Germany: from Bavaria to the Baltic Sea

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Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is a federal republic made up of 16 confederate states (Länder), 3 of which are metropolitan in character (Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen). Reunited on October 3, 1990, after the division into two states after the Second World War. This nation is part of the European Union. Germany is the main economy of the European Union.

Germany is located in central-northern Europe. In the far north it faces the Baltic Sea to the east and the North Sea to the west. While in the south, where it borders with Switzerland and Austria, it is closed by the northern offshoots of the Alps.

To the east the Oder River marks part of the border with Poland. While the Ore Mountains and the Bohemian Forest separate it from the Czech Republic. To the west Germany borders France, from which it is separated for a stretch by the Rhine River. Further north it borders with the states of the so-called Benelux and that is with Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.

AN ECONOMIC POWER

Germany has many urban centers of great importance. Among these, the capital Berlin is located in the north-east of the country. To the south the most important city is Munich, while to the north is Hamburg. The Rhine valley comprises an extensive conurbation, the Ruhr, formed by an aggregation of several cities, including Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, and Essen. Other important cities are Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart, Hanover, Nuremberg, Bremen, Leipzig and Dresden.

GEOGRAPHY

German territory consists of a vast lowland. Then there is a central area formed by low mountains, the so-called belt of central hills (Mittelgebirge). While to the south lies the mountain range of the Bavarian Alps where the highest mountain in Germany is the Zugspitze, 2,962 meters.

Along the northern coasts, both on the North Sea and on the Baltic Sea, there are the estuaries of the main rivers that cross Germany and run from south to north. The most important are the Oder which flows into the Baltic Sea, the Elbe, the Weser and the Ems which flow into the North Sea.

The Rhine, a navigable river for a long stretch, is the most important river in the country, it crosses the most industrialized and inhabited area of Germany. The Danube is also born in Germany, which crosses Bavaria and then continues its course towards the Black Sea.

The climate of Germany. Tourist attractions.

• Area: 357,030 sqkm
• Population: 82,530,000 (minorities of turks, italians, serbs, poles, greeks, spaniards, austrians)
• State Capital: Berlin
• Language: German is the official language..
• Religion: Protestant 42,8 %, Roman Catholic 32,6 %, Islam 3 %, Hebrew 0,1 %, others 22,4 %
• Money: Euro
• Time: Central European time (UTC +1). Clocks go forward in spring and back in autumn. The switch to summer time (forward one hour) happens on the last Sunday in March (Summer Daylight saving time UTC+2). Winter time (back one hour) starts on the last Sunday in October.

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