Germany

Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark

51 00 N, 9 00 E

Europe

357,022 sq km

348,672 sq km

8,350 sq km

Three times the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Montana

3,694 km

Austria 801 km; Belgium 133 km; Czechia 704 km; Denmark 140 km; France 418 km; Luxembourg 128 km; Netherlands 575 km; Poland 447 km; Switzerland 348 km

2,389 km

12 nm

200 nm

200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind

Lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south

Zugspitze 2,963 m

Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.5 m

263 m

Coal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber, arable land

47.5% (2023 est.)

Arable land: 33.4% (2023 est.)

Permanent crops: 0.6% (2023 est.)

Permanent pasture: 13.5% (2023 est.)

32.8% (2023 est.)

15% (2023 est.)

5,065 sq km (2020)

Lake Constance (shared with Switzerland and Austria) - 540 sq km

Stettiner Haff/Zalew Szczecinski (shared with Poland) - 900 sq km

Donau (Danube) river source (shared with Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km; Elbe river mouth (shared with Czechia [s]) - 1,252 km; Rhein (Rhine) (shared with Switzerland [s], France, and Netherlands [m]) - 1,233 km note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Rhine-Maas (198,735 sq km), (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km)

Second most populous country in Europe; a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations, particularly in the far-western part of the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia

Flooding

Strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea; most major rivers in Germany -- the Rhine, Weser, Oder, Elbe -- flow northward; the Danube, which originates in the Black Forest, flows eastward

84,012,284 (2025 est.)

41,517,301

42,494,983

German(s)

German

German 85.4%, Turkish 1.8%, Ukrainian 1.4%, Syrian 1.1%, Romanian 1%, Poland 1%, other/stateless/unspecified 8.3% (2022 est.)

German (official); note - Danish, Frisian, Sorbian, and Romani are official minority languages; Low German, Danish, North Frisian, Sater Frisian, Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbian, and Romani are recognized as regional languages

Das World Factbook, die unverzichtbare Quelle für grundlegende Informationen. (German) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Roman Catholic 24.8%, Protestant 22.6%, Muslim 3.7%, other 5.1%, none 43.8% (2022 est.)

13.8% (male 5,925,800/female 5,688,603)

62.5% (male 26,705,657/female 25,875,865)

23.7% (2024 est.) (male 8,941,245/female 10,981,930)

61.3 (2025 est.)

22.4 (2025 est.)

38.9 (2025 est.)

2.6 (2025 est.)

46.9 years (2025 est.)

45.5 years

48.3 years

-0.13% (2025 est.)

8.87 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

11.96 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

1.79 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

Second most populous country in Europe; a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations, particularly in the far-western part of the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia

77.8% of total population (2023)

0.13% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

3.574 million BERLIN (capital), 1.788 million Hamburg, 1.576 million Munich, 1.144 million Cologne, 796,000 Frankfurt (2023)

1.05 male(s)/female

1.04 male(s)/female

1.03 male(s)/female

0.81 male(s)/female

0.98 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

29.9 years (2020 est.)

4 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

3 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)

3.5 deaths/1,000 live births

2.7 deaths/1,000 live births

81.9 years (2024 est.)

79.6 years

84.4 years

1.59 children born/woman (2025 est.)

0.77 (2025 est.)

Urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)

Rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)

Total: 100% of population (2022 est.)

Urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)

Rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)

Total: 0% of population (2022 est.)

12.7% of GDP (2022)

20.5% of national budget (2022 est.)

4.53 physicians/1,000 population (2022)

7.8 beds/1,000 population (2020 est.)

Urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)

Rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)

Total: 100% of population (2022 est.)

Urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)

Rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)

Total: 0% of population (2022 est.)

22.3% (2016)

10.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

5.57 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

3.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

1.97 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

17.2% (2025 est.)

19.4% (2025 est.)

15% (2025 est.)

0.6% (2016 est.)

54.4% (2023 est.)

5.2% of GDP (2022 est.)

10.7% national budget (2022 est.)

17 years (2023 est.)

17 years (2023 est.)

17 years (2023 est.)

Air pollution and acid rain from coal-burning utilities and industries; water pollution from raw sewage and industrial effluents; hazardous waste disposal

Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

None of the selected agreements

Temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind

47.5% (2023 est.)

