Location: Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark.
Land Area: 217,043 m (83,800 sq miles)
Coastline: 2,389 m (1,484 miles)
Highest Point: 2,963 m or 9,718 ft. (Zugspitze)
Lowest Point: -3.54 m or 12 ft below sea level (Neuendorf bei Wilster)
Notable Landmarks: Visit them now!

Germany's wealthy and technologically powerful economy, the fifth largest in the world, has become one of the slowest growing economies. A quick turnaround is not likely in foreseeable future. Growth in 2001to 2003 fell short of 1%, rising to 1.7% in 2004 before falling back to 0.9% in 2005. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to an amount exceeding contributions from workers. Rules in the labor market, including strict regulations on laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis, have made unemployment a chronic problem. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could allow Germany to meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization, particularly if the rules are made easier. In the short run, however, the fall in government revenues and the rise in expenditures have raised the deficit above the 3% debt limit in the European Union.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): $2.454 trillion (2005 est.)
GDP Per Capita: $29,800 (2005 est.)
Number of Workers: 43.32 million (2005 est.)
Unemployment Rate: 11.6% (2005 est.)
Industries: 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.
Currency: euro (EUR)  formerly the Deutsche Mark
Note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries. The former currency was the German marc.

Type of Government: Federal Republic
Chief of State: President Horst KOEHLER (since 1 July 2004)
Head of Government: Chancellor Angela MERKEL (since 22 November 2005)
Capital City: Berlin
Legal Age to Vote: 18
Flag Design: Three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold
Official Language: German
Religions: Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%.

As Europe's largest economy and most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed the country 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 United States, the United Kingdom, 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, the EC, which became the EU, and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring eastern productivity and wages up to western standards.