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Compare Guinea-Bissau (2008) - Germany (2003)

Compare Guinea-Bissau (2008) z Germany (2003)

 Guinea-Bissau (2008)Germany (2003)
 Guinea-BissauGermany
Administrative divisions 9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali; note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos 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: 41.2% (male 302,408/female 303,786)


15-64 years: 55.8% (male 394,799/female 427,055)


65 years and over: 3% (male 18,463/female 26,269) (2007 est.)
0-14 years: 14.9% (male 6,312,614; female 5,988,681)


15-64 years: 67.3% (male 28,213,316; female 27,240,648)


65 years and over: 17.8% (male 5,842,457; female 8,800,610) (2003 est.)
Agriculture - products rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry
Airports 27 (2007) 551 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways total: 3


over 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)
total: 328


over 3,047 m: 11


2,438 to 3,047 m: 54


1,524 to 2,437 m: 63


914 to 1,523 m: 69


under 914 m: 131 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 24


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 4


under 914 m: 19 (2007)
total: 223


2,438 to 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 2


914 to 1,523 m: 31


under 914 m: 189 (2002)
Area total: 36,120 sq km


land: 28,000 sq km


water: 8,120 sq km
total: 357,021 sq km


land: 349,223 sq km


water: 7,798 sq km
Area - comparative slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut slightly smaller than Montana
Background Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable political and military upheaval. In 1980, a military coup established authoritarian dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA as president. Despite setting a path to a market economy and multiparty system, VIEIRA's regime was characterized by the suppression of political opposition and the purging of political rivals. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994 VIEIRA was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military mutiny and resulting civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in May 1999. In February 2000, a transitional government turned over power to opposition leader Kumba YALA, after he was elected president in transparent polling. In September 2003, after only three years in office, YALA was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup, and businessman Henrique ROSA was sworn in as interim president. In 2005, former President VIEIRA was re-elected president pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation. 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 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, 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 2002, Germany and 11 other EU countries introduced a common European currency, the euro.
Birth rate 36.81 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) 8.6 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Budget revenues: $NA


expenditures: $NA
revenues: $802 billion


expenditures: $825 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Capital name: Bissau


geographic coordinates: 11 51 N, 15 35 W


time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Berlin
Climate tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm foehn wind
Coastline 350 km 2,389 km
Constitution 16 May 1984; amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and in 1996 23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990
Country name conventional long form: Republic of Guinea-Bissau


conventional short form: Guinea-Bissau


local long form: Republica da Guine-Bissau


local short form: Guine-Bissau


former: Portuguese Guinea
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 - euro (EUR)


note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries
Death rate 16.29 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) 10.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Debt - external $941.5 million (2000 est.) $NA
Diplomatic representation from the US the US Embassy suspended operations on 14 June 1998 in the midst of violent conflict between forces loyal to then President VIEIRA and military-led junta; the US Ambassador to Senegal is accredited to Guinea-Bissau 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


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: none; note - Guinea-Bissau does not have official representation in Washington, DC 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, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco
Disputes - international in 2006, political instability within Senegal's Casamance region resulted in thousands of Senegalese refugees, cross-border raids, and arms smuggling into Guinea-Bissau none
Economic aid - donor - ODA, $5.6 billion (1998)
Economic aid - recipient $79.12 million (2005) -
Economy - overview One of the five poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. Rice is the major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999-2002. Before the war, trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. Offshore oil prospecting is underway in several sectors but has not yet led to commercially viable crude deposits. The inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward economic development from a lamentably low base. In December 2003, the World Bank, IMF, and UNDP were forced to step in to provide emergency budgetary support in the amount of $107 million for 2004, representing over 80% of the total national budget. Government drift and indecision, however, resulted in continued low growth in 2002-06. Higher raw material prices boosted growth to 3.7% in 2007. Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy has turned in a weak performance throughout much of the 1990s and early 2000s. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's ageing 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. Growth in 2002 and 2003 fell short of 1%. 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 55.8 million kWh (2005) 506.8 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2005) 43.9 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2005) 44 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production 60 million kWh (2005) 544.8 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel: 61.8%


