1981 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1981 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Aid
economic commitments — US, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $241 million; from other Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF, $99 million; military — assistance from US (FY70-79), $22 million Central government budget (1981 est): expenditures, $1,280 million; revenues, $815 million
Area
- 108,262 km2; 43% arable, 15% meadows and pasture, 27% forested, 15% other
- 248,640 km* (including West Berlin); 33% cultivated, 23% meadows and pastures, 13% waste or urban, 29% forested, 2% inland water
- 246,050 km2; 3% cropland, 10% forest
Coastline
- 901 km (including islands)
- 1,488 km (approx.)
- 346 km
Fiscal year
calendar year
Land boundaries
- 2,309 km
- 4,232 km
- 3,476 km
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
- 3 nm
- 3 nm (fishing 200 nm)
- 12 nm (fishing 200 nm; economic zone 200 nm)
Monetary conversion rate
1 quetzal=US$l (official)
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
- 99.7% German, 0.3% Slavic and other
- 99% Germanic, 1% other
- 99% African (3 major tribes — Fulani, Malinke, Susu; and 15 smaller tribes)
Labor force
- 8.7 million; 38.0% industry; 3.2% handicrafts; 7.1% construction; 8.6% agriculture; 7.4% transport and communications; 10.3% commerce; 20.1% services; 3.2% other
- 27.199 million (1979); 36.4% in manufacturing, 6.6% construction, 37.4% services, 9.7% government, 5.6% agriculture, 0.5% other; 3.8% unemployed July 1980
Language
- German, small Sorb (West Slavic) minority
- German
- French official; each tribe has own language
Literacy
- 99%
- 99%
- 5% to 10%; French only significant written language Labor forcer 1.8 million, of whom less than 10% are wage earners; most of population engages in subsistence agriculture
Nationality
- noun — German(s); adjective — German
- noun — German(s); adjective — German
- noun — Guinean(s); adjective — Guinean
Organized labor
- 87.7% of total labor force
- 33.7% of total labor force; 40.1% of wage and salary earners
- virtually 100% of wage labor force loosely affiliated with the National Confederation of Guinean Workers, which is closely tied to the PDG
Population
- 16,738,000, including East Berlin (July 1982), average annual growth rate 0.0%
- 61,697,000, including West Berlin (July 1982), average annual growth rate 0.0%
- 5,278,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.6%
Religion
- 53% Protestant, 8% Roman Catholic, 39% unaffiliated or other; less than 5% of Protestants and about 25% of Roman Catholics actively participate
- 48.9% Protestant, 44.7% Roman Catholic, 6.4% other (as of 1975)
- 75% Muslim, 25% animist, Christian, less than 1%
Government
Branches
- legislative — Volkskammer (elected directly); executive — Chairman of Council of State, Chairman of Council of Ministers, Cabinet (approved by Volkskammer); judiciary — Supreme Court; entire structure dominated by Socialist Unity (Communist) Party
- bicameral parliament — Bundesrat (upper house), Bundestag (lower house); President (titular head of state), Chancellor (executive head of government); independent judiciary
Capital
- East Berlin (not officially recognized by US, UK, and France, which together with the USSR have special rights and responsibilities in Berlin)
- Bonn
Communists
- 2.1 million party members
- about 40,000 members and supporters
Elections
- national every five years; prepared by an electoral commission of the National Front; ballot supposed to be secret and voters permitted to strike names off ballot; more candidates than offices available; parliamentary elections held 14 June 1981, and local elections held 20 May Political parties and leaders: Socialist Unity (Communist) Party (SED), headed by General Secretary Erich Honecker, dominates the regime; four token parties (Christian Democratic Union, National Democratic Party, Liberal Democratic Party, and Democratic Peasant's Party) and an amalgam of special interest organizations participate with the SED in National Front
- next national election scheduled for fall of 1984 Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), Helmut Kohl, Franz Josef Strauss, Gerhard Stoltenberg, Ernst Albrecht, Richard von Weizsacker; Social Democratic Party (SPD), Willy Brandt, Hans-jUrgen Wischnewski, Herbert Wehner, Helmut Schmidt; Free Democratic Party (FDP), HansDietrich Genscher, Otto Graf Lambsdorff, Wolfgang Mischnick; National Democratic Party (NPD), Martin Mussgnug; Communist Party (DKP), Herbert Mies Voting strength (1980 election): 42.9% SPD, 44.5% CDU/CSU, 10.6% FDP, 2.0% splinter groups of left and right (no parliamentary representation)
