Overview
Located in the heart of Western Europe, Germany is the continent's most industrialized and populous country. Famed for its technological achievements, it has also produced some of Europe's most celebrated composers, philosophers and poets. Achieving national unity later than other European nations, Germany quickly caught up economically and militarily, before defeats in World War I and II left the country shattered, facing the difficult legacy of Nazism, and divided between Europe's Cold War blocs.
Map
Facts
| Full name | Federal Republic of Germany |
|---|---|
| Population | 82.2 million (UN, 2009) |
| Capital | Berlin |
| Area: | 357,027 sq km (137,849 sq miles) |
| Major language: | German |
| Major religion | Christianity |
| Life expectancy | 77 years (men), 82 years (women) (UN) |
| Monetary unit | 1 euro = 100 cents |
| Main exports: | Motor vehicles, electrical machinery, metals |
| GNI per capita | US $42,440 (World Bank, 2008) |
| Internet domain: | .de |
| International dialling code | +49 |
BBC iPlayer
Radio
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How David Hasselhoff Brought Down The Wall11 Nov 09His single, Looking For Freedom, reached number one in Austria, Switzerland, and West Germany, helped by his bright idea of taking the talking car from Knight Rider on stage with him. Meanwhile, the wheels of history turned.
Listento " How David Hasselhoff Brought Down The Wall " now -
Discovery - 11/11/200914 Nov 09Like Germany itself, Carl Zeiss was divided after 1945 and the history of the two Zeiss factories, both specialising in optical technologies, mirrors post-war political, social and technological separation and subsequent re-unification. Reporter Tim Whewell charts the history of the company,...
Listento " Discovery - 11/11/2009 " now
Blogs
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Pope Benedict's international policy08 Nov 09 | William Crawley - Will & Testament
Those earliest - most formative years - were at a time when Germany was in the hands of the Nazi regime. Forgive me if this point is too opaque, but let me use an illustration.
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Polish spirit05 Jul 07 | Mark Mardell - The Reporters: Mark Mardell
I pointed out that France, Germany and Britain had very different, if often shared, histories and very different attitudes towards Europe. On the other hand, despite their different historical experiences, Estonia or the Czech Republic seemed quite similar to the Danes or Swedes in their approach...
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Georgia: Soft power and multilateralism tested to13 Aug 08 | Paul Mason - Newsnight: Paul Mason
Next Germany's foreign minister, Frank Walter Steinmeyer: asked should Russia be kicked out of the G8: "It just doesn't seem to me to be very smart in such a time of crisis to decide whether we should revert to the previous situation."
Knowledge
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Timeline: RussiaCountry profiles
1918 - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk brings war with Germany to an end, but at the cost of Russia ceding large tracts of territory; Tsar Nicholas killed; Baltic states, Finland and Poland cede as the Russian Empire collapses. 1918-22 - Civil war between the Red Army and White Russians, or...
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History - Historic Figures: Konrad AdenauerHistory
Konrad Adenauer, 1962 Adenauer was West Germany's first chancellor and a key figure in rebuilding the country after World War Two. Konrad Adenauer was born in Cologne on 5 January 1876, the son of a lawyer.
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Science & Nature - Climate ChangeScience & Nature
2 Chile 115 China 418 Colombia 62 Cook Islands 1 Costa Rica 25 Croatia 86 Cyprus 61 Czech Republic 1,050 Denmark 662 Dominican Republic 23 Ecuador 9 Egypt 90 El Salvador 11 Estonia 176 Faroe Islands 4 Fiji 5 Finland 1,473 France 3,157 French Polynesia 3 Gambia 1 Georgia 9 Germany 8,627 Ghana 2...
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History - World Wars: President Truman and theHistory
The administration skilfully built public support for vast US aid to Europe under the Marshall Plan, which, when implemented, spurred US-European trade and western European recovery, integrated western Germany, and assuaged France. US financial and economic controls precluded Moscow's taking part,...
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Radio 4 Empire - The Scramble for Africa and theRadio 4 Empire
The Foreign Secretary Lord Granville to the British ambassador to Germany, Lord Ampthill, on German policy on Africa. "It was evident that there had been some misunderstanding on both sides.
Coming Up
Radio
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Heart And Soul: Open To AllBBC World Service, 15 Nov 09 11:32
It was in 1985 that Protestant pastor Christian Führer put a simple sign outside his church, St Nikolaiâs, in the industrial city of Leipzig in East Germany. "Open...
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Discovery: 1989 - ZeissBBC World Service, 15 Nov 09 13:32
Like Germany itself, Carl Zeiss was divided after 1945 and the history of the two Zeiss factories, both specialising in optical technologies, mirrors post-war political, social and technological separation and subsequent re-unification. Reporter Tim Whewell charts the history of the company,...
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Let The Peoples SingBBC Radio 3, 15 Nov 09 18:30
Including performances from the nine finalists: choirs spanning thousands of miles - from Latvia to Canada, Germany to Finland - competing in three categories: adult, youth and children. This is the one of the highest accolades for any non-professional choir in the world, and the music in the...
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Health CheckBBC World Service, 15 Nov 09 22:32
When the Berlin Wall fell on this day twenty years ago, its effect on health probably wasnât the on the minds of the inhabitants anywhere in Germany. But for epidemiologists the joining of these two countries provided a natural experiment of how fundamental political change can affect health.
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Word of MouthBBC Radio 4, 17 Nov 09 16:00
Also, political journalist Anne McElvoy tells of her lingustic adventures in East Germany both before and after 1989, and Dr Zoran Milutinovic examines how Serbo-Croat has changed since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. ...