hydro: 4.2%


nuclear: 29.9%


other: 4.1% (2001)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m


highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m
lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m


highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m
Environment - current issues deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing 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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands


signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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 African 99% (includes Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1% German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish)
Exchange rates Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003)


note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro
euros per US dollar - 1.06 (2002), 1.12 (2001), 1.09 (2000), 0.94 (1999), 1.76 (1998)
Executive branch chief of state: President Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA (since 1 October 2005)


head of government: Prime Minister Martinho N'Dafa CABI (since 9 April 2007)


cabinet: NA


elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (no term limits); election last held 24 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010); prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature


election results: Joao Bernardo VIEIRA elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Joao Bernardo VIEIRA 52.4%, Malam Bacai SANHA 47.6%
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 22 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006)


election results: Johannes RAU elected president; percent of Federal Convention vote - 57.6%; Gerhard SCHROEDER elected chancellor; percent of Federal Assembly vote 50.7%
Exports 0 bbl/day (2004) 404,300 bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles
Exports - partners India 76.1%, Nigeria 18.1%, Italy 1.4% (2006) France 10.7%, US 10.3%, UK 8.4%, Italy 7.3%, Netherlands 6.1%, Austria 5.1%, Belgium 4.8%, Spain 4.6%, Switzerland 4.2% (2002)
Fiscal year calendar year calendar year
Flag description two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with a vertical red band on the hoist side; there is a black five-pointed star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold
GDP - purchasing power parity - $2.16 trillion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 62%


industry: 12%


services: 26% (1999 est.)
agriculture: 1%


industry: 31%


services: 68% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita - purchasing power parity - $26,200 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 3.7% (2007 est.) 0.2% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates 12 00 N, 15 00 W 51 00 N, 9 00 E
Geography - note this small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying further inland strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea
Heliports - 40 (2002)
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%: 0.5%


highest 10%: 42.4% (1991)
lowest 10%: 3.6%


highest 10%: 25.1% (1997)
Illicit drugs increasingly important transit country for South American cocaine enroute to Europe; enabling environment for trafficker operations thanks to pervasive corruption; archipelago-like geography around the capital facilitates drug smuggling 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 2,463 bbl/day (2004) 3.081 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals
Imports - partners Portugal 18.7%, Senegal 16.3%, Italy 13%, Pakistan 4.5% (2006) France 9.5%, Netherlands 8.2%, US 7.7%, UK 6.5%, Italy 6.4%, Belgium 5.2%, Austria 4%, China 4% (2002)
Independence 24 September 1973 (declared); 10 September 1974 (recognized by Portugal) 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 4.7% (2003 est.) -2.1% (2002 est.)
Industries agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks 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: 103.5 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 113.7 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 93.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total: 4.23 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 4.68 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 3.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 4% (2002 est.) 1.3% (2002 est.)
International organization participation ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, CPLP, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, 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, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - 200 (2001)
Irrigated land 250 sq km (2003) 4,850 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices appointed by the president and serve at his pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases); Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of appeals for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil cases valued at over $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases under $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases) Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)
Labor force 480,000 (1999) 41.9 million (2001)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture: 82%


industry and services: 18% (2000 est.)
industry 33.4%, agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999)
Land boundaries total: 724 km


border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 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: 8.31%


permanent crops: 6.92%


other: 84.77% (2005)
arable land: 33.88%


permanent crops: 0.65%


other: 65.47% (1998 est.)
Languages Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages German
Legal system based on French civil law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (100 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)


elections: last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held in 2008)


election results: percent of vote by party - PAIGC 31.5%, PRS 24.8%, PUSD 16.1%, UE 4.1%, APU 1.3%, 13 other parties 22.2%; seats by party - PAIGC 45, PRS 35, PUSD 17, UE 2, APU 1
bicameral Parliament or parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (603 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 22 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006); 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 38.5%, CDU/CSU 38.5%, Alliance '90/Greens 8.6%, FDP 7.4%, PDS 4%; seats by party - SPD 251, CDU/CSU 248, Alliance '90/Greens 55, FDP 47, PDS 2; Federal Council - current composition - NA
Life expectancy at birth total population: 47.18 years


male: 45.37 years


female: 49.04 years (2007 est.)
total population: 78.42 years


male: 75.46 years


female: 81.55 years (2003 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 42.4%


male: 58.1%


female: 27.4% (2003 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 99% (1977 est.)


