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

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.

Map of Germany