Area: 356,854 sq km (137,817 sq. miles)
Population: 82,369,552 (2008)
Capital: Berlin
Language: German
Religion: 51% Protestant, 36% Catholic
Time Zone: GMT +1 (GMT+2 in summer)
Electricity: 220V AC, 50Hz
Passport: Valid passport required by
Currency: Deutsche Mark (DM) = 100 Pfennigs
Health: No special precautions
Climate: Temperate throughout the country, with warm summers and cold winters
International Dialling Code: 011+49
Germany is located in the heart of Europe and is surrounded by Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland. Germany is a made up of sixteen smaller states, each with it’s own distinct culinary tradition. The most well known states are probably Bavaria, Hamburg and Berlin (whose capital is the city, Berlin, is both the capital of the state and the capital of Germany).
The Federal Republic of Germany shares frontiers with Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland. The landscape is exceedingly varried, with the Rhine, Bavaria and the Black Forest being the most famous features of Western Germany. In eastern Germany the country is lake-studded with undulating lowlands which give way to the hills and mountains of Lausitzer Bergland., the Saxon Hills in the Elbe Valley and the Erzgebirge, while the Thuringian and Harz ranges in the central part.