Government leaders
- Chairman, Council of State, Erich HONECKER (Head of State); Chairman, Council of Ministers, Willi STOPH (Premier)
- President Karl CARSTENS, elected 23 May 1979 for a five-year term, took office 1 July 1979; Chancellor Helmut SCHMIDT leads coalition of Social Democrats and Free Democrats
Legal system
- civil law system modified by Communist legal theory; new constitution adopted 1974; court system parallels administrative divisions; no judicial review of legislative acts; legal education at Universities of Berlin, Leipzig, Halle, and Jena; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; more stringent penal code adopted 1968, amended in 1974 and 1979
- civil law system with indigenous concepts; constitution adopted 1949; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction GERMANY, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF (Continued)
Member of
- CEMA, IAEA, ICES, ILO, IMCO, IPU, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, Warsaw Pact, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
- ADB, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ECSC, EIB, ELDO, EMA, ESRO, EURATOM, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IEA, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMCO, IMF, IPU, ITC, ITU, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
National holiday
Foundation of German Democratic Republic, 7 October
Official name
- German Democratic Republic
- Federal Republic of Germany
- People's Revolutionary Republic of
Other political or pressure groups
expellee, refugee, and veterans groups
Other special interest groups
Free German Youth, Free German Trade Union Federation, Democratic Women's Federation of Germany, German Cultural Federation (all Communist dominated)
Political subdivisions
- (excluding East Berlin) 14 districts (Bezirke), 218 counties (Kreise), 7,600 communities (Gemeinden)
- 10 Laender (states); Western sectors of Berlin are ultimately controlled by US, UK, and France which, together with the USSR, have special rights and responsibilities in Berlin
Suffrage
- all citizens age 18 and over
- universal over age 18
Type
- Communist state
- federal republic
Voting strength
1981 parliamentary elections and 1979 local elections; over 99% voted the regime slate
Economy
Agriculture
- food deficit area; main crops — potatoes, rye, wheat, barley, oats, industrial crops; shortages in grain, vegetables, vegetable oil, beef; caloric intake, 3,000 calories per day per capita (1971)
- main crops — grains, potatoes, sugar beets; 75% self-sufficient; food shortages — fats and oils, pulses, tropical products; caloric intake, 2,980 calories per day per capita (1975-76)
Aid
donor — (1970-79) bilateral economic aid commitments (ODA and OOF), $21 billion
Budget
(1980) expenditures $118.7 billion, revenues $103.5 billion, deficit $15.2 billion
Crude steel
- 7.308 million metric tons produced (1980), approx. 436 kg per capita
- 50 to 60 million metric tons capacity; 43.8 million metric tons produced (1980), 710 kg per capita
Electric power
- 20,965,000 kW capacity (1981); 101.8 billion kWh produced (1981), 6,080 kWh per capita
- 89,000,000 kW capacity (1980); 368.731 million kWh produced (1980), 6,010 kWh per capita
Exports
- $17.3 billion, est. (f.o.b., 1979)
- $193 billion (f.o.b., 1980); manufactures 90.0% (machines and machine tools, chemjcals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products), agricultural products 5.3%, fuels 3.4%, raw materials 1.3%
Fiscal year
- same as calendar year; economic data reported for calendar years except for caloric intake, which is reported for the consumption year 1 July-30 June
- calendar year
Fish catch
244,237 metric tons (1980)
Fishing
catch 287,000 metric tons, $167 million (1980); exports $256 million, imports $802 million (1980)
GNP
- $135.4 billion (1980, 1980 dollars), $8,089 per capita; 1980 growth rate 2.6%
- $821 billion (1980), $3,330 per capita (1980); 55% private consumption, 22% investment, 20% government consumption; net foreign balance 0%, inventory change 1% (distribution based on current price series)
Imports
- $19.2 billion, est. (f.o.b., 1979)
- $188 billion (c.i.f., 1980); manufactures 61.2%, fuels 21.9%, agricultural products 12.9%, raw materials 4.0%
Major industries
- metal fabrication, chemicals, light industry, brown coal, and shipbuilding
