Dominican Republic (2001) | Germany (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 29 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 district* (distrito); Azua, Baoruco, Barahona, Dajabon, Distrito Nacional*, Duarte, Elias Pina, El Seibo, Espaillat, Hato Mayor, Independencia, La Altagracia, La Romana, La Vega, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Monsenor Nouel, Monte Cristi, Monte Plata, Pedernales, Peravia, Puerto Plata, Salcedo, Samana, Sanchez Ramirez, San Cristobal, San Juan, San Pedro de Macoris, Santiago, Santiago Rodriguez, Valverde | 16 states (Laender, singular - Land); 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:
34.11% (male 1,495,477; female 1,431,406) 15-64 years: 60.99% (male 2,664,679; female 2,569,398) 65 years and over: 4.9% (male 199,240; female 221,277) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years:
15.57% (male 6,635,328; female 6,289,994) 15-64 years: 67.82% (male 28,619,237; female 27,691,698) 65 years and over: 16.61% (male 5,336,664; female 8,456,615) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs | potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry |
Airports | 29 (2000 est.) | 613 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
13 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total:
322 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 55 1,524 to 2,437 m: 67 914 to 1,523 m: 63 under 914 m: 124 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
16 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 10 (2000 est.) |
total:
291 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 53 under 914 m: 225 (2000 est.) |
Area | total:
48,730 sq km land: 48,380 sq km water: 350 sq km |
total:
357,021 sq km land: 349,223 sq km water: 7,798 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire | slightly smaller than Montana |
Background | A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative, rule for much of the 20th century was brought to an end in 1996 when free and open elections ushered in a new government. | As Western Europe's richest and most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed the country 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 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 formed a common European currency, the euro. |
Birth rate | 24.77 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.16 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$2.3 billion expenditures: $2.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $867 million (1999 est.) |
revenues:
$996 billion expenditures: $1.036 trillion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
Capital | Santo Domingo | Berlin |
Climate | tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation; seasonal variation in rainfall | temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm foehn wind |
Coastline | 1,288 km | 2,389 km |
Constitution | 28 November 1966 | 23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Dominican Republic conventional short form: none local long form: Republica Dominicana local short form: none |
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 |
Currency | Dominican peso (DOP) | deutsche mark (DEM); euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the euro as a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in Germany at a fixed rate of 1.95583 deutsche marks per euro and will replace the local currency for all transactions in 2002 |
Death rate | 4.7 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.42 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.7 billion (2000 est.) | $NA |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Charles T. MANATT embassy: corner of Calle Cesar Nicolas Penson and Calle Leopoldo Navarro, Santo Domingo mailing address: Unit 5500, APO AA 34041-5500 telephone: [1] (809) 221-2171 FAX: [1] (809) 686-7437 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador John C. KORNBLUM (was due to resign on 20 January 2001) embassy: Neustaedtische Kirchstrasse 4-5, 10117 Berlin mailing address: PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE 09265 telephone: [49] (30) 238-5174 FAX: [49] (30) 238-6290 consulate(s) general: Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Roberto Bienvenido SALADIN-SELIN chancery: 1715 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6280 FAX: [1] (202) 265-8057 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Houston, Jacksonville, Mobile, and Ponce (Puerto Rico) |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Juergen CHROBOG chancery: 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-8141 FAX: [1] (202) 298-4249 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle consulate(s): Wellington (America Samoa) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $5.6 billion (1998) |
Economic aid - recipient | $239.6 million (1995) | - |
Economy - overview | The Dominican economy experienced dramatic growth over the last decade, even though the economy was hit hard by Hurricane Georges in 1998. Although the country has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest ten percent enjoy 40% of national income. In December 2000, the new MEJIA administration passed broad new tax legislation which it hopes will provide enough revenue to offset rising oil prices and to service foreign debt. | Germany possesses the world's third most technologically powerful economy after the US and Japan, but structural market rigidities - including the substantial non-wage costs of hiring new workers - have made unemployment a long-term, not just a cyclical, problem. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy remains a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from western Germany amounting to roughly $70 billion. Growth picked up to 3% in 2000, largely due to recovering global demand; newly passed business and income tax cuts are expected to keep growth strong in 2001. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are transforming the German economy to meet the challenges of European economic integration and globalization in general. |
Electricity - consumption | 6.78 billion kWh (1999) | 495.181 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 39.5 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 40.5 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 7.29 billion kWh (1999) | 531.377 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
87.19% hydro: 12.4% nuclear: 0% other: 0.41% (1999) |
fossil fuel:
63.29% hydro: 3.59% nuclear: 30.3% other: 2.82% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Lago Enriquillo -46 m highest point: Pico Duarte 3,175 m |
lowest point:
