German Democratic Republic

Communist state

German Democratic Republic as the 1990 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 73 fields, the only edition to carry it.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalEast Berlin (not officially recognized by France, UK, and US, which together with the USSR have special rights and responsibilities in Berlin)
Area108,330 km2
1990

Every edition of German Democratic Republic

Corrected. Source files this entry under Germany. The 1990 edition has separate entries for East and West Germany. All corrections

Geography

14 fields

Land useshare of 108,330 km2

arable land 45%permanent crops 3%meadows and pastures 12%forest and woodland 28%other 12%includes 2% irrigated
Total area
108,330km2
land area: 105,980 km2Comparative area: slightly smaller than Tennessee
Coastline
901km
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Land boundaries
2,296km total
Czechoslovakia 459 km, Poland 456 km, FRG 1,381 km

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

Disputes

it is US policy that the final borders of Germany have not been established; the US is seeking to settle the property claims of US nationals against the GDR

Climate

  • temperate;
  • cloudy, cold winters with frequent rain and snow;
  • cool, wet summers

Terrain

mostly flat plain with hills and mountains in south

Natural resources

lignite, potash, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel

Environment

significant deforestation in mountains caused by air pollution and acid rain

Note

strategic location on North European Plain and near the entrance to the Baltic Sea; West Berlin is an enclave (about 116 km by air or 176 km by road from FRG)

People

14 fields
Population
16,307,170
(July 1990), growth rate - 0.6% (1990)

Per 1,000 population(1990)

Birth
12Death
12

Ethnic divisions

German 99.7%Slavic and other 0.3%

Religion

Protestant 47%Roman Catholic 7%unaffiliated or other 46%less than 5% of Protestants and about 25% of Roman Catholics active participants

Net migration rate

- 6 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate

7 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth

71 years male, 77 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate

1.7 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality

noun--German(s); adjective--German

Language

German

Labor force

8,960,000; 37.5% industry, 21.1% services, 10.8% agriculture and forestry, 10.3% commerce, 7.4% transport and communications, 6.6% construction, 3.1% handicrafts, 3.2% other (1987)

Organized labor

87.7% of labor force

Government

Communist state

17 fields

Legislature, 400 seatsseats by party

-(400 total, including 66 from East Berlin) Alliance for Germany--CDU 164DSU 25DA 4SPD 87BFD 21PDS 65Alliance '90 12DBD 9GP 8NDPD 2others 3

Long-form name

German Democratic Republic; abbreviated GDR

Type

Communist state

Capital

East Berlin (not officially recognized by France, UK, and US, which together with the USSR have special rights and responsibilities in Berlin)

Administrative divisions

  • 14 districts (bezirke, singular--bezirk);
  • Cottbus, Dresden, Erfurt, Frankfurt, Gera, Halle, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Neubrandenburg, Potsdam, Rostock, Schwerin, Suhl

Independence

self-government proclaimed 7 October 1949, with permission of the Soviet authorities

Constitution

9 April 1968, amended 7 October 1974

National holiday

Foundation of the German Democratic Republic, 7 October (1949)

Executive branch

Council of State abolished on 5 April 1990, post of president to be created; chairman of the Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch

unicameral People's Chamber (Volkskammer)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Leaders

  • Chief of State--Acting President of the People's Chamber Sabine BERGMANN-POHL (since 5 April 1990);
  • Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers Lothar DE MAIZIERE (since 12 April 1990);
  • Deputy Chairman Peter-Michael DIESTEL (since 16 April 1990) Alliance for Germany--Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Lothar de Maiziere, chairman;
  • German Social Union (DSU), Hans-Wilhelm Ebeling, chairman;
  • and Democratic Awakening (DA), Rainer Eppelmann, chairman;
  • Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Markus Meckel, acting chairman;
  • Party for Democratic Socialism (PDS, former Communist), Gregor Gysi, chairman;
  • League of Free Democrats (BFD)--Liberals, Rainer Ortleb, chairman;
  • Free Democratic Party (FDP), Bruno Menzel, chairman;
  • and German Forum Party (DFP), Juergen Schmieder, chairman;
  • Alliance '90--New Forum, Baerbel Bohley, Jens Reich, Sebastian Pflugbeil, spokespersons;
  • Democracy Now, Konrad Weiss, spokesperson;
  • and United Left, Herbert Misslitz, spokesperson;
  • Greens Party (GP), Vera Wollenberger, spokesperson;
  • Democratic Peasants' Party (DBD), Guenther Maleuda, chairman

Suffrage

  • universal at age 18 People's Chamber--last held on 18 March 1990 (next to be held March NA);
  • results--Alliance for Germany--CDU 40.9%, DSU 6.3%, DA 0.9%;
  • SPD 21.8;
  • BFD 5.3%;
  • SPD 21.8%;
  • PDS 16.3%;
  • Alliance '90 2.9%;
  • DBD 2.2%;
  • GP 2.0%;
  • NDPD 0.4%;
  • others 1.0%;
  • seats--(400 total, including 66 from East Berlin) Alliance for Germany--CDU 164, DSU 25, DA 4;
  • SPD 87;
  • BFD 21;
  • PDS 65;
  • Alliance '90 12, DBD 9;
  • GP 8;
  • NDPD 2;
  • others 3

Communists

500,000 to 700,000 party members (1990)

Member of

CEMA, IAEA, IBEC, ICES, ILO, IMO, IPU, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, Warsaw Pact, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation

  • Ambassador Dr. Gerhard HERDER;
  • Chancery at 1717 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036;
  • telephone (202) 232-3134;
  • US--Ambassador Richard C. BARKLEY;
  • Embassy at 1080 Berlin, Neustaedtische Kirchstrasse 4-5, East Berlin (mailing address is Box E, APO New York 09742);
  • telephone [37] (2) 220-2741

Flag

  • three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and yellow with the coat of arms centered;
  • the coat of arms contains, in yellow, a hammer and compass encircled by a wreath of grain with a black, red, and gold ribbon at the bottom;
  • similar to the flag of the FRG which does not have a coat of arms

Economy

The GDR is moving rapidly away from its centrally planned economy.

