Germany: General Background

Background and Government
Germany is a European country located in western-central Europe. It has of 16 states, which retain limited sovereignty, and covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres. Its largest and capital city is Berlin which the famous Berlin Wall is located. Their currency is the euro but before the euro it was the Deustche Mark. The primary language in Germany is German, but there are many minority languages as well such as Danish, Sorbian and Romany. Primary immigrant languages are Turkish, Kurdish, Polish and the Balkan languages. The population of Germany is around 80.7 million which makes it the most populous state in the European Union. Germany is one of the founding countries in the European Union, and is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, the OECD and the Council of Europe.Throughout history Germany has always been a powerful country, economically, politically and globally they always have a presence in the worlds markets. Germany has a federal republic government. Germany became one large nation when West and East Germany joined together on October 3, 1990 and in 1991 all other occupying countries (France, UK) released power over Germany. They have two main political leaders, their President Joachim Gauck and there Chancellor Angela Merkel. Both of these positions are elected by a Federal Convention, the President’s term can be up to five years and the Chancellors is four.
Economy
Germany’s economy is the sixth largest in the world according to GDP. Germany leads in exporting vehicles, machinery, chemicals and household equipment’s. Germany also has a highly skilled overall workforce dedicated to making top products. Right now low fertility rate and declining immigration are putting more pressure on the company’s welfare system. Due to some government regulations regarding the workforce, Germany is facing a slight increase in unemployment since the major recession they had in 2008-09. It was the worst depression Germany had faced since World War II. When the recession started Germany had a budget deficit of 4.1% in 2010, but after slower spending and higher tax revenues, Germany reduced its deficit and eventually gained a budget surplus in 2013. The exact unemployment rate in Germany is 5.3% as of 2013. Most laborers in Germany primarily focus on services or industrial jobs rather than agriculture. They have a pretty neutral inflation rate of 1.6%. Their primary exports are, vehicles, machinery, computer and electronic product, and chemicals with their strongest export partner being France then the United States. They have many primary imports as well such as; machinery, data processing equipment, oil and gas and agricultural products with their primary import partner being Netherlands then France.

Culture 91.5% of Germany’s population is German, 2.4% are Turkish and 6.1% are other mostly European nations. There are two main religions in Germany; Protestant and Roman Catholic making up more than half of the population. The majority age of citizens is 25-54 years of age which makes up 41.7% of the countries demography. They celebrate a national holiday on October 3 called Unity Day to celebrate their nation’s independence. Most of Germany’s cultural roots stem from a religious and secular background much like other European countries. Looking from a musical perspective, many of the famous composer’s you’ve heard of today are from Germany such as, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Germany is also known for its beautiful architecture and many philosophical minds that helped shaped the way Western society behaves today. When focusing on sports, the most popular sport by far is soccer. Germany is always a threat on the World cup stage having won the FIFA world cup four times. German culture is also known for its interesting foods. Bratwurst is a food made famous by the Germans, which is a sausage consisting of veal, pork or beef. Germany’s culture is rich and vibrant and many of its aspects have been popularized in North America.