Germany

federal republic

Germany as the 1990 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 73 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

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.

CapitalBonn

Area248,580 km2

Populationas each edition published it

62.17 million July 1990 · 84.01m in 2025

Population growth% a year

Not in this edition 0.4% in 1993

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 41.3 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

Not in this edition 76 yrs in 1993

Fertility ratechildren per woman

1.4 children per woman 1990 · 1.59 in 2025

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

6 deaths per 1,000 live births 1990 · 3 in 2025

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

Not in this edition $17,400 in 1993

GDP real growth% a year

Not in this edition 1.5% in 1993

Geography

14 fields

Land useshare of 248,580 km2

arable land 30%permanent crops 1%meadows and pastures 19%forest and woodland 30%other 20%includes 1% irrigated

Total area

248,580km2

land area: 244,280 km2; includes West BerlinComparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon

Coastline

1,488km

Territorial sea: 3 nm (extends, at one point, to 16 nm in the Helgolander Bucht)

Land boundaries

4,256km total

Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czechoslovakia 356 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, GDR 1,381 km; Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Switzerland 334 km

Disputes

it is US policy that the final borders of Germany have not been established

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

Note

West Berlin is an exclave (about 116 km by air or 176 km by road from FRG)

People

14 fields

Population

62,168,200

(July 1990), growth rate 0.5% (1990)

Per 1,000 population(1990)

Birth

11Death

11Net migration

Religion

Roman Catholic 45%Protestant 44%other 11%

Literacy

99%

Labor force

27,790,000; 41.6% industry, 35.4% services and other, 18.2% trade and transport, 4.8% agriculture (1987)

Organized labor

9,300,000 total;
7,760,000 in German Trade Union Federation (DGB);
union membership constitutes about 40% of union-eligible labor force, 34% of total labor force, and 35% of wage and salary earners (1986)

Government

Federal republic

17 fields

National Assembly, 497 seats, elected 25 January 1987seats by party

(497 total, 22 are elected by the West Berlin House of Representatives and have limited voting rights) SPD 186CDU 174CSU 49FDP 46Green Party 42

Percent of vote

SPD 37.0%CDU 34.5%CSU 9.8%FDP 9.1%Green Party 8.2%others 1.4%

Long-form name

Federal Republic of Germany; abbreviated FRG

Administrative divisions

10 states (lander, singular--land); Baden-Wurttemberg, Bayern, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein

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

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament (Parlament) consists of an upper chamber or Federal Assembly (Bundesrat) and a lower chamber or National Assembly (Bundestag)

Judicial branch

Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) Chief of State--President Dr. Richard von WEIZSACKER (since 1 July 1984);
Head of Government--Chancellor Dr. Helmut KOHL (since 4 October 1982)

Political parties and leaders

Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Helmut Kohl;
Christian Social Union (CSU), Theo Waigel;
Free Democratic Party (FDP), Otto Lambsdorff;
Social Democratic Party (SPD), Hans-Jochen Vogel;
National Democratic Party (NPD), Martin Mussgnug;
Republikaner, Franz Schoerhuber;
Communist Party (DKP), Herbert Mies;
Green Party--Realos faction, Joschka Fischer;
Green Party--Fundis faction, Jutta Ditfurth

Suffrage

universal at age 18 National Assembly--last held 25 January 1987 (next to be held by 18 January 1991);
results--SPD 37.0%, CDU 34.5%, CSU 9.8%, FDP 9.1%, Green Party 8.2%, others 1.4%;
seats--(497 total, 22 are elected by the West Berlin House of Representatives and have limited voting rights) SPD 186, CDU 174, CSU 49, FDP 46, Green Party 42

Other political or pressure groups

expellee, refugee, and veterans groups

ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EIB, EMS, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IEA, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITC, ITU, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Jeurgen RUHFUS;
Chancery at 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington DC 20007;
telephone (202) 298-4000;
there are FRG 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 Vernon WALTERS;
Embassy at Deichmanns Avenue, 5300 Bonn 2 (mailing address is APO New York 09080);
telephone 49 (228) 3391;
there are US Consulates General in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Stuttgart

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and yellow; similar to the flag of the GDR which has a coat of arms in the center

Economy

West Germany, a major economic power and a leading exporter, has a highly urbanized and skilled population that enjoys excellent living standards and comprehensive social welfare benefits.

16 fields

GDP, purchasing power parity

$945.7billion

per capita $15,300; real growth rate 4.3% (1989 est.)

