    30 (1994)
    Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP)19.2% of GDP (2008 est.)
    Budgetrevenues: $1.591 trillion
    expenditures: $1.591 trillion (2008 est.)
    Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%)2.7% (2008 est.)
    2.3% (2007 est.)

    Stock of money$NAnote: see entry for the European Union for money supply in the euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 16 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money and quasi money circulating within their own borders
    Stock of quasi money$NA
    Stock of domestic credit$5.019 trillion (31 December 2008)
    $4.457 trillion (31 December 2007)
    Market value of publicly traded shares$NA (31 December 2008)
    $2.106 trillion (31 December 2007)
    $1.638 trillion (31 December 2006)
    Public debt(% of GDP)66% of GDP (2008 est.)
    65.8% of GDP (2004 est.)
    Agriculture - productspotatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry
    Industriesamong the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages, shipbuilding, textiles

    Industrial production growth rate(%)0.1% (2008 est.)

    Current account balance$243.6 billion (2008 est.)
    $263.1 billion (2007 est.)
    Exports$1.498 trillion (2008 est.)
    $1.35 trillion (2007 est.)

    Exports - commodities(%)machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles
    Exports - partners(%)France 9.7%, US 7.1%, UK 6.7%, Netherlands 6.6%, Italy 6.4%, Austria 5.4%, Belgium 5.2%, Spain 4.4%, Poland 4% (2008)
    Imports$1.232 trillion (2008 est.)
    $1.079 trillion (2007 est.)

    Imports - commodities(%)machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals
    Imports - partners(%)Netherlands 12.5%, France 8.3%, Belgium 7.5%, China 6.2%, Italy 5.7%, UK 5.4%, Austria 4.3%, Russia 4.2%, US 4.2% (2008)

    Reserves of foreign exchange and gold$138 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
    $136.2 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
    Debt - external$5.158 trillion (31 December 2008)
    $5.155 trillion (31 December 2007)

    Stock of direct foreign investment - at home$1.027 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)
    $1.002 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)
    Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad$1.407 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)
    $1.249 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)
    Exchange rateseuros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6827 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)

    Currency (code)euro (EUR)

    Telephones - main lines in use51.5 million (2008)
    Telephones - mobile cellular107.245 million (2008)
    Telephone systemgeneral assessment: Germany has one of the world's most technologically advanced telecommunications systems; as a result of intensive capital expenditures since reunification, the formerly backward system of the eastern part of the country, dating back to World War II, has been modernized and integrated with that of the western part
    domestic: Germany is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to many foreign countries
    international: country code - 49; Germany's international service is excellent worldwide, consisting of extensive land and undersea cable facilities as well as earth stations in the Inmarsat, Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems (2001)
    Internet country code.de
    Internet users61.973 million (2008)
    Airports550 (2009)
    Pipelines(km)gas 24,364 km; oil 3,379 km; refined products 3,843 km (2008)
    Roadways(km)total: 644,480 km
    paved: 644,480 km (includes 12,400 km of expressways)
    note: includes local roads (2006)

    Ports and terminalsBremen, Bremerhaven, Duisburg, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Lubeck, Rostock, Wilhemshaven
    Military branchesFederal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr): Army (Heer), Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm), Air Force (Luftwaffe), Joint Support Services (Streitkraeftbasis), Central Medical Service (Zentraler Sanitaetsdienst) (2009)
    Military service age and obligation(years of age)18 years of age (conscripts serve a 9-month tour of compulsory military service) (2004)
    Manpower available for military servicemales age 16-49: 19,594,118
    females age 16-49: 18,543,955 (2008 est.)
    Manpower fit for military servicemales age 16-49: 15,747,493
    females age 16-49: 14,899,416 (2009 est.)
    Manpower reaching militarily significant age annuallymale: 431,508
    female: 409,111 (2009 est.)
    Military expenditures(% of GDP)1.5% of GDP (2005 est.)
    Disputes - internationalnone

    Electricity - production(kWh)593.4 billion kWh (2007 est.)
    Electricity - production by source(%)fossil fuel: 61.8%
    hydro: 4.2%
    nuclear: 29.9%
    other: 4.1% (2001)
    Electricity - consumption(kWh)547.3 billion kWh (2007 est.)
    Electricity - exports(kWh)61.7 billion kWh (2008 est.)
    Electricity - imports(kWh)41.67 billion kWh (2008 est.)
    Oil - production(bbl/day)150,800 bbl/day (2008 est.)
    Oil - consumption(bbl/day)2.569 million bbl/day (2008 est.)
    Oil - exports(bbl/day)582,900 bbl/day (2008 est.)
    Oil - imports(bbl/day)2.777 million bbl/day (2008 est.)
    Economic aid - donorODA, $10.44 billion (2006)

    Oil - proved reserves(bbl)276 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
    Natural gas - production(cu m)16.36 billion cu m (2008 est.)
    Natural gas - consumption(cu m)95.79 billion cu m (2008 est.)
    Natural gas - exports(cu m)12.68 billion cu m (2008)
    Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m)175.6 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
    HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%)0.1% (2007 est.)
    HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS53,000 (2007 est.)
    HIV/AIDS - deathsfewer than 500 (2007 est.)
    Literacy(%)definition: age 15 and over can read and write
    total population: 99%
    male: 99%
    female: 99% (2003 est.)

    School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years)total: 16 years
    male: 16 years
    female: 16 years (2006)
    Education expenditures(% of GDP)4.6% of GDP (2004)








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