Germany

• temperate and marine;
• cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers;
• occasional warm foehn wind

• emissions 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 currently attempting to define mechanism for ending the use of nuclear power;
• government working to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive

0-14 years:

16% (male 6,679,930; female 6,333,110)

15-64 years:

68% (male 28,638,814; female 27,693,630)

65 years and over:

16% (male 5,133,121; female 8,318,803) (2000 est.)

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.62 male(s)/female

total population:

0.96 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

total population:

77.44 years

male:

74.3 years

female:

80.75 years (2000 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 powers formally relinquished rights 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 Johannes RAU (since 1 July 1999)

head of government:

Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (since 27 October 1998)

cabinet:

Cabinet or Bundeskanzler appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor

elections:

• president elected for a five-year term by a Federal Convention including all members of the Federal Assembly and an equal number of delegates elected by the Land Parliaments;
• election last held 23 May 1999 (next to be held 23 May 2004);
• chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term;
• election last held 27 September 1998 (next to be held in the fall of 2002)

election results:

• Johannes RAU elected president;
• percent of Federal Convention vote - 57.6%;
• Gerhard SCHROEDER elected chancellor;
• percent of Federal Assembly - 52.7%

• Alliance '90/Greens [Gunda ROESTEL and Antje RADCKE];
• Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL];
• Christian Social Union or CSU [Edmund STOIBER, chairman];
• Free Democratic Party or FDP [Wolfgang GERHARDT, chairman];
• Party of Democratic Socialism or PDS [Lothar BISKY, chairman];
• Social Democratic Party or SPD [Gerhard SCHROEDER, chairman]

AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

chief of mission:

Ambassador Juergen CHROBOG

chancery:

4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone:

[1] (202) 298-8141

FAX:

[1] (202) 298-4249

consulate(s) general:

Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco

consulate(s):

Wellington (America Samoa)

chief of mission:

Ambassador John C. KORNBLUM

embassy:

Neustaedtische Kirchstrasse 4-5, 10117 Berlin

mailing address:

PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE 09265

telephone:

[49] (30) 238-5174

FAX:

[49] (30) 238-6290

consulate(s) general:

Dusseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich

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

• 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 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 and includes roaming service to many foreign countries

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);
• 7 submarine cable connections;
• 2 HF radiotelephone communication centers;
• tropospheric scatter links

total:

40,826 km including at least 14,253 km electrified and 14,768 km double- or multiple-tracked (1998)

note: since privatization in 1994, Deutsche Bahn AG (DBAG) no longer publishes details of the tracks it owns; in addition to the DBAG system there are 102 privately owned railway companies which own an approximate 3,000 km to 4,000 km of the total tracks

total:

656,140 km

paved:

650,891 km (including 11,400 km of expressways)

unpaved:

5,249 km (all-weather) (1998 est.)

• 7,500 km (1999);
• major rivers include the Rhine and Elbe;
• Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic Sea and North Sea

total:

475 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,395,990 GRT/8,014,132 DWT

ships by type:

bulk 2, cargo 181, chemical tanker 12, container 239, liquified gas 2, multi-functional large load carrier 5, passenger 2, petroleum tanker 8, rail car carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 2, roll-on/roll-off 13, short-sea passenger 7 (1999 est.)

• source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors;
• transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and European-produced synthetic drugs [Country Listing] [ The World Factbook Home]