GERMANY

             Germany is located in central Europe between Netherlands and Poland and south of Denmark.  Germany also is bordered by the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Germany has a total area of 357,021 square kilometers with 7,798 square kilometers of water area. The climate in Germany has a cool and cloudy climate.  The winters are wet and the summers are occasionally warm. The capital of Germany is Berlin.

Background History

         Germany is a key member of Europe’s political, economic, and defense organizations. In the first half of the 20^th century Germany was instrumental in starting both the World Wars in Europe. Two German states were formed in 1949; the western Federal Republic of Germany or the FRG, and the eastern German Democratic Republic or GDR.

Since the end of the Cold War, Germany has invested funds into East Germany to bring productivity and wages up to Western standards in that part of the country. In January of 1999 Germany made the euro its currency.

Economy             

      Germany's economy is the fifth largest in the world. However, it has become the slowest growing economy in the European zone. In October of 2006, unemployment was at 7.1%. The modernization of the eastern economy continues to be a long-term process that is becoming very costly.  It is amounting roughly to $70 billion. Germany's aging population combined with high unemployment has pushed social security to a level exceeding contributions from workers.

Holidays

Germany has holidays like ours. For example, they celebrate New Years, Christmas Epiphany, and Labor Day.  They celebrate Ascension Day (much like our Easter) on May 24. They have other different holidays like Unity Day which is the day the Berlin Wall came down and the anniversary of the founding of the first real German Republic.  Germany’s Independence Day is celebrated on December 6.

Government & Natural Resources

            The government type is Federal Republic. To join the military you must be at least 18 years old. Germany’s national resources are coal, lignite, natural gas, iron, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction material, timber, and arable land.

Population      

Germany has a current population of 82,422,299. The birth rate is 8.25 births for every 1,000 people per year.  The death rate is 10.62 for every 1,000 people per year. Germany has 554 airports.  Only 332 of these air ports have paved runways. Germany has 47,201 kilometers of railroads. It also has 231,581 kilometers of roads.

Religion and Ethnicity

            There are three main religions in Germany. 34% of Germans are Roman Catholic.  Another 34% are Protestant.  The other mainstream religion is Muslim, which only makes up about 3.7% of the German population.  The other 28.3% have other religions or no religion. Germany does not have a very diverse ethnicity.  91.5% is made up of Germans.  2.4% are Turkish immigrants.  Then the last 6.1% are other or mixed.

Education         

Public school is free from ages 6 to 14.  When children come to school for the first time they are given a Kindertüte, which is a cone full of candy and treats.  When children reach 10 years old they are chosen to go to one of the four different school systems.  The children are chosen by evaluating their speed of learning. They are also selected on determining the student's ability, intelligence, and performance. The four school types are Hauptschule, Realschule, Gymnasium, and Gesamtschule.  Realschule gets the children ready for mid-level job in business.  Hauptschule is a mix of Realschule and  Gymnasium gets children ready to go to a university. Hauptschule is a mixture of Realschule and Gymnasium and offers some vocational options.  Gesamtschule is a combination of the other schools for students who are unsure or wish to change later.

      Food          

One of Germany’s main dishes is Spätzle, which are egg noodles. Then there is Kartoffelsalst which is like a potato salad. Sachertorte is like a Chocolate Apricot Cake. There is also Gulaschsuppe which is a goulash soup. Zwiebelkuchen is an onion pie.  And probably Germany’s favorite snack is Bretzeln, which are pretzels.

       Clothes             

For children there are aprons, blouses, socks, suspenders, shoes, shirts. They wear many other items that we don't usually wear here in America, like pettipants, lederhosens, bundhosens, dirndls, and plattlerhosens. For women there are purses, canes, hats, belts, jewelry, shoes, and many other things. Then the men wear lederhosens, suits, Trachten jackets, ties, socks, shirts and different shoes.