Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2006) - Germany (2005)

Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2006) z Germany (2005)

	British Indian Ocean Territory (2006)	Germany (2005)

Administrative divisions	-	13 states (Laender, singular - Land) and 3 free states* (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen*
Age structure	-	0-14 years: 14.4% (male 6,078,885/female 5,766,065) 15-64 years: 66.7% (male 28,006,268/female 27,003,958) 65 years and over: 18.9% (male 6,359,776/female 9,216,438) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry
Airports	1 (2006)	550 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2006)	total: 331 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 51 1,524 to 2,437 m: 62 914 to 1,523 m: 71 under 914 m: 134 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 219 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 31 under 914 m: 185 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 54,400 sq km land: 60 sq km; Diego Garcia 44 sq km water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands	total: 357,021 sq km land: 349,223 sq km water: 7,798 sq km
Area - comparative	land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly smaller than Montana
Background	Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order that had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia.	As Europe's largest economy and most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the EC, which became the EU, and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern productivity and wages up to Western standards. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.
Birth rate	-	8.33 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $1.2 trillion expenditures: $1.3 trillion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Capital	-	Berlin
Climate	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds	temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind
Coastline	698 km	2,389 km
Constitution	-	23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990
Country name	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT	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
Death rate	-	10.55 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	-	NA
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel R. COATS embassy: Neustaedtische Kirchstrasse 4-5, 10117 Berlin; note - a new embassy will be built near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin; ground was broken in October 2004 and completion is scheduled for 2008 mailing address: PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE 09265 telephone: [49] (030) 8305-0 FAX: [49] (030) 8305-1215 consulate(s) general: Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	chief of mission: Ambassador Wolfgang Friedrich ISCHINGER chancery: 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-8140 FAX: [1] (202) 298-4249 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco
Disputes - international	Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia; in 2001 the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1965 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; the UK resists the Chagossians' demand for an immediate return to the islands; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest island in the chain;	none
Economic aid - donor	-	ODA, $5.6 billion (1998)
Economy - overview	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The country makes money by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps.	Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world - has become one of the slowest growing economies in the euro zone. A quick turnaround is not in the offing in the foreseeable future. Growth in 2001-03 fell short of 1%, rising to 1.7% in 2004. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor market - including strict regulations on laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis - have made unemployment a chronic problem. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could allow Germany to meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization, particularly if labor market rigidities are further addressed. In the short run, however, the fall in government revenues and the rise in expenditures have raised the deficit above the EU's 3% debt limit.
Electricity - consumption	NA kWh	519.5 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports	-	53.8 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports	-	45.8 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - production	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military	560 billion kWh (2003)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m	lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m
Environment - current issues	NA	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
Ethnic groups	-	German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish)
Exchange rates	-	euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner Tony CROMBIE (since January 2004); Administrator Tony HUMPHRIES (since February 2005); note - both reside in the UK cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch	chief of state: President Horst KOEHLER (since 1 July 2004) head of government: Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (since 27 October 1998); Vice Chancellor Joschka FISCHER (since 17 October 1998) cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor elections: president elected for a five-year 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 to be held 23 May 2009); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; election last held 22 September 2002 (next to be held September 2006) election results: Horst KOEHLER elected president; received 604 votes of the Federal Convention against 589 for Gesine SCHWAN; Gerhard SCHROEDER elected chancellor; percent of Federal Assembly vote 50.7%
Exports	-	12,990 bbl/day (2003)
Exports - commodities	-	machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles
Exports - partners	-	France 10.3%, US 8.8%, UK 8.3%, Italy 7.2%, Netherlands 6.2%, Belgium 5.6%, Austria 5.4%, Spain 5% (2004)
Fiscal year	-	calendar year
Flag description	white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag	three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 1% industry: 31% services: 68% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $28,700 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	1.7% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 E	51 00 N, 9 00 E
Geography - note	archipelago of 55 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility	strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea
Heliports	-	34 (2004 est.)
Highways	-	total: 230,735 km paved: 230,735 km (including 11,515 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (1999)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: 3.6% highest 10%: 25.1% (1997)
