THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
PEOPLE
CLIMATE AND GEOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS
INDUSTRIES
ECONOMIC
COMMUNICATIONS
FOREIGN POLICY
THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
The Federal Republic of Germany is situated in the heart of Europe, surrounded by nine neighbouring states, which are Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. The capital city of Germany is Berlin. The Federal Republic coves an area of about 357,000 square kilometres. Germany has an extraordinary variety of charming landscapes. Low and high mountain ranges intermingle with upland plains, terrace country, hilly regions and lakelands as well as wide, open lowlands.
As Western Europe's richest and most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defence organisations. 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 US, UK, 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 organisations, the EC 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. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries formed a common European currency, the Euro.One of the great powers of the industrial world, Germany rose from a collection of small states, principalities, and dukedoms to become a unified empire in 1871. The German Empire was strategically located between France and Russia, and it clashed with both nations as it attempted to expand its borders. This rivalry resulted in World War I, in which Germany was defeated. Germany, however, emerged again as a major force in Europe in the 1930s under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.
Germany is situated in the moderately cool west wind zone between Atlantic Ocean and the continental climate in the East. Sharp changes in temperature are rare. In the winter the average temperature is between 1.5 c in the lowland area and –6 c in the mountains. In the warmest month of the July, the temperatures are between 18 c in low-lying regions and 20 c in the sheltered valleys of the south.
The borders that isolated the German Democratic Republic, in the east, from the Federal Republic of Germany, in the west, remained closed until late 1989, when Communism was successfully challenged by pro-democracy demonstrations in the Soviet satellites. The ultimate symbol of the East-West division had been the Berlin Wall--a massive structure erected in the Cold War atmosphere of 1961 to divide Germany's most important city. On Nov. 9, 1989, the East German government bowed to increasing demands for reform: the wall was opened and families on each side of it were reunited. On Aug. 31, 1990, the two republics signed a unification treaty that detailed the legal and social foundations for German unification, which took place officially on Oct. 3, 1990.
Germany has a population of about 82.07 millions, the largest in Europe after the Russian Federation. Nearly one third of the people live in 84 large cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, meanwhile majority of people in Germany live in small towns and villages. Most of the ethnic group in this country is Germans. However, Germany is a hospitable country, where it invites “guest workers” such as Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Portuguese, Yugoslavs and Turks to stay there. There are also immigrants from Asian and African countries that naturally meant a considerable increase in the number of foreigners (6.5 million) of diverse origin in Germany. Interestingly, Germans are very fond of bicycles. First time visitors to Germany will probably be surprised by the number of bicycles here.
CLIMATE AND GEOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS
Germany has a temperate climate. In summer the temperature is about 18-20°C although in many places the thermometer can clamber over the 30°C mark, while in winter the mean temperature is about 1.5°C in the planes and -6°C in the mountains. Rain falls all the year round, especially in autumn. The German landscape is extremely varied with hills, lakes, heath and moorland, islands, estuaries and dunes, forests, slate hills valleys.
The mainstream of Germany’s economy is industry. After the World War II, industry played a crucial part in Germany’s economic recovery. The transition to market economy was made in 1948 and thus the government’s economic policy is largely confined to creating framework conditions conducive to the development of entrepreneur initiatives and the creation of new jobs. One of the country’s most important industries is automobile industry and Germany is the third largest producer of automobiles in the world (after USA and Japan). Many of the automobile firms are known throughout the world include carmakers like Daimler-Benz, Volkswagen and BMW.
Another industry that plays a major part of Germany’s economy is engineering. Germany is also among the world leaders in this field. These companies are usually the suppliers of high-quality plant and production equipment and thus they play an important role for the economy a whole. German companies have also been extraordinarily successful in the field of environmental protection technologies as well as biotechnology.
Being one of the seven leading western industrial countries, Germany is the third largest in overall economy performing country, and the second in world trade. Economy - overview: Germany possesses the world''s third most technologically powerful economy after the US and Japan, but its basic capitalistic economy has started to struggle under the burden of generous social benefits. Structural rigidities - like a high rate of social contributions on wages - have made unemployment a long-term, not just cyclical, problem, while Germany's ageing population has pushed social security outlays to exceed contributions from workers.
The integration and upgrading of the eastern German economy remains a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from the west amounting to roughly $100 billion. Growth slowed to 1.5% in 1999, largely due to lower export demand and still-low business confidence. Recovering Asian demand, a push for fiscal consolidation, and newly proposed business and income tax cuts - if passed - are expected to boost growth back to trend rates around 2.5% in 2000 and beyond. The adoption of a common European currency and the general political and economic integration of Europe will bring major changes to the German economy in the early 21st century.
Telephone system: Germany has one of the world's most technologically advanced telecommunications systems; as a result of intensive capital expenditures since reunification, the formerly backward system of the eastern part of the country has been modernised and integrated with that of the western part
Germany is also served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fibre-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available and includes roaming service to many foreign countries
Germany is reunified and sovereign in its foreign policy. In the whole of Europe, democracy, the rule of law and market economy principles have made crucial progress. The creation of stable and peaceful order, further civilisation of international relations and creation for legal frameworks for these relations, especially the development of effective strategies for conflict prevention and peaceful resolution of conflicts, are therefore the ongoing priorities of German policy.
German foreign policy is oriented towards the aims of maintaining peace and prosperity, promoting democracy and developing respect for human rights the world over. Germany maintains diplomatic relations with nearly all of the countries of the world and has more than 230 embassies and consular posts as well as eleven missions at international organisation. German’s foreign policy are focused on the following:
Ø The further development of European Union
Ø The safeguarding of peace, democracy and prosperity in the whole of Europe
Ø The strengthening of Pan-European co-operation within the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
Ø The further development of Atlantic Alliance and transatlantic co-operation
Ø The strengthening of international organisations
Ø The promotion of respects for human rights all over the world
Ø The further development of relations based on spirits of equal partnership
Ø The preservation of habitable world worth living in for future generations.
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