The 2008 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

43.4 years male: 42.2 years female: 44.7 years (2008 est.)

      Population growth rate:

      −0.044% (2008 est.)

      Birth rate:

      8.18 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

      Death rate:

      10.8 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

      Net migration rate:

      2.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

      Sex ratio:

      at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

      Infant mortality rate:

      total: 4.03 deaths/1,000 live births male: 4.46 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

      Life expectancy at birth:

      total population: 79.1 years male: 76.11 years female: 82.26 years (2008 est.)

      Total fertility rate:

      1.41 children born/woman (2008 est.)

      HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

      0.1% (2001 est.)

      HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

      43,000 (2001 est.)

      HIV/AIDS - deaths:

      fewer than 1,000 (2003 est.)

      Nationality:

      noun: German(s) adjective: German

      Ethnic groups:

      German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek,

       Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish)

      Religions:

      Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%

      Languages:

      German

      Literacy:

      definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.)

      School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

      total: 16 years male: 16 years female: 16 years (2006)

      Education expenditures:

      4.6% of GDP (2004)

      People - note:

      second most populous country in Europe after Russia

      Government

       Germany

      Country name:

      conventional long form: Federal Republic of Germany conventional short form: Germany local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland local short form: Deutschland former: German Empire, German Republic, German Reich

      Government type:

      federal republic

      Capital:

      name: Berlin geographic coordinates: 52 31 N, 13 24 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

      Administrative divisions:

      16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern (Bavaria), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarland, Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen (Thuringia); note - Bayern, Sachsen, and Thueringen refer to themselves as free states (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat)

      Independence:

      18 January 1871 (German Empire unification); divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and later, France) in 1945 following World War II; Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) proclaimed 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zones; German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone; unification of West Germany and East Germany took place 3 October 1990; all four powers formally relinquished rights 15 March 1991

      National holiday:

      Unity Day, 3 October (1990)

      Constitution:

      23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united Germany 3 October 1990

      Legal system:

      civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

      Suffrage:

      18 years of age; universal

      Executive branch:

      chief of state: President Horst KOEHLER (since 1 July 2004) head of government: Chancellor Angela MERKEL (since 22 November 2005) cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor elections: president elected for a five-year term (eligible for a second term) by a Federal Convention, including all members of the Federal Assembly and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments; election last held 23 May 2004 (next scheduled for 23 May 2009); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; Bundestag vote for Chancellor last held 22 November 2005 (next will follow the national elections to be held by autumn 2009) election results: Horst KOEHLER elected president; received 604 votes of the Federal Convention against 589 for Gesine SCHWAN; Angela MERKEL elected chancellor; vote by Federal Assembly 397 to 202 with 12 abstentions

      Legislative branch:

      bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (614 seats; elected by popular vote under a system combining direct and proportional representation; a party must win 5% of the national vote or three direct mandates to gain proportional representation and caucus recognition; to serve four-year terms) and the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments are directly represented by votes; each has three to six votes depending on population and are required to vote as a block) elections: Bundestag - last held on 18 September 2005 (next to be held no later than autumn 2009); note - there are no elections for the Bundesrat; composition is determined by the composition of the state-level governments; the composition of the Bundesrat has the potential to change any time one of the 16 states holds an election election results: Bundestag - percent of vote by party - CDU/CSU 35.2%, SPD 34.3%, FDP 9.8%, Left 8.7%, Greens 8.1%, other 3.9%; seats by party - CDU/CSU 225, SPD 222, FDP 61, Left 53, Greens 51, independents 2

      Judicial branch:

      Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)

      Political parties and leaders:

      Alliance '90/Greens [Claudia ROTH and Cem OEZDEMIR]; Christian

       Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or

       CSU [Horst SEEHOFER]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Guido

       WESTERWELLE]; Left Party or Die Linke [Lothar BISKY and Oskar

       LAFONTAINE]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Franz MUENTEFERING]

      Political pressure groups and leaders:

      other: business associations and employers' organizations; religious, trade unions, immigrant, expellee, and veterans groups

      International organization participation:

      ADB (nonregional members), AfDB (nonregional members), Arctic