Germany
Capital: Berlin · Western Europe
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Western and Central Europe.
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Boardwalk , Wildsee raised bog , Kaltenbronn , Northern Black Forest , Germany
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Lookout point on Bruken Rock in Swabian Jura in the German Federal State Baden-Württemberg . In the background is seen Owen and the castle Teck .
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St. Catharinen church in Westensee, taken from the West
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Did you know?
Settlement in the territory of modern Germany began in the Lower Paleolithic, with various tribes inhabiting it from the Neolithic onward, chiefly the Celts, and Germanic tribes inhabiting the north. Romans named the area Germania. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. Following the Napoleonic Wars and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the German Confederation was formed in 1815.
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Rosenstein castle, Heubach, Germany
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Externsteine in Teutoburg Forrest near Horn-Bad Meinberg
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Trabant P 601 Limousine S, Baujahr 1986 (Fiktives Kennzeichen)
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Etymology
The English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. The German term Deutschland, originally diutisciu land ('the German lands'), is derived from deutsch (cf. Dutch), which descended from Old High German diutisc 'of the people' (from diot or diota 'people'), originally used to distinguish the language of the common people from Latin and its Romance descendants. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz 'of the people' (see also the Latinised form Theodiscus), derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- 'people', from which the word Teutons also originates.
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Campaign "Turn waste into art". Floor artwork with ceramic pots rescued from the bulky waste by the student environmental group of the Karlsruhe University of Education…
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Käpt’n Blaubär und Hein Blöd auf der Gera in Erfurt
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Photograph of a chandelier
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History
Ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The first non-modern human fossil (the Neanderthal) was discovered in the Neander Valley. Similarly dated evidence of modern humans has been found in the Swabian Jura, including 42,000-year-old flutes which are the oldest musical instruments ever found, the 40,000-year-old Lion-man, and the 41,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels.
From southern Scandinavia and northern Germany, the Germanic peoples expanded south, east, and west, coming into contact with the Celtic, Iranian, Baltic, and Slavic tribes.
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Eine Bahnschiene mit Fluchtpunkt.
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Part of the „Wasserfenster und Kanzel” by Hans Peter Reuter (1988), Horbachpark, Ettlingen , Germany .
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The river Alb northwest of Karlsruhe near the flooded gravel pit Pfeiffer, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen , Germany .
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Geography
Germany is the seventh-largest country in Europe. It borders Denmark to the north; Poland and the Czech Republic to the east; Austria and Switzerland to the south; and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. Germany is also bordered by the North Sea and, at the north-northeast, the Baltic Sea. German territory covers 357,022 km2 (137,847 sq mi).
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The Hohenneuffen Castle in Swabian Jura in the German Federal State Baden-Württemberg .
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Opel Rekord P1, Baujahr 1958, Räder nicht serienmäßig (fiktives Kennzeichen)
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Cessna 172 at Strausberg airfield
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Politics
Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. Federal legislative power is vested in the parliament consisting of the Bundestag (Federal Diet) and Bundesrat (Federal Council), which together form the legislative body. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections using the mixed-member proportional representation system. The members of the Bundesrat represent and are appointed by the governments of the sixteen federated states.
The German political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1949 constitution known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law).
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The river Alb northwest of Karlsruhe near the oil port , Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen , Germany .
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Economy
Germany has a social market economy with a highly skilled labour force, a low level of corruption, and a high level of innovation. It is the largest economy in Europe by nominal GDP, as well as the world's third-largest by nominal GDP and sixth-largest by PPP-adjusted GDP. Its PPP-adjusted GDP per capita amounted to 115% of the EU average in 2024. The country's service sector contributes approximately 72% of the total GDP, the industrial sector 27%—with Germany having the largest manufacturing output in Europe—and its agricultural sector 1%, as of 2023. The unemployment rate published by Eurostat amounts to 3.2% as of January 2020, which is the fourth-lowest in the EU.
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Demographics
With a population of 84.7 million according to the 2023 German census, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union, the second-most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the nineteenth-most populous country in the world. Its population density stands at 236 inhabitants per square kilometre (610 inhabitants/mi2). The fertility rate of 1.36 children born per woman (2024 estimates) is below the replacement rate of 2.1, but slightly above the EU average of 1.34. Since the 1970s, Germany's death rate has exceeded its birth rate.
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Culture
Culture in German states has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular, and German scientists, writers and philosophers have played a significant role in the development of Western thought. Global opinion polls from the BBC revealed that Germany is recognised for having the most positive influence in the world in 2013 and 2014.
Germany is well known for such folk festivals as the Oktoberfest and Christmas customs, which include Advent wreaths, Christmas pageants, Christmas trees, Stollen cakes, and other practices.
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