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Germany is a country in the centre of Europe.

Germany has a border on the North Sea.

The land is varied with lowlands in the north, hills in the centre and the mountains of the Alps in the south.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Germany, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 51 00N
Longitude - 9 00E

The capital of Germany is Berlin.

After losing the war in 1945, Germany was divided between Britain, France and the US, who initially looked after the west and Russia who did the same in the east. Between 1949 and 1990, Germany was two separate countries known as East Germany and West Germany. During this time, the city of Berlin, which was in East Germany, was divided between the west and the east and by a wall, built in 1961. The wall was destroyed by ordinary people in 1989.

Germany is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a chancellor as head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in Germany is the euro. Germany was a founder member of what is now the European Union.

German is the official language.

Check the weather in Berlin now.

This is the time in Berlin now

The German flag is 3 equal horizontal stripes of black, red and gold. These colours date back to the time of the Holy Roman Emperor who had a banner that was a black eagle with red claws and beak on a gold background.

Hear the National Anthem



These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the German National Anthem called Song of Germany. It was adopted in 1922 and restored to all Germany after unification in 1991. The words were written in 1841 and the third verse is used as the anthem. This is a translation of the words.

If anthem fails to play click here

Unity and Right and Freedom
For the German Fatherland!
After these let us all strive
Brotherly with heart and hand!
Unity and Right and Freedom
Are the pledge of happiness.
Bloom in the splendour of this happiness,
Bloom, my German Fatherland!
Bloom in the splendour of this happiness,
Bloom, my German Fatherland!

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The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

The total land area of Germany is 348,672 sq kms which is the 5th largest in Europe.

Germany has lakes, rivers and canals which total 8,350 sq kms.

Germany has boundaries with 9 countries, more than any other European country.

• Austria 801 kms
• Czech Republic 704 kms
• The Netherlands 575 kms
• Poland 467 kms
• France 418 kms
• Switzerland 348 kms
• Denmark 140 kms
• Belgium 133 kms
• Luxembourg 128 kms

Germany has a coastline of 2,389 kms which is the 13th longest in Europe.

The highest point in Germany is Zugspitze at 2,963 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of Germany is 80.72 million people, making it the largest country in Europe by population.

Of this number 43.12 million are females and 37.60 million are males.

A person from Germany is called a German.

To be a citizen of Germany, one of your parents must be a citizen of Germany or a resident who has lived in Germnay for at leat 8 years. It is not sufficient to be born in Germany. You have to live in Germany for 8 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in Germany, by population are:-

• Berlin 3,426,354 people
• Hamburg 1,739,117
• Munich 1,260,391
• Cologne 963.395
• Frankfurt 650,000

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



75.3% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in Germany is 8.5 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Germany is 11.5 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 3.1 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 3.7 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 47.9 and for males is 45.7. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 29.2.

The elderly dependency ratio is 32.1. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 3.1. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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Germany spends 11.3% of its total income on health care.

There are 3.89 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 8.2 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

22.3% of the population are estimated as obese.

100% of Germanyns have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

99.3% of the urban population and 99.0% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Germany releases 805.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the highest in Europe.

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Germany spends 4.9% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 6 in Germany. Primary education is for four years until age 10 and secondary education must continue till 18. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the middle of August and finishes at the end of June. There is usually a 2 week break at Christmas and Easter, and a one week break in the middle of each of the first two terms. However, all states have different dates.

We have no figures for the number of people who are able to read and write by the age of 15.

7.1% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 6.1% are unemployed while with males 7.8% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Germany is 45.0 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

4.6% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 318 paved airports in Germany, which is the highest number in Europe.


There are 43,468 kilometres of railways in Germany, which is the longest in Europe.


There are 645,000 kilometres of roads in Germany, which means Germany is in 3rd place for the most kilometres of roads in Europe.

There are 3 major national newspapers in Germany.

There are 96.36 million mobile phone users.

56% of the people have a fixed landline.



70.82 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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