Location:
Central Europe, bordering the North Sea and the Baltic Sea between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Area:
Total area: 356,910 km^2
Land area: 349,520 km^2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Montana.
Note:
includes the formerly separate Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and Berlin following formal unification on 3 October 1990.
Land boundaries:
Total 3,621 km
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 depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing 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
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 km2 (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, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes
Note:
strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea
from http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/brd.html
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