Sport
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Schedule/results 200914 Nov 09 | Results & Schedule
Kiel, Germany, Giacobbe Fragomeni v Zsolt Erdei (WBC cruiserweight).
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World Cup qualifying reaches climax13 Nov 09 | InternationalsThe tiny Gulf state is desperate to make it to South Africa after missing out to Trinidad & Tobago in a similar play-off ahead of Germany 2006. The triumphant team is almost certain to be installed as World Cup rank outsiders - not that it will matter to the jubilant fans.
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Europa League as it happened05 Nov 09 | Football1902: Back under way in Germany and in Italy. Team news on the way for Everton v Benfica, which starts at 8.05...
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Germany worry over 2010 safety22 Oct 09 | AfricanGermany have already qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa The German Football Federation (DFB) will be sending its security chief to South Africa to to inspect the team's World Cup headquarters near Pretoria. Helmut...
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Wednesday football as it happened21 Oct 09 | FootballGermany) 1856: Paul Scholes is taken off and Michael Owen comes on to partner Dimitar Berbatov up front. 1855:...
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Sport's greatest cover up - part two06 Aug 09A two-part Discovery special for BBC World Service - investigates the legacy of East Germany's sporting system. Our second programme looks at what happened after the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Listento " Sport's greatest cover up - part two " now -
Hitzlsperger praises Spanish passing29 Jun 08Interview: Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger says the quality of Spain's passing enabled them to keep the German's at bay after taking the lead in the Euro 2008 final.
Watch " Hitzlsperger praises Spanish passing " now -
Interview: Michael Ballack16 Jun 08Germany captain Michael Ballack is delighted to progress to the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 after beating Austria 1-0 despite a nervy performance.
Watch " Interview: Michael Ballack " now -
Pogatetz targets quarter-finals after draw12 Jun 08Interview: Austria's Emanuel Pogatetz Austria's Emanuel Pogatetz believes his side can now reach the quarter-finals of Uefa Euro 2008 following the 1-1 draw with Poland, despite needing a win against Germany in the final group game.
Watch " Pogatetz targets quarter-finals after draw " now -
Bilic sees postives in narrow victory08 Jun 08Interview: Slaven Bilic Croatia's team reaction to beating Austria Croatia coach Slaven Bilic insists his side will be ready to face Germany following their disappointing performance in the 1-0 win over Austria in Uefa Euro 2008.
Watch " Bilic sees postives in narrow victory " now
Around the web
News From Other Sources
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Automatically Copy Selected Text with AutoCopy13 Nov 09 | Computerworld
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Top Article: Freedom's Not Just Another Word13 Nov 09 | Times of India
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Optical imaging of the peri-tumoral inflammatory13 Nov 09 | Bioscience Technology Online
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Backing a world first11 Nov 09 | Sky Sports
Weather
Weather for Berlin
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conditions |  sunny |  heavy rain |  sunny intervals |
| Max Temperature | Max:12°C/54°F | Max:10°C/50°F | Max:12°C/54°F |
| Min Temperature | Min:7°C/45°F | Min:8°C/46°F | Min:7°C/45°F |
News
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Driving a car using your phone14 Nov 09Researchers in Germany have developed software that allows you to drive a car - with a mobile phone. It is part of project aimed at creating a fully automated vehicle.
Watch " Driving a car using your phone " now -
Franz Strasser's Germany: Journey's end13 Nov 09Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he has travelled through his former home of eastern Germany, creating a video blog which records his personal impressions. After two weeks and thousands of kilometres on the German Autobahn, he has returned home to Washington, D.C.
Watch " Franz Strasser's Germany : Journey's end " now -
Berlin Wall: A dissident's story13 Nov 09Germany is marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with major events planned for the 9th November. Tom Sello, a dissident in communist East Berlin, recalls his role producing anti-GDR literature in an underground information centre.
Watch " Berlin Wall: A dissident's story " now -
'I was in a disco when the Wall fell'13 Nov 09Germany is marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a series of major events. Conny Rakow lived near the Bornholmer crossing point in the north of former communist East Berlin.
Watch " 'I was in a disco when the Wall fell' " now -
Life behind the Berlin Wall13 Nov 09As Germany marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, three people who lived in communist East Berlin tell their stories of life behind the barrier. Watch longer versions of these interviews below.
Watch " Life behind the Berlin Wall " now -
Leaders' call to action in Berlin09 Nov 09 | EuropeThe wall's fall in 1989 saw Germany reunify, prompting the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Cold War's end. Communist East Germany erected the 155-km (96-mile)
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Berlin remembers fall of the Wall09 Nov 09 | Europe
The event two decades ago led Germany to reunify, caused the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Cold War's end. Communist East Germany erected the 155-km (96-mile)
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Fall of the Berlin Wall: Readers react09 Nov 09 | Europe
On 9 November 1989, the first people crossed the border between East and West Germany. To mark the anniversary, world leaders will symbolically walk across the first East German border crossing to open in 1989.
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Russian mixed feelings 20 years after Berlin09 Nov 09 | Europethat Nato would not expand beyond its then limits if Soviet forces left East Germany. One former Nato official in the audience challenged the value of this promise, saying that it was given in a very different time and place, when there was still a Soviet Union, but Dr Yurgens called this...
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Cautious relief in press on Lisbon04 Nov 09 | EuropeGERMANY'S FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE It would be desirable if the British Conservatives, too, were now to acknowledge the normative force of what is a point of fact. In internal horse-trading, their leader [David]
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