- among world's largest producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, ships, vehicles, machine tools
Major trade partners
- $36,500 million (1979); 68% Communist countries, 32% non-Communist countries
- (1980) EC 47.1% (France 12.0%, Netherlands 10.5%, Belgium-Luxembourg 7.5%, Italy 8.2%, UK 6.6%); other Europe 18.4%; OPEC 8.7%; Communist 5.9%; US 6.8%
Monetary conversion rate
- 3.11 DME=US$1 for trade data (1980 rate)
- DM 1.82 (West German marks)=US$l (1980 average)
Shortages
- coking coal, coke, crude oil, rolled steel products, nonferrous metals GERMANY, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (Continued)
- fats and oils, sugar, cotton, wool, rubber, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, nonferrous metals, sulfur
Communications
Airfields
- 466 total, 432 usable; 221 with permanentsurface runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m, 32 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 41 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
- 532 total, 527 usable; 10 with permanentsurface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
- 208 major transport aircraft, including 1 leased in and 2 leased out
- 14 major transport aircraft, including 1 leased in
Freight carried
rail — 302.5 million metric tons, 54.4 billion metric ton/km (1979); highway — 730.2 million metric tons, 21.6 billion metric ton/km (1979); waterway— 14.8 million metric tons, 1.9 billion metric ton/km (excluding international transit traffic) (1979)
Highways
- 117,500 km total; 47,500 km concrete, asphalt, stone block, of which 1,744 km are autobahn and limited access roads; over 70,000 km asphalt treated, gravel, crushed stone, and earth (1979)
- 479,600 km total; 171,600 km classified, includes 153,160 km cement-concrete, bituminous, or stone block (includes 7,400 km of autobahnen); 8,240 km gravel, crushed stone, improved earth; in addition, 308,000 km of unclassified roads of various surface types (community roads)
- 26,429 km total; 2,851 km paved, 11,438 km gravel, and 12,140 unimproved
Inland waterways
- 2,302 km (1979)
- 5,222 km of which almost 70% usable by craft of 990 metric ton capacity or larger
- 260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water season
Military budget
- (announced) for fiscal year ending 31 December 1981, 10.2 billion marks; 6.2% of total budget
- for fiscal year ending 31 December 1982, $19.12 billion; about 18% of the proposed central government budget
- proposed for fiscal year ending 31 December 1981, $79.0 million; 5.4% of central government budget
Military manpower
- males 15-49, 4,319,000; 3,470,000 fit for military service; 138,000 reach military age (18) annually
- males 15-49, 16,350,000; 13,670,000 fit for military service; 528,000 reach military age (18) annually
- males 15-49, 1,750,000; 1,189,000 fit for military service; about 82,000 reach military age (18) annually
Personnel
paramilitary field force was integrated into the Confederal Armed Forces with the Senegalese military troops
Pipelines
- crude oil, 1,200 km; refined products, 500 km; natural gas 650 km
- crude oil, 2,071 km; refined products, 3,240 km; natural gas, 95,414 km
- crude oil, 48 km
Ports
- 4 major (Rostock, Wismar, Stralsund, Sassnitz), 13 minor; principal inland waterway ports are E. Berlin, Riesa, Magdeburg, and Eisenhuttenstadt (1979) DEFENSE FORCES
- 10 major, 1 1 minor
- 2 major (San Jose, and Santo Tomas de Castilla), 3 minor
Railroads
- 14,164 km total; 13,874 km standard gauge (1.435 m), 290 km meter (1.00 m) or other narrow gauge, 3,360 km double track standard gauge (1.435 m); 1,621 km overhead electrified (1979)
- 32,555 km total; 28,533 km government owned, standard gauge (1.435 m), 12,491 km double track; 11,140 km electrified; 4,022 km nongovernment owned; 3,598 km standard gauge (1.435 m); 214 km electrified; 424 km meter gauge (1.00 m); 186 km electrified
- 909 km, 0.914-meter gauge, single tracked; 819 km government owned, 90 km privately owned
Telecommunications
- highly developed, modern telecommunication service to all parts of the country; fully adequate in all respects; 26.6 million telephones (43.4 per 100 popl.); 90 AM, 370 FM, and 5,510 TV stations; 6 submarine coaxial cables; 2 satellite stations with total of 6 antennas DEFENSE FORCES
- modern telecom facilities limited to Guatemala City; 70,600 telephones (1.4 per 100 popl.); 97 AM, 20 FM, and 25 TV stations; connection into Central American microwave net; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station DEFENSE FORCES