Arable land: 33.4% (2023 est.)

Permanent crops: 0.6% (2023 est.)

Permanent pasture: 13.5% (2023 est.)

32.8% (2023 est.)

15% (2023 est.)

77.8% of total population (2023)

0.13% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

600.192 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

163.407 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

277.688 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

159.097 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

10.6 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

476.2 kt (2022-2024 est.)

1,197.8 kt (2019-2021 est.)

459 kt (2019-2021 est.)

110 kt (2019-2021 est.)

50.628 million tons (2024 est.)

49.8% (2022 est.)

10.713 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

14.005 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

1.075 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

154 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

8

Bergstraße-Odenwald ; Harz, Braunschweiger Land; Swabian Alb; TERRA.vita; Vulkaneifel; Thuringia Inselsberg -Drei Gleichen; Muskauer Faltenbogen / Łuk Mużakowa (includes Poland); Ries (2023)

Federal Republic of Germany

Germany

Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Deutschland

German Reich

The origin of the name is unclear; it may come from Celtic words meaning "neighboring people," or it may derive from Germanic words meaning either "spear man" or "head man;" the native designation "Deutsch" comes from the Old High German "diutisc" meaning "national"

Federal parliamentary republic

Berlin

52 31 N, 13 24 E

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

The origin of the name is unclear but may be related to the Old Slavic (Polabian) word berl or birl, meaning "swamp" and referring to the original settlement site by the Spree River

16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern (Bavaria), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen (Hesse), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarland, Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen (Thuringia)

Civil law system

Previous 1919 (Weimar Constitution); latest drafted 10-23 August 1948, approved 12 May 1949, promulgated 23 May 1949, entered into force 24 May 1949

Proposed by Parliament; passage and enactment into law require two-thirds majority vote by both the Bundesrat (upper house) and the Bundestag (lower house) of Parliament; articles including those on basic human rights and freedoms cannot be amended

Accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

No

At least one parent must be a German citizen or a resident alien who has lived in Germany at least 8 years

Yes, but requires prior permission from government

8 years

18 years of age; universal; age 16 for some state and municipal elections

President Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (since 19 March 2017)

Chancellor Friedrich MERZ (since 6 May 2025)

Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) recommended by the chancellor, appointed by the president

President indirectly elected by a Federal Convention consisting of all members of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and an equivalent number of delegates indirectly elected by the state parliaments; president serves a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); following the most recent Federal Parliament election, the party or coalition with the most representatives usually elects the chancellor, who is appointed by the president to serve a renewable 4-year term

President: 13 February 2022 chancellor: 6 May 2025

2025: Friedrich MERZ (CDU) elected chancellor in second round; Federal Parliament vote - 325 to 289 2022: Frank-Walter STEINMEIER reelected president; Federal Convention vote count - Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (SPD) 1,045, Max OTTE (CDU) 140, Gerhard TRABERT (The Left) 96, Stefanie GEBAUER (Free Voters) 58, abstentions 86

President: February 2027

Bicameral

German Bundestag (Deutscher Bundestag)

630 (all directly elected)

Mixed system

Full renewal

4 years

2/23/2025

Christian Democratic Union (CDU) (164); Alternative for Germany (AfD) (152); Social Democratic Party (SPD) (120); Green Party (85); Left Party (Die Linke) (64); Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) (44); Other (1)

32.4%

February 2029

Federal Council (Bundesrat)

69 (all appointed)

SPD 23; CDU 17; Green Party 15; Left Party 4; CSU 3; FW 3; FDP 2; other 2

34.8%

Federal Court of Justice (court consists of 127 judges, including the court president, vice presidents, presiding judges, other judges; organized into 25 Senates subdivided into 12 civil panels, 5 criminal panels, and 8 special panels); Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (consists of 2 Senates each subdivided into 3 chambers, each with a chairman and 8 members)

Federal Court of Justice judges selected by the Judges Election Committee, which consists of the Secretaries of Justice from each of the 16 federated states and 16 members appointed by the Federal Parliament; judges appointed by the president; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; half of Federal Constitutional Court judges are elected by the House of Representatives and half by the Senate; judges appointed for 12-year terms with mandatory retirement at age 68

