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About Germany and the capital, Berlin

The national flag of Germany	Borderline map of Germany
Flag description: three 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.	Border length: total: 3,714 km. Border countries (total: 9): Austria 801 km, Belgium 133 km, Czech Republic 704 km, Denmark 140 km, France 418 km, Luxembourg 128 km, Netherlands 575 km, Poland 467 km, Switzerland 348 km.

About Berlin

When Heinrich Heine arrived in Berlin in 1819, he exclaimed, “Isn’t the present splendid!” Were he to visit today, he might make the same remark. Visitors who come by plane to Berlin see a splendid panorama. Few metropolitan areas blessed with as many lakes, woodlands, and parks – these cover one-third of the city’s area, and small farms with fields and meadows still exist in the city limits.

Berlin today is an almost wholly modern city. Regrettably, Berlin is hardly the architectural gem that old-time visitors remember from the pre-Nazi era; it wasn’t rebuilt with the same kind of care lavished on Munich and Cologne. But despite its decades-long “quadripartite status,” it’s a vibrant city, always receptive to new ideas, an important economic and cultural center, and a leader in development and research. Because of its excellent facilities, it is a favored site for trade fairs, congresses, and conventions.

Berlin today is shedding its dark history and reinventing itself as Europe’s “capital of cool.” Suddenly, it’s hip to claim, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Nothing dramatizes the change more than the once dreary Potsdamer Platz, the so-called Times Square of Berlin. No longer a Cold War relic, it has blossomed into a showcase of modern architecture, dominated by the 25-story DaimlerChrysler building, whose viewing platform reached in only 20 seconds from the ground.

“No city on earth has gone through such a roller-coaster ride – from villain to victim, from horrors to heroics,” said Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to Germany. Today Berlin is the fourth-most-popular tourist destination in Europe, having surged past Madrid.

Did you know about Germany?

• In 1919 the German Empire became a republic. In 1949 it divided into East and West Germany, and in 1990 the two halves reunited.
• Germany’s rivers and canals carry as much freight as its busy highways.
• The most populous country in Europe aside from Russia, stretching from the North Sea to the Alps, Germany is Europe’s major economic and industrial power.

The Federal Republic of Germany is a large and prosperous country in central Europe which shares its borders with many other European countries and also has a stretch of coastline bordering the North and Baltic Seas. Lying off the coast, the North and East Frisian Islands and Helgoland in the North Sea belonging to Germany as do the Fehmarn and Rügen Islands in the Baltic.

There are three main topographical regions in Germany. These are a lowland plain in the north crossed by many rivers and canals, an upland plateau containing several mountain ranges dissected by river valleys in the center and a region containing still higher peaks in the south.

Germany’s most famous river, the mighty Rhine, is a major navigable waterway used for the transportation of considerable amounts of freight. Most of the country’s lakes are in the southern Alpine region. Forests and woodlands cover about 30 percent of the land area. They are home to several different species of wild animals and birds, including wild boar, wolf, fox, and deer.

Germany administered as 16 states, and one of these is the beautiful and ancient state of Bavaria, which attracts large numbers of tourists each year. Because of the nature of its historical development as many nation-states, Germany has many fine ancient towns and cities as well as newer industrial centers, including the capital, Berlin. Around 80 percent of the country’s population of 81 million live in cities or urban areas.

Oil and natural gas deposits found in the north and lignite (brown coal), rock salt, potash, iron, lead, zinc, and copper, along with small quantities of some other metallic ores, are also extracted and produced. A huge range of goods and materials produced in Germany, which has several large industrial areas. The country also has a considerable timber and wood products industry based on its extensive coniferous forests. Most coastal towns have their fishing fleet.

The most productive farmland is found in the northern plain while fruit growing is important in many areas with vineyards and orchards, for example, along the Rhine and its tributaries. Fine German wines produced from the grapes are famous throughout the world.

