GEOGRAPHY
Location:
Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between
the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Geographic coordinates:
51 00 N, 9 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area:
total: 356,910 sq km
land: 349,520 sq km
water: 7,390 sq km
note: includes the formerly separate Federal Republic
of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and Berlin, following
formal unification on 3 October 1990
Area—comparative:
slightly smaller than Montana
Land boundaries:
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
Coastline: 2,389
km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate
and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional
warm, tropical foehn wind; high relative humidity
Terrain: lowlands
in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Freepsum Lake -2 m
highest point: Zugspitze 2,962 m
Natural resources:
iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural
gas, salt, nickel
Land use:
arable land: 33%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 15%
forests and woodland: 31%
other: 20% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 4,750
sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards:
flooding
Environment—current
issues: emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries
and lead emissions from vehicle exhausts (the result of continued
use of leaded fuels) 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
Environment—international
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
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
Geography—note:
strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance
to the Baltic Sea.
