Germany

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

fresh water lake(s):

Lake Constance (shared with Switzerland and Austria) - 540 sq km

salt water lake(s):

Stettiner Haff/Zalew Szczecinski (shared with Poland) - 900 sq km

• Donau (Danube) river source (shared with Austria, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km;
• Elbe river mouth (shared with Czechia [s]) - 1,252 km;
• Rhein (Rhine) (shared with Switzerland [s], France, and Netherlands [m]) - 1,233 km

note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

• strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea;
• most major rivers in Germany - the Rhine, Weser, Oder, Elbe - flow northward;
• the Danube, which originates in the Black Forest, flows eastward

noun:

German(s)

adjective:

German

• German (official);
• note - Danish, Frisian, Sorbian, and Romani are official minority languages;
• Low German, Danish, North Frisian, Sater Frisian, Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbian, and Romani are recognized as regional languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

major-language sample(s):

Das World Factbook, die unverzichtbare Quelle für grundlegende Informationen. (German); The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

total:

46.7 years (2023 est.)

male:

45.4 years

female:

48.2 years

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.81 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

total:

3.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male:

3.5 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

2.8 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

81.7 years (2023 est.)

male:

79.4 years

female:

84.2 years

total:

10.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

5.57 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

3.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

1.97 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

22% (2020 est.)

male:

24.1% (2020 est.)

female:

19.9% (2020 est.)

total population:

NA

male:

NA

female:

NA

• 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 by 2022;
• government working to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive

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

urban population:

77.8% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

0.13% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

particulate matter emissions:

10.73 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions:

727.97 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions:

49.92 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal solid waste generated annually:

51.046 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually:

24,415,302 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled:

47.8% (2015 est.)

fresh water lake(s):

Lake Constance (shared with Switzerland and Austria) - 540 sq km

salt water lake(s):

Stettiner Haff/Zalew Szczecinski (shared with Poland) - 900 sq km

• Donau (Danube) river source (shared with Austria, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km;
• Elbe river mouth (shared with Czechia [s]) - 1,252 km;
• Rhein (Rhine) (shared with Switzerland [s], France, and Netherlands [m]) - 1,233 km

note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

municipal:

10.4 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

17.68 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

400 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

conventional long form:

Federal Republic of Germany

conventional short form:

Germany

local long form:

Bundesrepublik Deutschland

local short form:

Deutschland

former:

German Reich

etymology:

• the Gauls (Celts) of Western Europe may have referred to the newly arriving Germanic tribes who settled in neighboring areas east of the Rhine during the first centuries B.C. as "Germani," a term the Romans adopted as "Germania";
• the native designation "Deutsch" comes from the Old High German "diutisc" meaning "of the people"

name:

Berlin

geographic coordinates:

52 31 N, 13 24 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology:

the origin of the name is unclear but may be related to the old West Slavic (Polabian) word "berl" or "birl," meaning "swamp"

• 16 states (Laender, singular - Land);
• Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern (Bavaria), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen (Hesse), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarland, Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen (Thuringia);
• note - Bayern, Sachsen, and Thueringen refer to themselves as free states (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat), while Bremen calls itself a Free Hanseatic City (Freie Hansestadt) and Hamburg considers itself a Free and Hanseatic City (Freie und Hansestadt)

• 18 January 1871 (establishment of the German Empire);
• divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and France) in 1945 following World War II;
• Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) proclaimed on 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zones;
• German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed on 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone;
• West Germany and East Germany unified on 3 October 1990;
• all four powers formally relinquished rights on 15 March 1991;
• notable earlier dates: 10 August 843 (Eastern Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire);
• 2 February 962 (crowning of OTTO I, recognized as the first Holy Roman Emperor)

history:

previous 1919 (Weimar Constitution); latest drafted 10-23 August 1948, approved 12 May 1949, promulgated 23 May 1949, entered into force 24 May 1949

amendments:

