Germany – A Federal Parliamentary Republic in Western Central Europe

Germany, which is officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in western central Europe. It comprises of sixteen constituent states most of which retain limited sovereignty, with Berlin which is the largest city and its capital. Germany covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres having a temperate seasonal climate.

 It is the most popular member state in the European Union with inhabitants of around 80.6 million which is the largest population of any European Union country and the major political and economic power of the European continent besides being a historic leader in the field of theoretical, cultural and technical. Its territory stretches from the North Sea and the Baltic in the north with the Alps in the south and is crossed by some of the major rivers of Europe like the Danube, Elbe and Rhine.

After the Second World War, Germany had been split into the democratic West and the Communist East – German Democratic Republic and the Berlin Wall was the symbol of this division. Towards 1989, it fell and Germany was once again reunited a year later, Germany was responsible in the Reformation of Christianity.

Johannes Gutenburg – 1400-1468 printed the first Bible in Mainz in 1456 and the printing press permitted ordinary people to possess a copy of the bible which was earlier reserved only for the clergy and the noble people.

World’s Largest Economy 

Germany is the world’s largest economy, producing automobiles, engineering product, electronic and communication equipment, pharmaceuticals and chemicals etc. As a global leader is various industrial as well as technological segments, it is the world’s third largest exporter and the third largest importer of goods.

Besides this, Germany is also a well-developed country having a high standard of living, featuring some of the most comprehensive social security which includes the world’s oldest universal health care system. Germany has also been a home for most of the influential philosophers, scientist, music composers and inventors and is also known for its rich cultural and political history.

Germany was a founding member of the European Community in 1957 which then became the European Union in 1993. It is also a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the G20, the OECD as well as the Council of Europe.

Some Interesting Sites in the World

Some of the interesting sites are the Ulm Cathedral which is the tallest church in the world and is 161.53 metres in height while the Cologne Cathedral was the highest building of the world from 1880 to 1889. The world’s two biggest cuckoo clocks are located in Schonach im Schwarzwald, Baden-Wuttember, and one of the cuckoos measuring nearly five meters weighing 150 kg.

The oldest motorway network in the world is the German Autobahn, the first edition of which was completed in 1932 and also one of the densest which is the only one in Europe with no general speed limit. Besides these, there are also over 300 bunkers and hundreds of kilometres of underground tunnels which were built during the Nazi era which still remain under the modern city of Berlin though not accessible due to poor maintenance which are now crumbling due to floods from water tables.

The world’s largest fresco ceiling of 677 m2 is the Wuzburg Residence and is the work of Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.