Federal Administrative Court; Federal Finance Court; Federal Labor Court; Federal Social Court; each of the 16 federated states or Land has its own constitutional court and a hierarchy of ordinary (civil, criminal, family) and specialized (administrative, finance, labor, social) courts; two English-speaking commercial courts opened in 2020 in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg -- the Stuttgart Commercial Court and the Mannheim Commercial Court

Alliance '90/Greens Alternative for Germany or AfD Christian Democratic Union or CDU Christian Social Union or CSU Free Democratic Party or FDP Free Voters or FW The Left or Die Linke Social Democratic Party or SPD

Ambassador Jens HANEFELD (since 5 September 2025)

4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007

[1] (202) 298-4000

[1] (202) 298-4261

Info@washington.diplo.de https://www.germany.info/us-en

Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco

Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires Alan MELTZER (since July 2024)

Pariser Platz 2, 10117 Berlin Clayallee 170, 14191 Berlin (administrative services)

5090 Berlin Place, Washington DC 20521-5090

[49] (30) 8305-0

[49] (30) 8305-1215

BerlinPCO@state.gov https://de.usembassy.gov/

Dusseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CD, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNSOM, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

18 January 1871 (establishment of the German Empire); divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and France) in 1945 after World War II; Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) proclaimed on 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zones; German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed on 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone; West Germany and East Germany unified on 3 October 1990, with all four powers formally relinquishing rights on 15 March 1991; notable earlier dates: 10 August 843 (Eastern Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire); 2 February 962 (crowning of OTTO I, recognized as the first Holy Roman Emperor)

German Unity Day, 3 October (1990)

Description: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold history: the colors can be traced back to the medieval banner of the Holy Roman Emperor -- a black eagle with red claws and beak on a gold field

Eagle

Black, red, yellow

Germany’s coat of arms is the world’s oldest, said to date back to 1200, and uses the country’s national colors; it features the oldest European national symbol, an eagle known as the Bundesadler (Federal Eagle); the coat of arms has varied over time for military or political reasons, but the eagle has always been part of the design; the Federal Republic of Germany adopted this version in 1950

“Lied der Deutschen”(Song of the Germans)

August Heinrich HOFFMANN VON FALLERSLEBEN/Franz Joseph HAYDN

First adopted 1922; the anthem, also known as "Deutschlandlied" (Song of Germany), was originally adopted for its connection to the March 1848 liberal revolution; the Nazis later appropriated the first verse -- specifically the phrase "Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles" (Germany, Germany above all) -- to promote nationalism, and the anthem was banned after 1945; in 1952, West Germany adopted the third verse as its national anthem; in 1990, it became the national anthem for the reunited Germany

56 (54 cultural, 2 natural)

Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin (c); Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin (c); Speyer Cathedral (c); Aachen Cathedral (c); Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau, and Bernau (c); Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura (c); Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter, and Church of Our Lady in Trier (c); Hanseatic City of Lübeck (c); Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof (c); Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square (c); Pilgrimage Church of Wies (c); Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at Brühl (c); St Mary's Cathedral and St Michael's Church at Hildesheim (c); Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch (c); Maulbronn Monastery Complex (c); Collegiate Church, Castle and Old Town of Quedlinburg (c); Cologne Cathedral (c); Castle Church in Wittenberg (c); Classical Weimar (c); Wartburg Castle (c); Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz (c); Monastic Island of Reichenau (c); Berlin Modernism Housing Estates (c); Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps (c); Moravian Church Settlements (c); Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus (c); The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement (c); Archaeological Border complex of Hedeby and the Danevirke (c); Naumburg Cathedral (c); Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt (c); ShUM Sites of Speyer, Worms and Mainz (c); The Great Spa Towns of Europe (c); Jewish-Medieval Heritage of Erfurt (c); Schwerin Residence Ensemble (c); The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Schachen and Herrenchiemsee (c); The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Schachen and Herrenchiemsee (c)

Leading export-driven, core EU and eurozone economy; key automotive, chemical, engineering, finance, and green energy industries; growth stalled by energy crisis and declining exports; tight labor market with falling working-age population; fiscal rebalancing with phaseout of energy price supports

$5.247 trillion (2024 est.)