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Facts of Germany (DE)

Name conventional 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, etymology: the Gauls (Celts) of Western Europe may have referred to the newly arriving Germanic tribes who settled in neighboring areas east of the Rhine during the first centuries B.C. as “Germani,” a term the Romans adopted as “Germania”; the native designation “Deutsch” comes from the Old High German “diutisc” meaning “of the people”
Codes: ISO; DE, Internet; .de
Capital city: Berlin
Language(s): German (official language). Note: Danish, Frisian, Sorbian, and Romany are official language minority languages; Low German, Danish, North Frisian, Sater Frisian, Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbian, and Romany are recognized as regional languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
National holiday(s): Unity Day, 3 October (1990)
Motto: Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit (Unity and Justice and Freedom)
Currency: Euro (EUR), since 1999
GPS: 51 00 N, 9 00 E, Berlin; 52 31 N 13 24 E
Location: Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Geography note: strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea; most major rivers in Germany – the Rhine, Weser, Oder, Elbe – flow northward; the Danube, which originates in the German Alps, flows eastward
Land boundaries: Austria 801 km, Belgium 133 km, Czech Republic 704 km, Denmark 140 km, France 418 km, Luxembourg 128 km, Netherlands 575 km, Poland 467 km, Switzerland 348 km, total: 3,714 km
Maritime boundaries: N/A
Coastline: 2,389 km
Area: total: 357,022 sq km; land: 348,672 sq km, water: 8,350 sq km (total 137 846,52 mi2), three times the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Montana.
Roadways: total: 645,000 km, paved: 645,000 km (includes 12,800 km of expressways). Note: includes local roads (2010)
Waterways: 7,467 km (Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea) (2012)
Local time (capital): UTC+1, 6 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time
Note to the local time: Daylight saving time: +1hr begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Population in Germany: 82 293 457
Population in Berlin: 3 933 300 (including the metropolitan areas)
Urbanization: urban population: 75.3% of total population (2015)
Major urban areas population: BERLIN (capital) 3.563 million; Hamburg 1.831 million; Munich 1.438 million; Cologne 1.037 million (2015)
Population growth rate: -0.16% (2016 estimate)
Birth rate: 8.5 births / 1,000 population (2016 estimate)
Death rate: 11.6 deaths / 1,000 population (2016 estimate)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 12.83% (male 5,317,183 / female 5,040,664) 15-24 years: 10.22% (male 4,203,985 / female 4,044,789) 25-54 years: 40.96% (male 16,721,667 / female 16,345,911) 55-64 years: 14.23% (male 5,695,117 / female 5,788,493) 65 years and over: 21.76% (male 7,709,799 / female 9,855,184) (2016 estimate)
Median age: total: 46.8 years; male: 45.7 years, female: 47.9 years (2016 estimate)
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%
Government type: Federal parliamentary republic
Legal system: civil law system
National anthem: Deutschlandlied (Song of Germany)
Known national hazards: flooding
Major infectious diseases: N/A
Land use: agricultural land: 48%; arable land 34.1%; permanent crops 0.6%; permanent pasture 13.3%; forest: 31.8%; other: 20.2% (2011 estimate)
Agricultural products: potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; milk products; cattle, pigs, poultry
Industries: among the world’s largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, automobiles, food and beverages, shipbuilding, textiles
Export commodities: motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, metals, transport equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, rubber and plastic products
Main export partners: US 9.6%, France 8.6%, UK 7.5%, Netherlands 6.6%, China 6%, Italy 4.9%, Austria 4.8%, Poland 4.4%, Switzerland 4.2% (2015)
Import commodities: machinery, data processing equipment, vehicles, chemicals, oil and gas, metals, electric equipment, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, agricultural products
Main import partners: Netherlands 13.7%, France 7.6%, China 7.3%, Belgium 6%, Italy 5.2%, Poland 5%, US 4.7%, Czech Republic 4.5%, UK 4.2%, Austria 4.2%, Switzerland 4.2% (2015)

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