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Compare Laos (2007) - Germany (2005)
Compare Laos (2007) z Germany (2005)
| Laos (2007) | Germany (2005) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 15 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural), 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamxai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louangnamtha, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan (Vientiane)*, Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xekong, Xiangkhoang | 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: 41.2% (male 1,349,352/female 1,338,252)
15-64 years: 55.7% (male 1,795,029/female 1,835,168) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 90,188/female 114,009) (2007 est.) |
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 | sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry | potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry |
| Airports | 42 (2007) | 550 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 9
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2007) |
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: 33
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 23 (2007) |
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: 236,800 sq km
land: 230,800 sq km water: 6,000 sq km |
total: 357,021 sq km
land: 349,223 sq km water: 7,798 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly larger than Utah | slightly smaller than Montana |
| Background | Modern-day Laos has its roots in the ancient Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, established in the 14th Century under King FA NGUM. For three hundred years Lan Xang included large parts of present-day Cambodia and Thailand, as well as all of what is now Laos. After centuries of gradual decline, Laos came under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the government ending a six-century-old monarchy and instituting a strict socialist regime closely aligned to Vietnam. A gradual return to private enterprise and the liberalization of foreign investment laws began in 1986. Laos became a member of ASEAN in 1997. | 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 | 34.98 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 8.33 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $392.3 million
expenditures: $541.3 million (2006 est.) |
revenues: $1.2 trillion
expenditures: $1.3 trillion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
| Capital | name: Vientiane
geographic coordinates: 17 58 N, 102 36 E time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Berlin |
| Climate | tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April) | temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 2,389 km |
| Constitution | promulgated 14 August 1991 | 23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990 |
| Country name | conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic
conventional short form: Laos local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao 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 |
| Death rate | 11.28 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 10.55 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
| Debt - external | $3.179 billion (2006) | NA |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Ravic R. HUSO
embassy: 19 Rue Bartholonie, That Dam Road, Vientiane mailing address: American Embassy Vientiane, APO AP 96546 telephone: [856] 21-26-7000 FAX: [856] 21-26-7190 |
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 | chief of mission: Ambassador PHIANE Philakone
chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416 FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923 |
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 | Southeast Asian states have enhanced border surveillance to check the spread of avian flu; talks continue on completion of demarcation with Thailand but disputes remain over islands in the Mekong River; concern among Mekong Commission members that China's construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water levels | none |
| Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $5.6 billion (1998) |
| Economic aid - recipient | $379 million (2006 est.) | - |
| Economy - overview | The government of Laos, one of the few remaining official Communist states, began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 6% per year in 1988-2006 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian financial crisis beginning in 1997. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with a primitive infrastructure. It has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, and limited external and internal telecommunications, though the government is sponsoring major improvements in the road system with possible support from Japan. Electricity is available in only a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture, dominated by rice, accounts for about half of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. The economy will continue to benefit from aid by the IMF and other international sources and from new foreign investment in hydropower and mining. Construction will be another strong economic driver, especially as hydroelectric dam and road projects gain steam. Several policy changes since 2004 may help spur growth. In late 2004, Laos gained Normal Trade Relations status with the US, allowing Laos-based producers to benefit from lower tariffs on exports. Laos is taking steps to join the World Trade Organization in the next few years; the resulting trade policy reforms will improve the business environment. On the fiscal side, a value-added tax (VAT) regime, slated to begin in 2008, will streamline the government's inefficient tax system. | 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 | 1.193 billion kWh (2005) | 519.5 billion kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - exports | 728 million kWh (2005) | 53.8 billion kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - imports | 326 million kWh (2005) | 45.8 billion kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - production | 1.715 billion kWh (2005) | 560 billion kWh (2003) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Mekong River 70 m
highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m |
lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m
highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m |
| Environment - current issues | unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water | 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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 | Lao Loum (lowland) 68%, Lao Theung (upland) 22%, Lao Soung (highland) including the Hmong and the Yao 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1% | German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish) |
| Exchange rates | kips per US dollar - 10,235 (2006), 10,820 (2005), 10,585.5 (2004), 10,569 (2003), 10,056.3 (2002) | euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000) |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since 8 June 2006); Vice President BOUN-GNANG Volachit (since 8 June 2006)
head of government: Prime Minister BOUASONE Bouphavanh (since 8 June 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers Maj. Gen. ASANG Laoli (since May 2002), Maj. Gen. DOUANGCHAI Phichit (since 8 June 2006), SOMSAVAT Lengsavat (since 26 February 1998), and THONGLOUN Sisoulit (since 27 March 2001) cabinet: Ministers appointed by president, approved by National Assembly elections: president and vice president elected by National Assembly for five-year terms; election last held 8 June 2006 (next to be held in 2011); prime minister nominated by president and elected by National Assembly for five-year term election results: CHOUMMALI Saignason elected president; BOUN-GNANG Volachit elected vice president; percent of National Assembly vote - 100%; BOUASONE Bouphavanh elected prime minister; percent of National Assembly vote - 97% |
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 | NA bbl/day | 12,990 bbl/day (2003) |
| Exports - commodities | garments, wood products, coffee, electricity, tin | machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles |
| Exports - partners | Thailand 41%, Vietnam 9.7%, China 4.1%, Malaysia 4% (2006) | 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 | 1 October - 30 September | calendar year |
| Flag description | three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band | three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 42.7%
industry: 31% services: 26.2% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 31% services: 68% (2002 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $28,700 (2004 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 8.3% (2006 est.) | 1.7% (2004 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 18 00 N, 105 00 E | 51 00 N, 9 00 E |
| Geography - note | landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand | 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%: 3.4%
highest 10%: 28.5% (2002) |
lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 25.1% (1997) |
| Illicit drugs | estimated opium poppy cultivation in 2005 was 5,600 hectares, about a 45% decrease from 2004; estimated potential opium production in 2005 was 28 metric tons, a significant decrease from 200 metric tons in 2003; unsubstantiated reports of domestic methamphetamine production; growing domestic methamphetamine problem | 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 | NA bbl/day | 2.135 million bbl/day (2003) |
| Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods | machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals |
| Imports - partners | Thailand 68.8%, China 11.3%, Vietnam 5.5% (2006) | France 9%, Netherlands 8.3%, US 7%, Italy 6.1%, UK 5.9%, China 5.6%, Belgium 4.9%, Austria 4.2% (2004) |
| Independence | 19 July 1949 (from France) | 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 | 15.7% (2006 est.) | 2.2% (2004 est.) |
| Industries | copper, tin, and gypsum mining; timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism, cement | 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: 81.44 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 90.91 deaths/1,000 live births female: 71.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
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) | 6.8% (2006 est.) | 1.6% (2004 est.) |
| International organization participation | ACCT, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, EAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) | 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 | 1,750 sq km (2003) | 4,850 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Judicial branch | People's Supreme Court (the president of the People's Supreme Court is elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the National Assembly Standing Committee; the vice president of the People's Supreme Court and the judges are appointed by the National Assembly Standing Committee) | Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat) |
| Labor force | 2.1 million (2006 est.) | 42.63 million (2004 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 80%
industry and services: 20% (2005 est.) |
agriculture 2.8%, industry 33.4%, services 63.8% (1999) |
| Land boundaries | total: 5,083 km
border countries: Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 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: 4.01%
permanent crops: 0.34% other: 95.65% (2005) |
arable land: 33.85%
permanent crops: 0.59% other: 65.56% (2001) |
| Languages | Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages | German |
| Legal system | based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and socialist practice; has not accepted 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 Assembly (115 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 30 April 2006 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LPRP 113, independents 2 |
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: 55.89 years
male: 53.82 years female: 58.04 years (2007 est.) |
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: 68.7% male: 77% female: 60.9% (2001 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1997 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
| Location | Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam | Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark |
| Map references | Southeast Asia | Europe |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
| Merchant marine | total: 1 ship (1000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2007) |
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 | Laos is one of the world's least developed countries; the Lao People's Armed Forces are small, poorly funded, and ineffectively resourced; there is little political will to allocate sparse funding to the military, and the armed forces' gradual degradation is likely to continue; the massive drug production and trafficking industry centered in the Golden Triangle makes Laos an important narcotics transit country, and armed Wa and Chinese smugglers are active on the Lao-Burma border (2005) | - |
| Military branches | Lao People's Army (LPA; includes Riverine Force), Air Force | 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 | 0.5% (2006) | 1.5% (2003) |
| National holiday | Republic Day, 2 December (1975) | Unity Day, 3 October (1990) |
| Nationality | noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
adjective: Lao or Laotian |
noun: German(s)
adjective: German |
| Natural hazards | floods, droughts | flooding |
| Natural resources | timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones | coal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber, arable land |
| Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
| Pipelines | refined products 540 km (2006) | condensate 325 km; gas 25,293 km; oil 3,540 km; refined products 3,827 km (2004) |
| Political parties and leaders | Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [CHOUMMALI Saignason]; other parties proscribed | 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 | noncommunist political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975 | business associations, employers' organizations; expellee, refugee, trade unions, and veterans groups |
| Population | 6,521,998 (July 2007 est.) | 82,431,390 (July 2005 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 30.7% (2005 est.) | NA |
| Population growth rate | 2.37% (2007 est.) | 0% (2005 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | - | Bremen, Bremerhaven, Brunsbuttel, Duisburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Mainz, Rostock, Wilhemshaven |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 7, FM 14, shortwave 2 (2006) | 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 | Buddhist 65%, animist 32.9%, Christian 1.3%, other and unspecified 0.8% (1995 census) | Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3% |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.008 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.978 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.791 male(s)/female total population: 0.984 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: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: service to general public is poor but improving; the government relies on a radiotelephone network to communicate with remote areas
domestic: multiple service providers; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular subscribership about 10 per 100 persons international: country code - 856; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) |
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 | 90,067 (2006) | 54.35 million (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 638,200 (2006) | 64.8 million (2003) |
| Television broadcast stations | 7 (includes 1 station relaying Vietnam Television from Hanoi) (2006) | 373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus | lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south |
| Total fertility rate | 4.59 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 1.39 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 2.4% (2005 est.) | 10.6% (2004 est.) |
| Waterways | 4,600 km
note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,900 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2007) |
7,300 km
note: Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea (2004) |
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