$5.26 trillion (2023 est.)

$5.274 trillion (2022 est.)

-0.2% (2024 est.)

-0.3% (2023 est.)

1.4% (2022 est.)

$62,800 (2024 est.)

$62,700 (2023 est.)

$62,900 (2022 est.)

$4.66 trillion (2024 est.)

2.3% (2024 est.)

5.9% (2023 est.)

6.9% (2022 est.)

0.8% (2024 est.)

25.8% (2024 est.)

63.9% (2024 est.)

49.9% (2023 est.)

21.2% (2023 est.)

21.5% (2023 est.)

0.2% (2023 est.)

43.4% (2023 est.)

-39.4% (2023 est.)

Milk, sugar beets, wheat, potatoes, barley, maize, rapeseed, pork, rye, triticale (2023)

Iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, automobiles, food and beverages, shipbuilding, textiles

-3% (2024 est.)

43.772 million (2024 est.)

3.5% (2024 est.)

3.1% (2023 est.)

3.2% (2022 est.)

6.7% (2024 est.)

7.4% (2024 est.)

5.9% (2024 est.)

14.8% (2021 est.)

32.4 (2020 est.)

11.6% of household expenditures (2023 est.)

3.1% of household expenditures (2023 est.)

2.9% (2020 est.)

25% (2020 est.)

0.5% of GDP (2024 est.)

0.5% of GDP (2023 est.)

0.5% of GDP (2022 est.)

$1.279 trillion (2023 est.)

$1.369 trillion (2023 est.)

63.9% of GDP (2017 est.)

11% (of GDP) (2022 est.)

$267.056 billion (2024 est.)

$251.479 billion (2023 est.)

$161.759 billion (2022 est.)

$1.949 trillion (2024 est.)

$1.958 trillion (2023 est.)

$1.917 trillion (2022 est.)

USA 10%, France 8%, Netherlands 7%, China 7%, Italy 6% (2023)

Cars, vehicle parts/accessories, packaged medicine, plastic products, vaccines (2023)

$1.774 trillion (2024 est.)

$1.781 trillion (2023 est.)

$1.808 trillion (2022 est.)

China 12%, Netherlands 7%, USA 7%, Poland 6%, France 5% (2023)

Cars, vehicle parts/accessories, garments, natural gas, vaccines (2023)

$377.936 billion (2024 est.)

$322.7 billion (2023 est.)

$293.914 billion (2022 est.)

Euros (EUR) per US dollar -

0.924 (2024 est.)

0.925 (2023 est.)

0.95 (2022 est.)

0.845 (2021 est.)

0.876 (2020 est.)

100% (2022 est.)

275.658 million kW (2023 est.)

519.691 billion kWh (2023 est.)

60.316 billion kWh (2023 est.)

69.353 billion kWh (2023 est.)

25.774 billion kWh (2023 est.)

49% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

1.3% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

11.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

25.9% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

3.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

9.4% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

1.4% (2023 est.)

33 (2025)

109.741 million metric tons (2023 est.)

140.994 million metric tons (2023 est.)

1.68 million metric tons (2023 est.)

32.933 million metric tons (2023 est.)

35.4 billion metric tons (2023 est.)

131,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)

2.062 million bbl/day (2024 est.)

115.2 million barrels (2021 est.)

4.337 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)

82.371 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)

74.989 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)

23.39 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

120.457 million Btu/person (2023 est.)

38.4 million (2024 est.)

45 (2024 est.)

109 million (2024 est.)

129 (2024 est.)

A mix of publicly operated and privately owned TV and radio stations; 70 national and regional public broadcasters compete with nearly 400 privately owned national and regional TV stations; more than 90% of households have cable or satellite TV; hundreds of radio stations, including national and regional networks and a large number of local stations

.de

94% (2024 est.)

38.4 million (2023 est.)

45 (2023 est.)

D

840 (2025)

449 (2025)

39,379 km (2020) 20,942 km electrified

595 (2023)

Bulk carrier 1, container ship 69, general cargo 82, oil tanker 32, other 411

35 (2024)

5

4

11

15

12

Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven, Emden, Hamburg, Kiel, Lubeck, Rostock

Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr): German Army (Deutsche Heer), German Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm), German Air Force (Deutsche Luftwaffe, includes air defense), Cyber and Information Space (Cyber und Informationsraum) (2025)

2.4% of GDP (2025 est.)

