Germany

• temperate and marine;
• cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers;
• occasional warm, tropical foehn wind;
• high relative humidity

current issues:

• emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries and lead emissions from vehicle exhausts (the result of continued use of leaded fuels) contribute to air pollution;
• acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests;
• heavy pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany

natural hazards:

NA

international agreements:

• party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands;
• signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Desertification, Tropical Timber 94

0-14 years:

16.15% (male 6,928,750; female 6,563,026)

15-64 years:

68.52% (male 29,339,780; female 27,902,549)

65 years and over:

15.33% (male 4,658,014; female 8,143,996) (July 1996 est.)

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.57 male(s)/female

all ages:

0.96 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

total population:

75.95 years

male:

72.8 years

female:

79.27 years (1996 est.)

noun:

German(s)

adjective:

German

conventional long form:

Federal Republic of Germany

conventional short form:

Germany

local long form:

Bundesrepublik Deutschland

local short form:

Deutschland

• 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 power rights formally relinquished 15 March 1991

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

chief of state:

President Roman HERZOG (since 1 July 1994) was elected by the Federal Convention including members of the Bundestag and an equal number of members elected by the Land Parliaments

head of government:

Chancellor Dr. Helmut KOHL (since 4 October 1982) was elected by an absolute majority of the Bundestag

cabinet:

Cabinet was appointed by the president upon the proposal of the chancellor

• election last held 16 October 1994 (next to be held by NA 1998);
• results - CDU 34.2%, SPD 36.4%, Alliance 90/Greens 7.3%, CSU 7.3%, FDP 6.9%, PDS 4.4%, Republicans 1.9%;
• seats - (usually 656 total, but 672 for the 1994 term) CDU 244, SPD 252, Alliance 90/Greens 49, CSU 50, FDP 47, PDS 30;
• elected by direct popular vote under a system combining direct and proportional representation;
• a party must win 5% of the national vote or three direct mandates to gain representation

• State governments are directly represented by votes;
• each has 3 to 6 votes depending on size and are required to vote as a block;
• current composition: votes - (68 total) SPD-led states 41, CDU-led states 27

• Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Helmut KOHL, chairman;
• Christian Social Union (CSU), Theo WAIGEL, chairman;
• Free Democratic Party (FDP), Wolfgang GERHARDT, chairman;
• Social Democratic Party (SPD), Oskar LA FONTAINE, chairman;
• Alliance '90/Greens, Krista SAGER, Juergen TRITTIN, cochairpersons;
• Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), Lothar BISKY, chairman;
• Republikaner, Rolf SCHLIERER, chairman;
• National Democratic Party (NPD), Ellen-Doris SCHERER;
• Communist Party (DKP), Rolf PRIEMER and Heinz STEHR, cochairpersons

AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EBRD, ECE, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMIR, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNOMIG, UNPROFOR, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

chief of mission:

Ambassador Juergen CHROBOG

chancery:

4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone:

[1] (202) 298-4000

chief of mission:

Ambassador Charles E. REDMAN

embassy:

Deichmanns Aue 29, 53170 Bonn

mailing address:

APO AE 09080, PSC 117, Bonn

telephone:

[49] (228) 3391

western:

2% (1995 est.)

eastern:

2% (1995 est.)

western:

8.7% (December 1995)

eastern:

14.9% (December 1995)

western:

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

eastern:

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

western:

2.8% (1994)

eastern:

NA%

western:

potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbage; cattle, pigs, poultry

eastern:

wheat, rye, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, fruit; pork, beef, chicken, milk, hides

• source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors;
• transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and Latin American cocaine for West European markets

total:

43,966 km

standard gauge:

• 43,531 km 1.435-m;
• 40,355 km are owned by Deutsche Bahn AG (DB);
• 17,015 km of the DB system are electrified and 16,941 km are double- or more-tracked

narrow gauge:

• 389 km 1.000-m gauge (DB operates 146 km of 1.000-m gauge);
• 7 km 0.900-m gauge;
• 39 km 0.750-m gauge

note: in addition to the DB system there are 54 privately-owned industrial or excursion railways, ranging in route length from 2 km to 632 km, with a total length of 3,465 km (1995)

total:

636,282 km

paved:

531,018 km (including 10,955 km of expressways)

unpaved:

105,264 km (1991 est.)

western:

• 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 North Sea

eastern:

2,319 km (1988)

total:

452 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,054,327 GRT/6,367,036 DWT

ships by type:

bulk 6, cargo 193, chemical tanker 15, combination bulk 4, combination ore/oil 5, container 166, liquefied gas tanker 12, multifunction large-load carrier 6, oil tanker 11, passenger 3, railcar carrier 3, refrigerated cargo 7, roll-on/roll-off cargo 14, short-sea passenger 7 (1995 est.)

• 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 is being rapidly modernized and integrated with that of the western part

domestic:

• the region which was formerly West 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 and includes roaming service to many foreign countries;
• since the reunification of Germany, the telephone system of the eastern region has been upgraded and enjoys many of the advantages of the national system

international:

• satellite earth stations - 14 Intelsat (12 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean), 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), 2 Intersputnik (1 Atlantic Ocean region and 1 Indian Ocean region);
• 6 submarine cable connections;
• 2 HF radiotelephone communication centers;
• tropospheric scatter links

western:

AM 80, FM 470, shortwave 0

eastern:

AM 23, FM 17, shortwave 0

males age 15-49:

21,540,919

males fit for military service:

18,537,347

males reach military age (18) annually:

449,292 (1996 est.)