Germany (German: Deutschland), officially: Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, abbreviated: FRG), is a federal republic in central Europe. The total area since the German reunification on October 3 1990 is 356.970 km2, and so is Germany after Russia, Ukraine, France, Spain and Sweden in size the sixth country in Europe. Germany is centrally located on the European continent and borders on no fewer than nine countries: Denmark (68 kilometers) in the north, Netherlands (577 km), Belgium (167 km), Luxembourg (135 km) and France (451 km) in the west, Switzerland (334 km) and Austria (784 km) in the south, and the Czech Republic (646 km) and Poland (456 km) in the east. Approximately one third of the current German territory is formed by the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Germany extends geographically from the Wadden island Sylt in the North to Oberstdorf in southern Bavaria, and Görlitz in the east to the Polish border to the far west of North Rhine-Westphalia. The longest distance from north to south is 876 km and from west to east 640 kilometers. The borders of Germany have a combined length of 3618 kilometers. Large islands include Rügen (930 km2), Usedom (German section 373 km2), Fehmarn (185 km2), Sylt (99 km2), and Norderney Borkum.
In 2002 Germany has about 83,250,000 inhabitants, of which 7.4 million foreigners. Germany has the largest population of all countries of the European Union. Germany is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, with more than 230 inhabitants per km2. Only Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have a higher population density. The most densely populated areas with over a million inhabitants are Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, the industrial Rhineland-Westphalia, the Rhine Main area, the Rhein-Neckar region, the region of Stuttgart, the industrial Leipzig-Halle, the region Chemnitz-Zwickau and the Dresden area. Over 87% of the total population lives in cities or urban areas. The largest concentration of population, approximately 11 million people, is located in the Ruhr region, where cities such as Essen, Duisburg and Dortmund are so close together that there borders are in mutually overflow. Of the more than 83 million inhabitants, 15 million people lives within the former East Germany border and another nearly 3.5 million in Berlin. There are relatively many people living in small villages of less than 5,000 inhabitants and medium-sized cities between 100.000-500.000 inhabitants.
In the north of Schleswig-Holstein living around 60,000 Danish speaking Germans of Danish origin. An equal number of the Slavic Sorbian minority in the east (Lansitz). Ca. 30% of the foreigners are Turks, Yugoslavs, Italians, Greeks, Poland, Bosnians and Croats. Due to the large flow of refugees to Germany from the end of the eighties from the Eastern bloc countries, particularly East Germany, Yugoslavia, Russia, but also from Africa and Asia, Germany restricted the right of asylum in 1993.
The population structure, population growth and net migration after the German reunification in 1991, a total made by other development in East and West Germany. First came the fall of the Berlin Wall, a large flow of migrants from eastern to western Germany in motion. Furthermore, the population grew after the unification by the strong inflow of foreign migrants. Of the total population 7.3 million inhabitants Germany estimated to have 7.3 million inhabitants of a foreign nationality. If the birth rate fell last in East Germany strong. Thus in 1991 there were 45% less children born than in 1988. Since 1994 this number is rising again. However, the aging population in eastern Germany today, there is still a population decline. In 1997 it has 1 million less people than in 1989.
Birth Rate 8.99%
Mortality rate 10.36%
Average life expectancy men 74.64
Average life expectancy women 81.09
Population 0.26%
Population Structure
0-14 years 15.4%
15-64 years 67.6%
65+ 17%
Infant mortality rate per 1000 live births 4.65
The population structure in former East Germany or the "new Länder" is very unbalanced. Because of the two world wars people from ages 50 to 80 are under represented. There is also a decline in births in the ages of 30 to 40 years as a result of the introduction of the pill. Around 1975 the number of births decreased significantly by allowing abortion. This was followed by a birth incentive of government policy limiting the number of births rose again and the 10 - to 20-year-olds represent strong in the East German population.
Naturally, the influences of the two world wars is also found in former West Germany. The differences in population structure are mainly in the period after 1975. Birth Control in West Germany was much less than in East Germany so the ages between 10 and 20 years in West Germany are much better represented and the population pyramid has a steadier course.