Inflation, consumer prices

3.0%

(1989)

Unemployment rate

8.4%

(1989)

External debt

$500million

(June 1988)

Exports $323.4 billion (f.o.b., 1988)commodities, where a share is given

agricultural products

4.9%raw materials

2.3%fuels

1.3%

also manufactures 86.6% (including machines and machine tools, chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products); partners--EC 52.7% (France 12%, Netherlands 9%, Italy 9%, UK 9%, Belgium-Luxembourg 7%), other West Europe 18%, US 10%, Eastern Europe 4%, OPEC 3% (1987)

Imports $250.6 billion (f.o.b., 1988)

manufactures

68.5%agricultural products

12.0%fuels

9.7%raw materials

7.1%

; partners--EC 52.7% (France 12%, Netherlands 11%, Italy 10%, UK 7%, Belgium-Luxembourg 7%), other West Europe 15%, US 6%, Japan 6%, Eastern Europe 5%, OPEC 3% (1987)

Budget

Revenues

$539 billionExpenditures

$563 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $11.5 billion (1988)

Overview

West Germany, a major economic power and a leading exporter, has a highly urbanized and skilled population that enjoys excellent living standards and comprehensive social welfare benefits. The FRG is poor in natural resources, coal being the most important mineral. The FRG's comparative advantage lies in the technologically advanced production stages.

Thus manufacturing and services dominate economic activity, and raw materials and semimanufactures constitute a large proportion of imports. In 1988 manufacturing accounted for 35% of GDP, with other sectors contributing lesser amounts. The major economic problem in 1989 is persistent unemployment of over 8%. The FRG is well poised to take advantage of the increasing economic integration of the European Community.

The dramatic opening of the boundary with East Germany in late 1989 poses new economic challenges that could tax even this powerful economy.

Industrial production

growth rate 3.3% (1988)

Electricity

(including West Berlin) 110,075,000 kW capacity; 452,390 million kWh produced, 7,420 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries

among world's largest producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, ships, vehicles, and machine tools; electronics, food and beverages

Agriculture

accounts for about 2% of GDP (including fishing and forestry);
diversified crop and livestock farming;
principal crops and livestock include potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbage, cattle, pigs, poultry;
net importer of food;
fish catch of 202,000 metric tons in 1987

Aid

donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $60.0 billion

Currency

deutsche mark (plural--marks); 1 deutsche mark (DM) = 100 pfennige

Exchange rates

deutsche marks (DM) per US$1--1.6918 (January 1990), 1.8800 (1989), 1.7562 (1988), 1.7974 (1987), 2.1715 (1986), 2.9440 (1985)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Airports, 466 total, 457 usable

permanent-surface runways

240runways over 3,659 m

3runways 2,440-3,659 m

41runways 1,220-2,439 m

Railroads

31,443 km total;
27,421 km government owned, 1.435-meter standard gauge (12,491 km double track, 11,501 km electrified);
4,022 km nongovernment owned, including 3,598 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (214 km electrified) and 424 km 1.000-meter gauge (186 km electrified)

Highways

466,305 km total;
169,568 km primary, includes 6,435 km autobahn, 32,460 km national highways (Bundesstrassen), 65,425 km state highways (Landesstrassen), 65,248 km county roads (Kreisstrassen);
296,737 km of secondary communal roads (Gemeindestrassen)

Inland waterways

5,222 km, of which almost 70% are usable by craft of 1,000-metric ton capacity or larger;
major rivers include the Rhine and Elbe;
Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea

Pipelines

crude oil, 2,343 km;
refined products, 3,446 km;
natural gas, 95,414 km

Ports

maritime--Bremerhaven, Brunsbuttel, Cuxhaven, Emden, Bremen, Hamburg, Kiel, Lubeck, Wilhelmshaven; inland--27 major

Merchant marine

422 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,436,568 GRT/4,297,520 DWT;
includes 2 passenger, 7 short-sea passenger, 218 cargo, 4 refrigerated cargo, 95 container, 20 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 railcar carrier, 7 barge carrier, 2 multifunction large-load carrier, 12 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 21 chemical tanker, 15 liquefied gas, 5 combination ore/oil, 13 combination bulk

Civil air

194 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

highly developed, modern telecommunication service to all parts of the country;
fully adequate in all respects;
40,300,000 telephones;
stations--87 AM, 205 (376 relays) FM, 300 (6,400 relays) TV;
6 submarine coaxial cables;
satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT (12 Atlantic Ocean, 2 Indian Ocean), EUTELSAT, and domestic systems

Defense Forces

Army, Navy, Air Force

3 fields

Military manpower

males 15-49

16,006,352fit for military service

13,883,536reach military age (18) annually

326,666

Defense expenditures

2.9%of GDP

(1989 est.)

Branches