Germany

As Europe's largest economy and second most-populous nation (after Russia), Germany is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating world wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key western economic and security organizations, including the EC (now the EU) and NATO, while the communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War allowed German reunification to occur in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring eastern productivity and wages up to western standards. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.

Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark

51 00 N, 9 00 E

Europe

three times the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Montana

2,389 km

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

lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south

coal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber, arable land

5,065 sq km (2020)

Donau (Danube) river source (shared with Austria, Slovakia, 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

second most populous country in Europe; a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations, particularly in the far-western part of the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia

flooding

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

German 85.4%, Turkish 1.8%, Ukrainian 1.4%, Syrian 1.1%, Romanian 1%, Poland 1%, other/stateless/unspecified 8.3% (2022 est.)

Roman Catholic 24.8%, Protestant 22.6%, Muslim 3.7%, other 5.1%, none 43.8% (2022 est.)

-0.13% (2025 est.)

8.87 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

11.96 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

1.79 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

second most populous country in Europe; a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations, particularly in the far-western part of the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia

3.574 million BERLIN (capital), 1.788 million Hamburg, 1.576 million Munich, 1.144 million Cologne, 796,000 Frankfurt (2023)

29.9 years (2020 est.)

4 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

1.59 children born/woman (2025 est.)

0.77 (2025 est.)

4.53 physicians/1,000 population (2022)

7.8 beds/1,000 population (2020 est.)

22.3% (2016)

0.6% (2016 est.)

54.4% (2023 est.)

air pollution and acid rain from coal-burning utilities and industries; water pollution from raw sewage and industrial effluents; hazardous waste disposal

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

10.6 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

154 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

federal parliamentary republic

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)

civil law system

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

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

Alliance '90/Greens 
Alternative for Germany or AfD 
Christian Democratic Union or CDU 
Christian Social Union or CSU 
Free Democratic Party or FDP 
Free Voters or FW
The Left or Die Linke 
Social Democratic Party or SPD

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CD, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNSOM, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

18 January 1871 (establishment of the German Empire); divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and France) in 1945 after 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, with all four powers formally relinquishing 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)

German Unity Day, 3 October (1990)

description: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold

history: the colors 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

eagle

black, red, yellow

Germany’s coat of arms is the world’s oldest, said to date back to 1200, and uses the country’s national colors; it features the oldest European national symbol, an eagle known as the Bundesadler (Federal Eagle); the coat of arms has varied over time for military or political reasons, but the eagle has always been part of the design; the Federal Republic of Germany adopted this version in 1950

$4.66 trillion (2024 est.)

milk, sugar beets, wheat, potatoes, barley, maize, rapeseed, pork, rye, triticale (2023)

-3% (2024 est.)

43.772 million (2024 est.)

14.8% (2021 est.)

11% (of GDP) (2022 est.)

USA 10%, France 8%, Netherlands 7%, China 7%, Italy 6% (2023)

cars, vehicle parts/accessories, packaged medicine, plastic products, vaccines (2023)

China 12%, Netherlands 7%, USA 7%, Poland 6%, France 5% (2023)

cars, vehicle parts/accessories, garments, natural gas, vaccines (2023)

a mix 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 national and regional networks and a large number of local stations

.de

D

840 (2025)

449 (2025)

Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr): German Army (Deutsche Heer), German Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm), German Air Force (Deutsche Luftwaffe, includes air defense), Cyber and Information Space (Cyber und Informationsraum) (2025)

approximately 185,000 active-duty military personnel (2025)

the inventory of Federal Armed Forces is comprised of weapons systems produced domestically or jointly with other European countries and Western imports, particularly from the US; Germany's defense industry is capable of manufacturing the full spectrum of air, land, and naval military weapons systems; it also participates in joint defense production projects with European partners and the US (2025)

17-23 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women (must have completed compulsory full-time education and have German citizenship); service obligation 7-23 months or 12 years (2025)

up to 500 Iraq (NATO); 300 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR), Lebanon 170 (UNIFIL); up to 1,700 Lithuania (NATO) (2025)

the Bundeswehr’s core mission is the defense of Germany and its NATO partners; it has a wide range of peacetime duties, including crisis management, cyber security, deterrence, homeland security, humanitarian and disaster relief, and international peacekeeping and stability operations; as a key member of NATO and the EU, the Bundeswehr typically operates in a coalition environment, and its capabilities are largely based on NATO and EU planning goals and needs; it has participated in a range of NATO and EU missions in Europe, Africa, and Asia, as well as global maritime operations; the Bundeswehr has close bilateral defense ties with a number of EU countries, including the Czechia, France, the Netherlands, and Romania, as well as the UK and the US; it also contributes forces to UN peacekeeping missions

the Bundeswehr was established in 1955; at the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, it had nearly 600,000 personnel, over 7,000 tanks, and 1,000 combat aircraft; in addition, over 400,000 soldiers from other NATO countries—including about 200,000 US military personnel—were stationed in West Germany; in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the Bundeswehr shrank by more than 60% in size (over 90% in tanks and about 80% in aircraft), while funding fell from nearly 3% of GDP and over 4% of government spending in the mid-1980s to 1.2% and 1.6% respectively; by the 2010s, the Bundeswehr’s ability to fulfill its regional security commitments had deteriorated; the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and full-scale assault on Ukraine in 2022 led to renewed emphasis on Germany’s leadership role in European defense and NATO and efforts to boost funding for the Bundeswehr to improve readiness, modernize, and expand (2025)

German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR; established 1997) (2025)

a commercial offshore launch platform that will operate from the North Sea is under development with both government and private funding (2025)

has one of Europe’s largest space programs and is a top contributor to the ESA; builds and operates satellites, satellite/space launch vehicles (SLVs), probes, and unmanned orbiters; researches and develops a range of capabilities and technologies, including reusable space planes, satellite payloads, rockets, propulsion-assisted landing technologies, and aeronautics; participates in EU and ESA programs, including the Cassini-Huygens research mission to Saturn, Mars and Venus exploration missions, and the Galileo global navigation satellite system; participates in ESA’s astronaut training program and human space flight operations; hosts the European Astronaut Center; participates in international programs such as the International Space Station (ISS) and the James Webb Space Telescope; hosts mission control centers for the ISS, the ESA, and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT); has ties to foreign space programs, including those of China, Japan, Russia, and the US; has a robust commercial space sector  (2025)

1969 - first German scientific satellite (Azur) launched by US

1973 - participated with other European states, particularly France and the UK, in development of Ariane satellite launch vehicle

1978 - first German in space on Soviet Salyut space station

1980s-1990s - participated in US Space Shuttle program, including providing astronauts

1999 - launched a space-based X-ray telescope (ABRAXIS) on Russian rocket

2005 - began development of reusable space plane/shuttle/transporter

2019 - launched first space-based X-ray telescope (eROSITA) capable of imaging the entire sky (joint project with Russia)

2023 - signed US-led Artemis Accords for the exploration of space and the Moon; adopted a new national space strategy

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Qods Force; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS); al-Qa'ida