Germany, Federal Republic of
(West Germany)
_Germany,_Federal_Republic_of.jpg)
See regional map V
Geography
Total area: 248,580 km²; land area:
244,280 km²; includes West Berlin
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundaries: 4,256 km total; Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czechoslovakia 356 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, GDR 1,381 km; Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Switzerland 334 km
Coastline: 1,488 km
Maritime claims:
- Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation
- Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
- Territorial sea: 3 nm (extends, at one point, to 16 nm in the Helgoländer Bucht)
Disputes: it is US policy that the final borders of Germany have not been established
Climate: temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm, tropical foehn wind; high relative humidity
Terrain: lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south
Natural resources: iron ore, coal, potash, timber
Land use: 30% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 30% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: air and water pollution
Note: West Berlin is an exclave (about 116 km by air or 176 km by road from FRG)
People
Population: 62,168,200 (July 1990),
growth rate 0.5% (1990)
Birthrate: 11 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 5 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 81 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—German(s); adjective—German
Ethnic divisions: primarily German; Danish minority
Religion: 45% Roman Catholic, 44% Protestant, 11% other
Language: German
Literacy: 99%
Labor force: 27,790,000; 41.6% industry, 35.4% services and other, 18.2% trade and transport, 4.8% agriculture (1987)
Organized labor: 9,300,000 total; 7,760,000 in German Trade Union Federation (DGB); union membership constitutes about 40% of union-eligible labor force, 34% of total labor force, and 35% of wage and salary earners (1986)
Government
Long-form name: Federal Republic of
Germany; abbreviated FRG
Type: federal republic
Capital: Bonn
Administrative divisions: 10 states (länder, singular—land); Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein
Constitution: 23 May 1949, provisional constitution known as Basic Law
Legal system: civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: NA
Executive branch: president, chancellor, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Parlament) consists of an upper chamber or Federal Assembly (Bundesrat) and a lower chamber or National Assembly (Bundestag)
Judicial branch: Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht)
Leaders: Chief of State—President Dr. Richard von WEIZSÄCKER (since 1 July 1984);
Head of Government—Chancellor Dr. Helmut KOHL (since 4 October 1982)
Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Helmut Kohl; Christian Social Union (CSU), Theo Waigel; Free Democratic Party (FDP), Otto Lambsdorff; Social Democratic Party (SPD), Hans-Jochen Vogel; National Democratic Party (NPD), Martin Mussgnug; Republikaner, Franz Schoerhuber; Communist Party (DKP), Herbert Mies; Green Party—Realos faction, Joschka Fischer; Green Party—Fundis faction, Jutta Ditfurth
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: National Assembly—last held 25 January 1987 (next to be held by 18 January 1991); results SPD 37.0%, CDU 34.5%, CSU 9.8%, FDP 9.1%, Green Party 8.2%, others 1.4%; seats—(497 total, 22 are elected by the West Berlin House of Representatives and have limited voting rights) SPD 186, CDU 174, CSU 49, FDP 46, Green Party 42
Communists: about 40,000 members and supporters
Other political or pressure groups: expellee, refugee, and veterans groups
Member of: ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EIB, EMS, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IEA, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITC, ITU, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jeurgen RUHFUS; Chancery at 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington DC 20007; telephone (202) 298-4000; there are FRG Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and New York, and Consulates in Miami and New Orleans; US—Ambassador Vernon WALTERS; Embassy at Deichmanns Avenue, 5300 Bonn 2 (mailing address is APO New York 09080); telephone 49 (228) 3391; there are US Consulates General in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Stuttgart
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and yellow; similar to the flag of the GDR which has a coat of arms in the center
Economy
Overview: West Germany, a major
economic power and a leading exporter, has a
highly urbanized and skilled population
that enjoys excellent living standards and
comprehensive social welfare benefits. The
FRG is poor in natural resources, coal
being the most important mineral. The
FRG's comparative advantage lies in the
technologically advanced production
stages. Thus manufacturing and services
dominate economic activity, and raw
materials and semimanufactures constitute a
large proportion of imports. In 1988
manufacturing accounted for 35% of GDP,
