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Germany as a Region:
Although less clearly defined by geography than the other natural
territories of western Europe (such as Italy, the Spanish peninsula, France
or Britain), the area broadly identified as Germany has clear boundaries
on three sides - the Baltic to the north, the Rhine to the west, the Alps
or the Danube to the south. Only to the east is there no natural border
(a fact which has caused much strife and confusion in European history).
The region becomes associated with the name Germany in the 1st century
BC, when the conquest of Gaul makes the Romans aware for the first time
that there is an ethnic and linguistic distinction between the Celts (or
Gauls) and their aggressive neighbours, the Germans.
Location: Central Europe, bordering
the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland,
south of Denmark.
Geographic coordinates: 51 00 N, 9 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area:
total: 357,021 sq km
land: 349,223 sq km
water: 7,798 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Montana
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:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Climate: temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters
and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind
Terrain: lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps
in south
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m
highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m
Natural resources: coal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore,
copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber,
arable land
Land use:
arable land: 33.85%
permanent crops: 0.59%
other: 65.56% (2001)
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-Persistent Organic Pollutants,
Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile
Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine
Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber
94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: strategic location on North European Plain
and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea
Source: http://www.cia.gov |
