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 established a mechanism for ending the use of nuclear power over the next 15 years;
• 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:

15.4% (male 6,568,699; female 6,227,148)

15-64 years:

67.6% (male 28,606,964; female 27,695,539)

65 years and over:

17% (male 5,546,140; female 8,607,361) (2002 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:

0.64 male(s)/female

total population:

0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

total population:

77.78 years

female:

81.09 years (2002 est.)

male:

74.64 years

noun:

German(s)

adjective:

German

conventional long form:

Federal Republic of Germany

conventional short form:

Germany

local short form:

Deutschland

former:

German Empire, German Republic, German Reich

local long form:

Bundesrepublik 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)

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 state 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 22 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006)

head of government:

Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (since 27 October 1998)

cabinet:

Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor

election results:

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

• Alliance '90/Greens [Angelika BEER and Reinhard BUETIKOFER];
• Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL];
• Christian Social Union or CSU [Edmund STOIBER, chairman];
• Free Democratic Party or FDP [Guido WESTERWELLE, chairman];
• the Greens [leader NA];
• Party of Democratic Socialism or PDS [Gabriele ZIMMER];
• Social Democratic Party or SPD [Gerhard SCHROEDER, chairman]

AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

chief of mission:

Ambassador Wolfgang Friedrich ISCHINGER

consulate(s) general:

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

FAX:

[1] (202) 298-4249

telephone:

[1] (202) 298-8140

chancery:

4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007

chief of mission:

Ambassador Daniel R. COATS

embassy:

Neustaedtische Kirchstrasse 4-5, 10117 Berlin; note - a new embassy will be built near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

mailing address:

PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE 09265

telephone:

[49] (030) 8305-0

FAX:

[49] (030) 238-6290

consulate(s) general:

Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich

lowest 10%:

4%

highest 10%:

25% (1997)

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

• euros per US dollar - 1.1324 (January 2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999);
• deutsche marks per US dollar - 1.69 (January 1999), 1.7597 (1998), 1.7341 (1997)

general assessment:

• 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, dating back to World War II, 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, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to many foreign countries

international:

Germany's international service is excellent worldwide, consisting of extensive land and undersea cable facilities as well as earth stations in the INMARSAT, INTELSAT, EUTELSAT, and INTERSPUTNIK satellite systems (2001)

total:

44,000 km (including at least 20,300 km electrified); most routes are double- or multiple-track

note: since privatization in 1994, Deutsche Bahn AG (DBAG) no longer publishes details of the track it owns; in addition to the DBAG system there are 102 privately owned railway companies which own approximately 3,000 to 4,000 km of track (2001 est.)

total:

656,140 km

paved:

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

unpaved:

5,249 km (all-weather) (1998 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