16 fields
External debt
$20.6billion
(1989)

Exports $30.7 billion (f.o.b., 1988)commodities, where a share is given

machinery and transport equipment
47%fuels and metals
16%consumer goods
16%chemical products and building materials
13%semimanufactured goods and processed foodstuffs
8%
; partners--USSR, Czechoslovakia, Poland, FRG, Hungary, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Romania

Imports $31.0 billion (f.o.b., 1988)

fuels and metals
40%machinery and transport equipment
29%chemical products and building materials
9%
; partners--CEMA countries 65%, non-Communist 33%, other 2%

Budget

Revenues
$123.5 billionExpenditures
$123.2 billion
expenditures, including capital expenditures of $33 billion (1986)

Overview

The GDR is moving rapidly away from its centrally planned economy. As the 1990s begin, economic integration with West Germany appears inevitable, beginning with the establishment of a common currency. The opening of the border with the FRG in late 1989 and the continuing emigration of hundreds of thousands of skilled workers had brought growth to a standstill by yearend 1989.

Features of the old economic regime that will quickly change: (a) the collectivization of 95% of East German farms; (b) state ownership of nearly all transportation facilities, industrial plants, foreign trade organizations, and financial institutions; (c) the 65% share in trade of the USSR and other CEMA countries;

and (d) the detailed control over economic details exercised by Party and state. Once integrated into the thriving West German economy, the area will have to stem the outflow of workers and renovate the obsolescent industrial base. After an initial readjustment period, living standards and quality of output will steadily rise toward West German levels.

GNP

$159.5 billion, per capita $9,679; real growth rate 1.2% (1989 est.)

Industrial production

growth rate 2.7% (1989 est.)

Electricity

(including East Berlin) 24,585,000 kW capacity; 122,500 million kWh produced, 7,390 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries

metal fabrication, chemicals, brown coal, shipbuilding, machine building, food and beverages, textiles, petroleum

Agriculture

  • accounts for about 10% of GNP (including fishing and forestry);
  • principal crops--wheat, rye, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, fruit;
  • livestock products include pork, beef, chicken, milk, hides and skins;
  • net importer of food;
  • fish catch of 193,600 metric tons in 1987

Aid

donor--$4.0 billion extended bilaterally to non-Communist less developed countries (1956-88)

Currency

GDR mark (plural--marks); 1 GDR mark (M) = 100 pfennige

Exchange rates

GDR marks (M) per US$1--3.01 (1988), 3.00 (1987), 3.30 (1986), 3.70 (1985), 3.64 (1984)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Merchant marine, 145 ships by type

passenger 1cargo 89refrigerated cargo 10roll-on/roll-off cargo 6container 16multifunction large-load carrier 1railcar carrier 2petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 1chemical tanker 2liquefied gas tanker 1bulk 16145 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,349,537 GRT/1,733,089 DWT

Airports, 190 total, 190 usable

permanent-surface runways
70runway over 3,659 m
1runways 2,440-3,659 m
45runways 1,220-2,439 m
40

Networkskm · (1986)

Railroads
14,005Inland waterways
2,319
Railroads: ; 13,730 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 275 km 1.000-meter or other narrow gauge, 3,830 (est.) km 1.435-meter double-track standard gauge; 2,754 km overhead electrified

Railroads

  • 14,005 km total;
  • 13,730 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 275 km 1.000-meter or other narrow gauge, 3,830 (est.) km 1.435-meter double-track standard gauge;
  • 2,754 km overhead electrified (1986)

Highways

  • 124,615 km total;
  • 47,214 km concrete, asphalt, stone block, of which 1,913 km are autobahn and limited access roads, 11,261 are trunk roads, and 34,040 are regional roads;
  • 77,401 municipal roads (1985)

Pipelines

crude oil, 1,301 km; refined products, 500 km; natural gas, 2,150 km (1988)

Ports

Rostock, Wismar, Stralsund, Sassnitz; river ports are East Berlin, Riesa, Magdeburg, and Eisenhuttenstadt on the Elbe or Oder Rivers and connecting canals

Civil air

45 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

  • stations--23 AM, 17 FM, 21 TV;
  • 15 Soviet TV relays;
  • 6,181,860 TV sets;
  • 6,700,000 radio receivers;
  • at least 1 satellite earth station

Defense Forces

National People's Army, Border Troops, Air and Air Defense Command, People's Navy

3 fields

Military manpower

eligible 15-49
7,944,305of the males 15-49, 3,243,970 are fit for military service
4,045,396reach military age (18) annually
91,579of the females 15-49, 3,117,847 are fit for military service
3,898,909reach military age (18) annually
85,892
Defense expenditures
16.2billion marks
5.4% of total budget (1989); note--conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading results

Branches

National People's Army, Border Troops, Air and Air Defense Command, People's Navy

Central Intelligence Agency. “German Democratic Republic.” The World Factbook 1990. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/german-democratic-republic.

How to cite