mocratic Republic, and Berlin, following formal
unification on 3 October 1990

Land boundaries:
total: 3,621 km
border countries: 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 the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic 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
lowest point: Freepsum Lake -2 m
highest point: Zugspitze 2,962 m

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 sq km (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, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified -
Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Desertification, Tropical Timber 94

Geographic note: strategic location on North European Plain and
along the entrance to the Baltic Sea

People
------

Population: 83,536,115 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 16.15% (male 6,928,750; female 6,563,026)
15-64 years: 68.52% (male 29,339,780; female 27,902,549)
65 years and over: 15.33% (male 4,658,014; female 8,143,996) (July
1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.67% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 9.66 births/1,000 popul