Germany, Federal Republic of German Bundesrepublik Deutschland,

Germany, Federal Republic of German Bundesrepublik Deutschland, is a major industrialized nation in central Europe (Germany pp). It is a federal union of sixteen states. Although Germany has a long, complex history and rich culture, it did not become a unified nation until 1871 (Germany pp). Before then, Germany was a confederacy,1815-1867, and, before 1806, it was a collection of separate and quite different principalities (Germany pp).

The seventh largest country in Europe, Germany has a total area of 137, 827 square miles of terrain that ranges from low-lying coastal flats along the North and Baltic seas to a central area of rolling hills and river valleys, to the forested mountains and snow-capped Alps in the south (Germany pp).

Germany has an estimated population of 82, 424, 609 people, and is overwhelmingly urban, where most people lead a prosperous, comfortable lifestyle with adequate leisure time and comprehensive social welfare benefits (Germany pp). The capital and largest city of Germany is Berlin, however, Bonn, which was the provisional capital of West Germany, is still home to several government offices (Germany pp). The principal language is German, and two-thirds of the people are either Roman Catholic or Protestant (Germany pp).

Germans have made numerous noteworthy contributions to culture, including many outstanding German authors, artists, architects, musicians, and philosophers (Germany pp). The composers Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven are probably the best known the world over and literary greats include Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Thomas Mann (Germany pp).

After German unification in 1990, the great differences between the West and East German economic systems nearly brought East Germany to total collapse (Germany pp). Many East German enterprises failed, however, new private and public investments, most from West Germany, have since flowed into the former East Germany as its economy was restructured and privatized (Germany pp).

By 1994 Germany's economy had recovered from its slump, and the export sector was the first to expand again, followed by investments and consumption (Germany pp). However, in spite of the recovery, per capita industrial output in the former East Germany was still only one-third that of the West, although its share of production for export was almost at West German levels, yet, compared to other post-Communist economies, East German economic progress was far ahead of such countries as Poland and the Czech Republic, and by 1998 economic growth was about 3% of GDP annually for Germany as a whole (Germany pp).

Despite higher taxes and numerous economic problems since unification, the economy remains strong (Germany pp). Germany's large and modern industrial economy has made it the economic powerhouse of the European Union, EU (Germany pp). More than one-half of both exports and imports are with EU countries and German banks are generally among the best performers in the European banking sector (Germany pp).

In West Germany between 1948 and 1949, a council composed of members of the state legislatures created the Basic Law, or constitution that was approved by the state legislatures and by the United States, British, and French occupation authorities (Germany pp). The Basic Law established West Germany as a parliamentary democracy and a federation of states and has been amended many times, "most recently in the 1990s to help anchor the unification of East and West Germany in the constitution" (Germany pp).