male: NA%


female: NA%
Location Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Map references Africa Europe
Maritime claims territorial sea: 12 nm


exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation


exclusive economic zone: 200 NM


territorial sea: 12 NM
Merchant marine - total: 337 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,036,397 GRT/7,334,067 DWT


ships by type: cargo 94, chemical tanker 15, container 203, liquefied gas 3, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 5, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea passenger 7


note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Chile 1, Finland 5, Iceland 1, Netherlands 3, Switzerland 1 (2002 est.)
Military branches People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP): Army, Navy, Air Force; paramilitary force Army, Navy (including naval air arm), Air Force, Medical Corps, Joint Support Service
Military expenditures - dollar figure - $38.8 billion (2002)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 3.1% (2005 est.) 1.38% (2002)
Military manpower - availability - males age 15-49: 20,509,838 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service - males age 15-49: 17,399,936 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - military age - 18 years of age (2003 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually - males: 472,946 (2003 est.)
National holiday Independence Day, 24 September (1973) Unity Day, 3 October (1990)
Nationality noun: Guinean(s)


adjective: Guinean
noun: German(s)


adjective: German
Natural hazards hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires flooding
Natural resources fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land
Net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) 2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Pipelines - condensate 325 km; gas 25,289 km; oil 3,743 km; refined products 3,827 km (2003)
Political parties and leaders African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde or PAIGC [Carlos GOMES Junior]; Party for Social Renewal or PRS [Kumba YALA]; Democratic Social Front or FDS; Electoral Union or UE; Guinea-Bissau Civic Forum/Social Democracy or FCGSD [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; Guinea-Bissau Democratic Party or PDG; Guinea-Bissau Socialist Democratic Party or PDSG [Serifo BALDE]; Labor and Solidarity Party or PST [Iancuba INDJAI]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Victor MANDINGA]; Party for Renewal and Progress or PRP; Progress Party or PP [Ibrahima SOW]; Union for Change or UM [Amine SAAD]; Union of Guinean Patriots or UPG [Francisca VAZ]; United Platform or UP (coalition formed by PCD, FDS, FLING, and RGB-MB); United Popular Alliance or APU; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD 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]; Party of Democratic Socialism or PDS [Lothar BISKY]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Gerhard SCHROEDER, chairman]
Political pressure groups and leaders NA employers' organizations; expellee, refugee, trade unions, and veterans groups
Population 1,472,780 (July 2007 est.) 82,398,326 (July 2003 est.)
Population below poverty line NA% NA%
Population growth rate 2.052% (2007 est.) 0.04% (2003 est.)
Ports and harbors - Berlin, Bonn, Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Cologne, Dresden, Duisburg, Emden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Luebeck, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Rostock, Stuttgart
Radio broadcast stations AM 1 (transmitter out of service), FM 4, shortwave 0 (2001) AM 51, FM 787, shortwave 4 (1998)
Railways - total: 45,514 km (21,000 km electrified)


standard gauge: 45,276 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 (2002)
Religions indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5% Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%
Sex ratio at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 0.995 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.924 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.703 male(s)/female


total population: 0.945 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
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: 0.66 male(s)/female


total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal 18 years of age; universal
Telephone system general assessment: small system


domestic: combination of microwave radio relay, open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and cellular communications; fixed-line teledensity less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity reached 7 per 100 in 2005


international: country code - 245
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: 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 10,200 (2005) 50.9 million (March 2001)
Telephones - mobile cellular 95,000 (2005) 55.3 million (June 2001)
Television broadcast stations NA (2005) 373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south
Total fertility rate 4.79 children born/woman (2007 est.) 1.37 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate NA% 9.8% (2002 est.)
Waterways rivers are navigable for some distance; many inlets and creeks give shallow-water access to much of interior (2007) 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)
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