Freepsum Lake -2 m highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m |
Environment - current issues | water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages coral reefs; deforestation; Hurricane Georges damage | 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 currently attempting to define mechanism for ending the use of nuclear power; 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:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | white 16%, black 11%, mixed 73% | German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish) |
Exchange rates | Dominican pesos per US dollar - 16.888 (January 2001), 16.415 (2000), 16.033 (1999), 15.267 (1998), 14.265 (1997), 13.775 (1996) | euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); deutsche marks per US dollar - 1.69 (January 1999), 1.7597 (1998), 1.7341 (1997), 1.5048 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez (since 16 August 2000); Vice President Milagros ORTIZ-BOSCH (since 16 August 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez (since 16 August 2000); Vice President Milagros ORTIZ-BOSCH (since 16 August 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year term; election last held 16 May 2000 (next to be held NA May 2004) election results: Raphael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez elected president; percent of vote - Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez (PRD) 49.87%, Danilo MEDINA (PLD) 24.95%, Joaquin BALAGUER (PRSC) 24.6% |
chief of state:
President Johannes RAU (since 1 July 1999) head of government: Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (since 27 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 1999 (next to be held 23 May 2004); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; election last held 27 September 1998 (next to be held in the fall of 2002) election results: Johannes RAU elected president; percent of Federal Convention vote - 57.6%; Gerhard SCHROEDER elected chancellor; percent of Federal Assembly - 52.7% |
Exports | $5.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | $578 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats | machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles |
Exports - partners | US 66.1%, Netherlands 7.8%, Canada 7.6%, Russia 7.4%, UK 4.5% (1999 est.) | EU 55.3% (France 11.3%, UK 8.3%, Italy 7.3%, Netherlands 6.3%, Belgium/Luxembourg 5.1%), US 10.1%, Japan 2.0% (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | a centered white cross that extends to the edges divides the flag into four rectangles - the top ones are blue (hoist side) and red, and the bottom ones are red (hoist side) and blue; a small coat of arms is at the center of the cross | three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $48.3 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1.936 trillion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
11.3% industry: 32.2% services: 56.5% (1999 est.) |
agriculture:
1.2% industry: 30.4% services: 68.4% (1999) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $23,400 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 8% (2000 est.) | 3% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 19 00 N, 70 40 W | 51 00 N, 9 00 E |
Geography - note | shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti (eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic, western one-third is Haiti) | strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea |
Heliports | - | 59 (2000 est.) |
Highways | total:
12,600 km paved: 6,224 km unpaved: 6,376 km (1996) |
total:
656,140 km paved: 650,891 km (including 11,400 km of expressways) unpaved: 5,249 km (all-weather) (1998 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
1.6% highest 10%: 39.6% (1989) |
- |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada | 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 |
Imports | $9.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $505 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals | machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals |
Imports - partners | US 25.7%, Venezuela 9.2%, Mexico 4%, Japan 3%, Panama 2.6% (1999 est.) | EU 52.2% (France 10.5%, Netherlands 7.6%, Italy 7.4%, UK 6.9%, Belgium/Luxembourg 5.6%), US 8.1%, Japan 4.9% (1999) |
Independence | 27 February 1844 (from Haiti) | 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 | 8% (2000 est.) | 4.7% (2000) |
Industries | tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco | 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 | 34.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 4.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 7.9% (2000 est.) | 2% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, Caricom (observer), ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 24 (2000) | 123 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 2,300 sq km (1993 est.) | 4,750 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are elected by a Council made up of members of the legislative and executive branches with the president presiding) | Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat) |
Labor force | 2.3 million - 2.6 million | 40.5 million (1999 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | services and government 58.7%, industry 24.3%, agriculture 17% (1998 est.) | industry 33.4%, agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999) |
Land boundaries | total:
275 km border countries: Haiti 275 km |
total:
3,618 km border countries: Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czech Republic 646 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, Luxembourg 135 km, Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km, Switzerland 334 km |
Land use | arable land:
21% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 43% forests and woodland: 12% other: 15% (1993 est.) |
arable land:
33% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 31% other: 20% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Spanish | German |
Legal system | based on French civil codes | 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 National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (30 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (149 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 16 May 1998 (next to be held NA May 2002); Chamber of Deputies - last held 16 May 1998 (next to be held NA May 2002) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRD 24, PLD 3, PRSC 3; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRD 83, PLD 49, PRSC 17 |
bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (656 seats usually, but 669 for the 1998 term; 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 27 September 1998 (next to be held by the fall of 2002); 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 - SPD 40.9%, Alliance '90/Greens 6.7%, CDU/CSU 35.1%, FDP 6.2%, PDS 5.1%; seats by party - SPD 298, Alliance '90/Greens 47, CDU/CSU 245, FDP 43, PDS 36; Federal Council - current composition - votes by party - SPD-led states 26, CDU-led states 28, grand coalitions 15 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
73.44 years male: 71.34 years female: 75.64 years (2001 est.) |
total population:
77.61 years male: 74.47 years female: 80.92 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 82.1% male: 82% female: 82.2% (1995 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% (1977 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti | Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Europe |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 6 NM |
continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,587 GRT/1,165 DWT ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
total:
457 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,414,724 GRT/7,952,776 DWT ships by type: cargo 169, chemical tanker 10, combination ore/oil 1, container 243, liquefied gas 2, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 7, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 12, short-sea passenger 7 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, National Police | Army, Navy (includes Naval Air Arm), Air Force, Medical Corps, Border Police, Coast Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $180 million (FY98) | $32.8 billion (FY98) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.1% (FY98) | 1.5% (FY98) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,281,035 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49:
20,851,022 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,430,776 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49:
17,760,412 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
87,404 (2001 est.) |
males:
482,318 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 February (1844) | Unity Day, 3 October (1990) |
Nationality | noun:
Dominican(s) adjective: Dominican |
noun:
German(s) adjective: German |
Natural hazards | lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding; periodic droughts | flooding |
Natural resources | nickel, bauxite, gold, silver | iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land |
Net migration rate | -3.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 96 km; petroleum products 8 km | crude oil 2,500 km (1998) |
Political parties and leaders | Dominican Liberation Party or PLD [Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna]; Dominican Revolutionary Party or PRD [Hatuey DE CAMPS]; Social Christian Reformist Party or PRSC [Joaquin BALAGUER Ricardo] | Alliance '90/Greens [Renate KUENAST and Fritz KUHN]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Edmund STOIBER, chairman]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Wolfgang GERHARDT, chairman]; note - Wolfgang GERHARDT will probably be replaced by Guido WESTERWELLE in May 2001; Party of Democratic Socialism or PDS [Gabi ZIMMER]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Gerhard SCHROEDER, chairman] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Collective of Popular Organizations or COP | employers' organizations; expellee, refugee, trade unions, and veterans groups |
Population | 8,581,477 (July 2001 est.) | 83,029,536 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 25% (1999 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.63% (2001 est.) | 0.27% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Barahona, La Romana, Puerto Plata, San Pedro de Macoris, Santo Domingo | Berlin, Bonn, Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Cologne, Dresden, Duisburg, Emden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Luebeck, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Rostock, Stuttgart |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 120, FM 56, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 51, FM 767, shortwave 4 (1998) |
Radios | 1.44 million (1997) | 77.8 million (1997) |
Railways | total:
757 km standard gauge: 375 km 1.435-m gauge (Central Romana Railroad) narrow gauge: 142 km 0.762-m gauge (Dominican Republic Government Railway) note: 240 km operated by sugar companies in various gauges (0.558-m, 0.762-m, 1.067-m gauges) (2000) |
total:
40,826 km including at least 14,253 km electrified and 14,768 km double- or multiple-tracked (1998) note: since privatization in 1994, Deutsche Bahn AG (DBAG) no longer publishes details of the tracks it owns; in addition to the DBAG system there are 102 privately owned railway companies which own an approximate 3,000 km to 4,000 km of the total tracks |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95% | Protestant 38%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 1.7%, unaffiliated or other 26.3% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth:
1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory; married persons regardless of age
note: members of the armed forces and police cannot vote |
18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: relatively efficient system based on islandwide microwave radio relay network international: 1 coaxial submarine cable; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
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 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 and includes roaming service to many foreign countries international: satellite earth stations - 14 Intelsat (12 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean), 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), 2 Intersputnik (1 Atlantic Ocean region and 1 Indian Ocean region); 7 submarine cable connections; 2 HF radiotelephone communication centers; tropospheric scatter links |
Telephones - main lines in use | 709,000 (1997) | 45.2 million (1997)
note: 46.5 million main lines were installed by yearend 1998 |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 130,149 (1997) | 15.318 million (April 1999) |
Television broadcast stations | 25 (1997) | 373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed | lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south |
Total fertility rate | 2.97 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.38 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 13.8% (1999 est.) | 9.9% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | none | 7,500 km
note: major rivers include the Rhine and Elbe; Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic Sea and North Sea (1999) |