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

Climate: temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers;
occasional warm foehn wind

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

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Freepsum Lake -2 m highest point:
Zugspitze 2,963 m

Natural resources: iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium,
copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land

Land use: arable land: 34% permanent crops: 1% other: 65% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 4,850 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding

Environment - current issues: emissions from coal-burning utilities
and industries contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from
sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; pollution in the Baltic Sea
from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany;
hazardous waste disposal; government established a mechanism for ending
the use of nuclear power over the next 15 years; government working to
meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with
the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive

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

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

People Germany

Population: 83,251,851 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 15.4% (male 6,568,699; female 6,227,148) 15-64 years:
(male 5,546,140; female 8,607,361) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.26% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 8.99 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 10.36 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 3.99 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.