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 Germany, officially the
Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland), is a
country in West-central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North
Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech
Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by
France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Its capital is Berlin.Most of Germany has a temperate climate in which
humid westerly winds predominate. In the north-west and the north,
rainfall occurs year round with a maximum during summer. Winters there
are mild and summers tend to be cool, though temperatures can exceed
30 °C for prolonged periods. In the east, the climate is more
continental; winters can be very cold, summers can be very warm, and
long dry periods are often recorded. Central and southern Germany are
transition regions which vary from moderately oceanic to continental.
Again, the maximum temperature can exceed 30 °C in summer.
With over 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the
most populous country in the European Union. However, its birth rate
of 1.39 children per mother is one of the lowest in the world, and the
federal statistics office estimates the population will shrink to
between 69 and 74 million by 2050.
The state known as Germany was unified as a
modern nation-state in 1871, when the German Empire was forged. The
Weimar Constitution came into effect after the First World War ended
in 1918. Following the era of the Third Reich and the Second
World War, Germany was partitioned into East and West Germany.
Only in 1990, following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and changes in
the Soviet Union, was Germany reunified. Since then, Germany has
taken a leading role in the European Union and NATO
Germany is now a federal, parliamentary
democratic republic. The Chancellor is the head of government and
exercises executive power, similar to the role of a Prime Minister.
Federal legislative power is vested in the parliament consisting of
the Bundestag and Bundesrat (Federal Council).
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