2% of GDP (2024 est.)

1.6% of GDP (2023 est.)

1.5% of GDP (2022 est.)

1.4% of GDP (2021 est.)

Approximately 185,000 active-duty military personnel (2025)

The inventory of Federal Armed Forces is comprised of weapons systems produced domestically or jointly with other European countries and Western imports, particularly from the US; Germany's defense industry is capable of manufacturing the full spectrum of air, land, and naval military weapons systems; it also participates in joint defense production projects with European partners and the US (2025)

17-23 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women (must have completed compulsory full-time education and have German citizenship); service obligation 7-23 months or 12 years (2025)

Up to 500 Iraq (NATO); 300 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR), Lebanon 170 (UNIFIL); up to 1,700 Lithuania (NATO) (2025)

The Bundeswehr’s core mission is the defense of Germany and its NATO partners; it has a wide range of peacetime duties, including crisis management, cyber security, deterrence, homeland security, humanitarian and disaster relief, and international peacekeeping and stability operations; as a key member of NATO and the EU, the Bundeswehr typically operates in a coalition environment, and its capabilities are largely based on NATO and EU planning goals and needs; it has participated in a range of NATO and EU missions in Europe, Africa, and Asia, as well as global maritime operations; the Bundeswehr has close bilateral defense ties with a number of EU countries, including the Czechia, France, the Netherlands, and Romania, as well as the UK and the US; it also contributes forces to UN peacekeeping missions the Bundeswehr was established in 1955; at the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, it had nearly 600,000 personnel, over 7,000 tanks, and 1,000 combat aircraft; in addition, over 400,000 soldiers from other NATO countries—including about 200,000 US military personnel—were stationed in West Germany; in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the Bundeswehr shrank by more than 60% in size (over 90% in tanks and about 80% in aircraft), while funding fell from nearly 3% of GDP and over 4% of government spending in the mid-1980s to 1.2% and 1.6% respectively; by the 2010s, the Bundeswehr’s ability to fulfill its regional security commitments had deteriorated; the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and full-scale assault on Ukraine in 2022 led to renewed emphasis on Germany’s leadership role in European defense and NATO and efforts to boost funding for the Bundeswehr to improve readiness, modernize, and expand (2025)

German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR; established 1997) (2025)

A commercial offshore launch platform that will operate from the North Sea is under development with both government and private funding (2025)

Has one of Europe’s largest space programs and is a top contributor to the ESA; builds and operates satellites, satellite/space launch vehicles (SLVs), probes, and unmanned orbiters; researches and develops a range of capabilities and technologies, including reusable space planes, satellite payloads, rockets, propulsion-assisted landing technologies, and aeronautics; participates in EU and ESA programs, including the Cassini-Huygens research mission to Saturn, Mars and Venus exploration missions, and the Galileo global navigation satellite system; participates in ESA’s astronaut training program and human space flight operations; hosts the European Astronaut Center; participates in international programs such as the International Space Station (ISS) and the James Webb Space Telescope; hosts mission control centers for the ISS, the ESA, and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT); has ties to foreign space programs, including those of China, Japan, Russia, and the US; has a robust commercial space sector (2025)

1969 - first German scientific satellite (Azur) launched by US 1973 - participated with other European states, particularly France and the UK, in development of Ariane satellite launch vehicle 1978 - first German in space on Soviet Salyut space station 1980s-1990s - participated in US Space Shuttle program, including providing astronauts 1999 - launched a space-based X-ray telescope (ABRAXIS) on Russian rocket 2005 - began development of reusable space plane/shuttle/transporter 2019 - launched first space-based X-ray telescope (eROSITA) capable of imaging the entire sky (joint project with Russia) 2023 - signed US-led Artemis Accords for the exploration of space and the Moon; adopted a new national space strategy

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Qods Force; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS); al-Qa'ida

3,098,169 (2024 est.)

100 (2023 est.)

28,813 (2024 est.)

Major precursor-chemical producer (2025)