Illicit drugs	-	source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors; transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and European-produced synthetic drugs; major financial center
Imports	-	2.135 million bbl/day (2003)
Imports - commodities	-	machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals
Imports - partners	-	France 9%, Netherlands 8.3%, US 7%, Italy 6.1%, UK 5.9%, China 5.6%, Belgium 4.9%, Austria 4.2% (2004)
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
Industrial production growth rate	-	2.2% (2004 est.)
Industries	-	among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages; shipbuilding; textiles
Infant mortality rate	-	total: 4.16 deaths/1,000 live births male: 4.61 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	1.6% (2004 est.)
International organization participation	-	AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Irrigated land	0 sq km	4,850 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	-	Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)
Labor force	-	42.63 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	-	agriculture 2.8%, industry 33.4%, services 63.8% (1999)
Land boundaries	0 km	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
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)	arable land: 33.85% permanent crops: 0.59% other: 65.56% (2001)
Languages	-	German
Legal system	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply	civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	-	bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (613 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 representation; members serve four-year terms) and the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments are directly represented by votes; each has 3 to 6 votes depending on population and are required to vote as a block) elections: Federal Assembly - last held 18 September 2005 (next to be held September 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: Federal Assembly - percent of vote by party - CDU/CSU 35.2%, SPD 34.3%, FDP 9.8%, Left 8.7%, Greens 8.1%; seats by party - CDU/CSU 225, SPD 222, FDP 61, Left 54, Greens 51; Federal Council - current composition - NA
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: 78.65 years male: 75.66 years female: 81.81 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% (1997 est.) male: NA% female: NA%
Location	archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia	Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Map references	Political Map of the World	Europe
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Merchant marine	-	total: 332 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 5,721,495 GRT/6,810,631 DWT by type: cargo 69, chemical tanker 13, container 208, liquefied gas 3, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 25, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 5 (Finland 2, Netherlands 1, Switzerland 1, UAE 1) registered in other countries: 2,289 (2005)
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016	-
Military branches	-	Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr): Army (Heer), Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm), Air Force (Luftwaffe), Joint Support Service, Central Medical Service
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	$35.063 billion (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	-	1.5% (2003)
National holiday	-	Unity Day, 3 October (1990)
Nationality	-	noun: German(s) adjective: German
Natural hazards	NA	flooding
Natural resources	coconuts, fish, sugarcane	coal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber, arable land
Net migration rate	-	2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Pipelines	-	condensate 325 km; gas 25,293 km; oil 3,540 km; refined products 3,827 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	-	Alliance '90/Greens [Angelika BEER and Reinhard BUETIKOFER]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Edmund STOIBER, chairman]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Guido WESTERWELLE, chairman]; Left Party or PDS/WASG [Oskar LAFONTAINE and Gregor GYSI]; Party of Democratic Socialism or PDS [Lothar BISKY]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Franz MUENTEFERING]
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	business associations, employers' organizations; expellee, refugee, trade unions, and veterans groups
Population	no indigenous inhabitants note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960s and 1970s; in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; in November 2004, there were approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2006 est.)	82,431,390 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	NA
Population growth rate	-	0% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Bremen, Bremerhaven, Brunsbuttel, Duisburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Mainz, Rostock, Wilhemshaven
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)	AM 51, FM 787, shortwave 4 (1998)
Railways	-	total: 46,142 km (20,100 km electrified) standard gauge: 45,928 km 1.435-m gauge (20,084 km electrified) narrow gauge: 214 km 1.000-m gauge (16 km electrified); 24 km 0.750-m gauge (2004)
Religions	-	Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%
Sex ratio	-	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	-	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)	general assessment: Germany has one of the world's most technologically advanced telecommunications systems; as a result of intensive capital expenditures since reunification, the formerly backward system of the eastern part of the country, dating back to World War II, has been modernized and integrated with that of the western part domestic: Germany is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to many foreign countries international: country code - 49; Germany's international service is excellent worldwide, consisting of extensive land and undersea cable facilities as well as earth stations in the Inmarsat, Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems (2001)
Telephones - main lines in use	NA	54.35 million (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	64.8 million (2003)
Television broadcast stations	1 (1997)	373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain	flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation)	lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south
Total fertility rate	-	1.39 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	10.6% (2004 est.)
Waterways	-	7,300 km note: Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea (2004)

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