1987 Edition

Boundary 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

Coastline

1,488 km

Comparative area

about the size of Wyoming

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation

Environment

air and water pollution

Exclusive fishing zone

200 nm

Land boundaries

4,232 km total

Land use

30% arable Jand; 1% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 30% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes 1% irrigated

Special notes

separated from GDR by a highly secured strip that extends entire length of frontier; West Berlin is an exclave (about 100 km from FRG)

Terrain

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

Territorial sea

3 nm (extends, at one point, to 16 nm in the Helgolander Bucht)

Total area

200 km € Kial North Sea Berlin The finel borders of Germeny hava not been established Stettgart Munich a freiburg

248,580 km?; land area: 244,280 km? (including West Berlin)

Ethnic divisions

primarily German; Danish minority

Infant mortality rate

11/1,000 (1983)

Labor force

27.8 million, including armed forces (est. avg. 1985); 41.6% industry, 34.7% services and other, 18.2% trade and transport, 5.4% agriculture; 9.0% unemployment (1986)

Language

German

Life expectancy

men 67.2, women 73.4

Literacy

99%

Nationality

noun—German(s); adjective— German

Organized Jabor

9.3 million total, 7.76 million 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)

Population

60,989,419, including West Berlin (July 1987), average annual growth rate -0.03%

Religion

45% Roman Catholic, 44% Protestant, 11% other

Administrative divisions

10 lander (states); Western sectors of Berlin are ultimately controlled by US, UK, and France; Eastern sector by USSR; the four countries share special rights and responsibilities in Berlin

Branches

bicameral parliament—Bundesrat (Federal Council, upper house), Bundestag (National Assembly, lower house); President (titular head of state), Chancellor (executive head of government); independent judiciary

Capital

Bonn

Communists

about 40,000 members and supporters

Elections

national election generally held every four years; last held on 25 January 1987; next scheduled for 1991 Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Helmut Kohl, Heiner Geissler, Walter Wallmann, Gerhard Stoltenberg, Ernst Albrecht, Alfred Dregger, Lothar Spaeth; Christian Social Union (CSU), Franz-Josef Strauss, Gerold Tandler, Friedrich Zimmermann, Theo Waigel; Free Democratic Party (FDP), Martin Bangemann, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Wolfgang Mischnick, Helmut Haussmann; Social Democratic Party (SPD), Hans-Jochen Vogel, Johannes Rau, Horst Ehmke, Egon Bahr, Oskar Lafontaine; National Democratic Party (NPD), Martin Mussgnug; Communist Party (DKP), Herbert Mies; Green Party (Greens), Rainer Trampert, Otto Schily, Lukas Beckmann, Joschka Fischer, Jutta Ditfurth, Thomas Ebermann

Government leaders

Richard von WEIZSACKER, President (since July 1984); Dr. Helmut KOHL, Chancellor (since October 1982)

Legal system

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

Member of

ADB, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EIB, ELDO, EMS, ESRO, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, 1DB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IEA, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, 1TC, ITU, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Official name

Federal Republic of Germany

Other political or pressure groups

expellee, refugee, and veterans groups

Suffrage

universal over age 18

Type

federal republic

Voting strength

(1987 election) 44.3% CDU/CSU, 37.0% SPD, 9.1% FDP, 8.3% Greens, 1.3% other

Agriculture

grains, potatoes, sugar beets; 75% self-sufficient

Aid

donor—ODA and OOF economic aid commitments (1970-84), $43.4 billion

Budget

revenues, $80.3 billion; federal government expenditures, $88.1 billion; deficit, $7.8 billion (1985)

Crude steel

60 million metric tons capacity (est.); 37.1 million metric tons produced, 610 kg per capita (1986)

Electric power

(including West Berlin) 99,670,000 kW capacity; 414,000 million kWh produced, 6,820 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$174 billion (f.0.b., 1985); manufactures 85% (including machines and machine tools, chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products), agricultural products 6%, fuels 3%, raw materials 3%, other 3%

Fiscal year

calendar year

Fishing

catch 293,170 metric tons, $112.1 million; exports $192 million, imports $589 million (1984)

GNP

$628.2 billion, $10,300 per capita; 56.4% private consumption, 19.4% investment, 19.8% public consumption, 3.9% net foreign balance; real growth rate 2.5%; average annual exchange rate DM2.94=US$1 (1985)

Imports

$145.4 billion (f.0.b., 1985); manufactures 56%, fuels 20%, agricultural products 12%, raw materials 9%, other 3%

Major industries

among world’s largest producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, ships, vehicles, machine tools

Major trade partners

(1984) EC 47.8% (France 11.6%, Netherlands 10.83%, UK 8%, ltaly 7.8%, Belgium-Luxembourg 6.8%), other Europe 16.7%, less developed countries 14.5%, US 8.4%, Communist 6.5%, OPEC 5.7%

Monetary conversion rate

2.03 marks=US$1 (November 1986)

Natural resources

iron, coal, potash

Shortages

fats and oils, pulses, tropical products, sugar, cotton, wool, rubber, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, nonferrous metals, sulfur

Airfields

479 total, 440 usable; 237 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m, 34 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 42 with runways 1,220-2,489 m

Civil air

194 major transport aircraft

Highways

466,305 km total; 169,568 km classified, includes 6,485 km autobahn, 82,460 km national highways (Bundesstrassen), 65,425 km state highways (Landesstrassen), 65,248 km county roads (Kreisstrassen); 296,737 km of unclassified communal roads (Gemeindestrassen)

Inland waterways

5,222 km, of which almost 70% usable by craft of 990-metric ton capacity or larger

Pipelines

crude oil, 2,343 km; refined products, 3,389 km; natural gas, 95,414 km

Ports

9 major, 8 secondary, 15 minor

Railroads

31,800 km total; 27,778 km 1.435-meter government owned, standard gauge, 12,491 km double track; 11,896 km electrified; 4,022 km nongovernment owned; 3,598 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 214 km electrified, 424 km 1.000meter gauge; 186 km electrified

Telecommunications

highly developed, modern telecommunication service to all parts of the country; fully adequate in all] respects; 37.9 million telephones (62.1 per 100 popl.); 80 AM, 472 FM, and 6,200 TV stations (including repeaters); 6 submarine coaxial cables; 3 satellite stations with total of 10 antennas

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1986, $27.1 billion; 22.98% of the proposed central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 16,251,000; 14,090,000 fit for military service; 391,000 reach military age (18) annually