• proposed by Parliament;
• passage and enactment into law require two-thirds majority vote by both the Bundesrat (upper house) and the Bundestag (lower house) of Parliament;
• articles including those on basic human rights and freedoms cannot be amended;
• amended many times, last in 2020;
• note - in early 2021, the German federal government introduced a bill to incorporate children’s rights into the constitution

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a German citizen or a resident alien who has lived in Germany at least 8 years

dual citizenship recognized:

yes, but requires prior permission from government

residency requirement for naturalization:

8 years

• 18 years of age;
• universal;
• age 16 for some state and municipal elections

chief of state:

President Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (since 19 March 2017)

head of government:

Chancellor Olaf SCHOLZ (since 8 December 2021)

cabinet:

Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) recommended by the chancellor, appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president indirectly elected by a Federal Convention consisting of all members of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and an equivalent number of delegates indirectly elected by the state parliaments;
• president serves a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 13 February 2022 (next to be held in February 2027);
• following the most recent Federal Parliament election, the party or coalition with the most representatives usually elects the chancellor who is appointed by the president to serve a renewable 4-year term;
• Federal Parliament vote for chancellor last held on 8 December 2021 (next to be held after the Bundestag election in 2025)

election results:

• 2017: Frank-Walter STEINMEIER reelected president;
• Federal Convention vote count - Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (SPD) 1,045, Max OTTE (CDU) 140, Gerhard TRABERT (The Left) 96, Stefanie GEBAUER (Free Voters) 58, abstentions 86;
• Olaf SCHOLZ (SPD) elected chancellor;
• Federal Parliament vote - 395 to 303

; 2012: Joachim GAUCK elected president; Federal Convention vote count - Joachim GAUCK (Independent) 911, Beate KLARSFELD (The Left) 126, Olaf ROSE 3

highest court(s):

• Federal Court of Justice (court consists of 127 judges, including the court president, vice presidents, presiding judges, other judges and organized into 25 Senates subdivided into 12 civil panels, 5 criminal panels, and 8 special panels);
• Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (consists of 2 Senates each subdivided into 3 chambers, each with a chairman and 8 members)

judge selection and term of office:

• Federal Court of Justice judges selected by the Judges Election Committee, which consists of the Secretaries of Justice from each of the 16 federated states and 16 members appointed by the Federal Parliament;
• judges appointed by the president;
• judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65;
• Federal Constitutional Court judges - one-half elected by the House of Representatives and one-half by the Senate;
• judges appointed for 12-year terms with mandatory retirement at age 68

subordinate courts:

• Federal Administrative Court;
• Federal Finance Court;
• Federal Labor Court;
• Federal Social Court;
• each of the 16 federated states or Land has its own constitutional court and a hierarchy of ordinary (civil, criminal, family) and specialized (administrative, finance, labor, social) courts;
• two English-speaking commercial courts opened in late 2020 in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg - English-speaking Stuttgart Commercial Court and English-speaking Mannheim Commercial Court

• Alliance '90/Greens [Ricarda LANG and Omid NOURIPOUR]
• Alternative for Germany or AfD [Alice WEIDEL and Tino CHRUPALLA]
• Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Friedrich MERZ]
• Christian Social Union or CSU [Markus SOEDER]
• Free Democratic Party or FDP [Christian LINDNER]
• Free Voters [Hubert AIWANGER]
• The Left or Die Linke [Janine WISSLER and Martin SCHIRDEWAN]
• Social Democratic Party or SPD [Saskia ESKEN and Lars KLINGBEIL]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Andreas MICHAELIS (since 15 September 2023)

chancery:

4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone:

[1] (202) 298-4000

FAX:

[1] (202) 298-4261

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://www.germany.info/us-en

consulate(s) general:

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

• three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold;
• these colors have played an important role in German history and can be traced back to the medieval banner of the Holy Roman Emperor - a black eagle with red claws and beak on a gold field

total World Heritage Sites:

