Quick Facts About Germany
[ Back to Homepage ][ Bulletin Board ]

Location:

Central Europe, bordering the North Sea and the Baltic Sea between the Netherlands and Poland , south of Denmark

 

Map References:

Germany

 

Area:

Total area: 356,910 km

Land area: 349,520 km

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Montana.

Note:

includes the formerly separate Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and Berlin following formal unification on 3 October 1990.

 

Land boundaries:

Total 3,621 km

Austria 784 km

Belgium 167 km

Czech Republic 646 km

Denmark 68 km

France 451 km

Luxembourg 138 km

Netherlands 577 km

Poland 456 km

Switzerland 334 km

 

Coastline:

2,389 km

 

Maritime claims:

Continental shelf:

200 m depth or to depth of exploitation

Exclusive fishing zone:

200 nm

Territorial sea:

12 nm

International disputes:

none

 

Climate:

temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm, tropical foehn wind; high relative humidity

 

Terrain:

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

 

Natural resources:

iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel

 

Land use:

arable land: 34%

permanent crops: 1%

meadows and pastures: 16%

forest and woodland: 30%

other: 19%

 

Irrigated land:

4,800 km2 (1989 est.)

 

Environment:

Current issues:

emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries and lead emissions from vehicle exhausts (the result of continued use of leaded fuels) contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; heavy pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany

Natural hazards:

NA

International agreements:

party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes