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Compare Lesotho (2002) - Germany (2003)

Compare Lesotho (2002) z Germany (2003)

 Lesotho (2002)Germany (2003)
 LesothoGermany
Administrative divisions 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka 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: 39% (male 433,229; female 427,926)


15-64 years: 56.3% (male 600,476; female 642,538)


65 years and over: 4.7% (male 43,691; female 60,094) (2002 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 corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry
Airports 28 (2001) 551 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways total: 4


over 3,047 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 1


under 914 m: 2 (2002)
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


914 to 1,523 m: 4


under 914 m: 20 (2002)
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: 30,355 sq km


land: 30,355 sq km


water: 0 sq km
total: 357,021 sq km


land: 349,223 sq km


water: 7,798 sq km
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Maryland slightly smaller than Montana
Background Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. King MOSHOESHOE was exiled in 1990. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 23 years of military rule. 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 30.72 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) 8.6 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Budget revenues: $76 million


expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million
revenues: $802 billion


expenditures: $825 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Capital Maseru Berlin
Climate temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm foehn wind
Coastline 0 km (landlocked) 2,389 km
Constitution 2 April 1993 23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990
Country name conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho


conventional short form: Lesotho


former: Basutoland
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 loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) 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 16.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) 10.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Debt - external $715 million (2001 est.) $NA
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Robert G. LOFTIS


embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section)


mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho


telephone: [266] 312666


FAX: [266] 310116
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: Ambassador Dr. Lebohang Kenneth MOLEKO


chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536


FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815
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 none none
Economic aid - donor - ODA, $5.6 billion (1998)
Economic aid - recipient $123.7 million (1995) (1995) -
Economy - overview Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho's primary natural resource is water. Its economy is based on subsistence agriculture, livestock, remittances from miners employed in South Africa, and a rapidly growing apparel-assembly sector. The number of mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years. A small manufacturing base depends largely on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries. Agricultural products are exported primarily to South Africa. Proceeds from membership in a common customs union with South Africa form the majority of government revenue. Although drought has decreased agricultural activity over the past few years, completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now permits the sale of water to South Africa, generating royalties for Lesotho. The pace of privatization has increased in recent years. In December 1999, the government embarked on a nine-month IMF staff-monitored program aimed at structural adjustment and stabilization of macroeconomic fundamentals. The government is in the process of applying for a three-year successor program with the IMF under its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. Lesotho has a marked inequality in income distribution and serious unemployment/underemployment problems that will not yield to short-run solutions. 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 100 million kWh (2000) 506.8 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2000) 43.9 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports 100 million kWh


note: electricity supplied by South Africa (2000)
44 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) 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: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m


highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m
lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m


highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m
Environment - current issues population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification; Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and redirects water to South Africa 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, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection


signed, but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping
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 Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish)
Exchange rates maloti per US dollar - 11.58786 (January 2002), 8.60918 (2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997); note - the Lesotho loti is at par with the South African rand which is also legal tender; maloti is the plural form of loti euros per US dollar - 1.06 (2002), 1.12 (2001), 1.09 (2000), 0.94 (1999), 1.76 (1998)
Executive branch chief of state: King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); note - King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995, while his father was in exile


head of government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI (since 23 May 1998)


cabinet: Cabinet


elections: none; according to the constitution, the leader of the majority party in the Assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution which came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to determine who is next in the line of succession, who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age, and may even depose the monarch
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 $250 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) 404,300 bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles
Exports - partners South African Customs Union 53.9%, North America 45.6% (1999) 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 1 April - 31 March calendar year
Flag description divided diagonally from the lower hoist side corner; the upper half is white, bearing the brown silhouette of a large shield with crossed spear and club; the lower half is a diagonal blue band with a green triangle in the corner three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold
GDP purchasing power parity - $5.3 billion (2001 est.) purchasing power parity - $2.16 trillion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 18%


industry: 38%


services: 44% (2001)
agriculture: 1%


industry: 31%


services: 68% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $2,450 (2001 est.) purchasing power parity - $26,200 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 2.6% (2001 est.) 0.2% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates 29 30 S, 28 30 E 51 00 N, 9 00 E
Geography - note landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea
Heliports - 40 (2002)
Highways total: 4,955 km


paved: 887 km


unpaved: 4,068 km (1996)
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%: 1%


highest 10%: 43% (1986-87)
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
Imports $720 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) 3.081 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals
Imports - partners South African Customs Union 89.5%, Asia 7% (1999) France 9.5%, Netherlands 8.2%, US 7.7%, UK 6.5%, Italy 6.4%, Belgium 5.2%, Austria 4%, China 4% (2002)
Independence 4 October 1966 (from UK) 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 15.5% (1999 est.) -2.1% (2002 est.)
Industries food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism 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 82.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 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) 6.9% (2001 est.) 1.3% (2002 est.)
International organization participation ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO 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) 1 (2000) 200 (2001)
Irrigated land 10 sq km (1998 est.) 4,850 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)
Labor force 700,000 economically active 41.9 million (2001)
Labor force - by occupation 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa industry 33.4%, agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999)
Land boundaries total: 909 km


border countries: South Africa 909 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: 10.71%


permanent crops: 0%


other: 89.29% (1998 est.)
arable land: 33.88%


permanent crops: 0.65%


other: 65.47% (1998 est.)
Languages Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa German
Legal system based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; 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 bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (33 members - 22 principal chiefs and 11 other members appointed by the ruling party) and the Assembly (120 seats, 80 by direct popular vote and 40 by proportional vote; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms); note - number of seats in the Assembly rose from 80 to 120 in the May 2002 election


elections: last held 25 May 2002 (next to be held NA May 2007)


election results: percent of vote by party - LCD 54%, BNP 21%, LPC 7%, other 18%; seats by party - LCD 76, BNP 21, LPC 5, other 18
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 years


male: 46.3 years


female: 47.8 years (2002 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: 83%


male: 72%


female: 93% (1999 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 99% (1977 est.)


male: NA%


female: NA%
Location Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Map references Africa Europe
Maritime claims none (landlocked) 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 - note The Lesotho Government in 1999 began an open debate on the future structure, size, and role of the armed forces, especially considering the Lesotho Defense Force's (LDF) history of intervening in political affairs. -
Military branches Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; including Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police Army, Navy (including naval air arm), Air Force, Medical Corps, Joint Support Service
Military expenditures - dollar figure $34 million (1999) $38.8 billion (2002)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP NA% 1.38% (2002)
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 526,332 (2002 est.) males age 15-49: 20,509,838 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 283,203 (2002 est.) 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, 4 October (1966) Unity Day, 3 October (1990)
Nationality noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)


adjective: Basotho
noun: German(s)


adjective: German
Natural hazards periodic droughts flooding
Natural resources water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land
Net migration rate -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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 Basotho Congress Party or BCP [Tseliso MAKHAKHE]; Basotho National Party or BNP [Maj. Gen. Justine Metsing LEKHANYA]; Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD [Phebe MOTEBANO, chairwoman; Pakalitha MOSISILI, leader] - the governing party; Lesotho People's Congress or LPC [Kelebone MAOPE]; United Democratic Party or UDP [Charles MOFELI]; Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP and Setlamo Alliance [Vincent MALEBO]; Progressive National Party or PNP [Chief Peete Nkoebe PEETE]; Sefate Democratic Party or SDP [Bofihla NKUEBE] 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 2,207,954


note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.)
82,398,326 (July 2003 est.)
Population below poverty line 49% (1999 est.) NA%
Population growth rate 1.33% (2002 est.) 0.04% (2003 est.)
Ports and harbors none Berlin, Bonn, Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Cologne, Dresden, Duisburg, Emden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Luebeck, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Rostock, Stuttgart
Radio broadcast stations AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) AM 51, FM 787, shortwave 4 (1998)
Radios NA (2002) -
Railways total: 2.6 km; note - owned by, operated by, and included in the statistics of South Africa


narrow gauge: 2.6 km 1.067-m gauge (1995)
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 Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% 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: 1.01 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female


total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2002 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: rudimentary system


domestic: consists of a few landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a minor radiotelephone communication system; a cellular mobile telephone system is growing


international: 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, 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 22,200 (2000) 50.9 million (March 2001)
Telephones - mobile cellular 21,600 (2000) 55.3 million (June 2001)
Television broadcast stations 1 (2000) 373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south
Total fertility rate 4.01 children born/woman (2002 est.) 1.37 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate 45% (2000 est.) 9.8% (2002 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)
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