52 (49 cultural, 3 natural)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

• Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin (c);
• Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin (c);
• Speyer Cathedral (c);
• Upper Middle Rhine Valley (c);
• Aachen Cathedral (c);
• Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau, and Bernau (c);
• Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura (c);
• Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar, and Upper Harz Water Management System (c);
• Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter, and Church of Our Lady in Trier (c);
• Hanseatic City of Lübeck (c);
• Old Town of Regensburg (c);
• Messel Pit Fossil Site (n)

• leading EU service-based export-driven economy;
• highly skilled and educated labor force;
• fairly fiscally conservative;
• energy-related economic disruptions due to Russian gas cessations;
• increased defense spending and rising debts

Fitch rating:

AAA (1994)

Moody's rating:

Aaa (1986)

Standard & Poors rating: AAA (1983)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained. Credit ratings prior to 1989 refer to West Germany.

total:

7% (2021 est.)

male:

7.2%

female:

6.6%

on food:

10.7% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco:

3.2% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.6%

highest 10%:

24% (2000)

Number of operational nuclear reactors:

0

Number of nuclear reactors under construction:

0

Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors:

0GW

Percent of total electricity production:

0%

Percent of total energy produced:

0%

Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down:

33

production:

114.86 million metric tons (2020 est.)

consumption:

145.379 million metric tons (2020 est.)

exports:

2.317 million metric tons (2020 est.)

imports:

31.503 million metric tons (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

35.9 billion metric tons (2019 est.)

total petroleum production:

135,000 bbl/day (2021 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

2,346,500 bbl/day (2019 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate exports:

0 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate imports:

1,720,600 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

115.2 million barrels (2021 est.)

production:

5.129 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

consumption:

8.755 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

exports:

0 cubic meters (2020 est.)

imports:

83.12 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

23.39 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

general assessment:

• with one of Europe’s largest telecom markets, Germany hosts a number of significant operators which offer effective competition in the mobile and broadband sectors;
• the German mobile market is driven by mobile data, with the number of mobile broadband subscribers having increased rapidly in recent years;
• with LTE now effectively universally available, considerable progress has recently been made in building out 5G networks (2022)

domestic:

46 per 100 for fixed-line and 128 per 100 for mobile-cellular subscriptions (2021)

international:

• country code - 49;
• landing points for SeaMeWe-3, TAT-14, AC-1, CONTACT-3, Fehmarn Balt, C-Lion1, GC1, GlobalConnect-KPN, and Germany-Denmark 2 & 3 - submarine cables to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia;
• as well as earth stations in the Inmarsat, Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems (2019)

• a mixture of publicly operated and privately owned TV and radio stations;
• 70 national and regional public broadcasters compete with nearly 400 privately owned national and regional TV stations;
• more than 90% of households have cable or satellite TV;
• hundreds of radio stations including multiple national radio networks, regional radio networks, and a large number of local radio stations

number of registered air carriers:

20 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 1,113

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

109,796,202 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

7,969,860,000 (2018) mt-km

total:

830,000 km (2022) 830,000 km

paved:

830,000 km (2022) (includes 13,155 km of expressways)

note: includes local roads

major seaport(s):

Baltic Sea:

Kiel, Rostock

North Sea:

Bremerhaven, Brunsbuttel, Emden, Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven

oil terminal(s):

Brunsbuttel Canal terminals

container port(s) (TEUs):

Bremen/Bremerhaven (5,018,900), Hamburg (8,715,000) (2021)

LNG terminal(s) (import):

• Hamburg;
• Brunsbuettel (FSRU);
• Lubmin (FSRU);
• Wilhelmshaven (FSRU)

river port(s):

• Bremen (Weser);
• Bremerhaven (Geeste);
• Duisburg, Karlsruhe, Neuss-Dusseldorf (Rhine);
• Lubeck (Wakenitz);
• Brunsbuttel, Hamburg (Elbe)