Germany is a country in Central Europe bordering the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the North; Poland and the Czech Republic to the East; Austria and Switzerland to the South and France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland to the West. It spans 357.000 square kilometers and is found in the temperate climate zone. With a population of 81.5 million it is the most populated country in the European Union and also is the 3rd country with the most immigrants.

The Germanic peoples lived in the region called Germania before the year 100 AD. From the 10th century to 1806 the Germanic regions were part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century the Northern Germany regions became the centre of the Protestant Reform. The Germanic peoples had become a nation-state for the first time in 1871 during the French-Prussian War. After WW2, Germany was split into two parts by the victors and remained so until 1990, when they united once again.

West Germany is one of the founding countries of the EEC and ECSC in 1957, which were later to be gathered under the EU name. With the reunion, East Germany became a member of the EU in 1993. Germany became a part of the Schengen Area and accepted the European Unions currency; the Euro in 2002.
Germany is a federal parliament republic. It is comprised of 16 states (Bundesl?nder). Its capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany is a member of the UN, NATO and G8 and has signed the Kyoto Protocol.? According to statistics, Germany has the third largest economy according to GDP and has the highest exportation rate of all.

The country is the second biggest donator in the world. Along with this it is placed 6th when it comes to subject of military budgets. Germany, with its social security system has a high living standard and it plays a key role in European affairs with its high population and economic development. Germany is accepted as the leading country in many scientific and technological fields.?

Economy
Germany was the biggest exporter in 2007. It has the biggest economy in Europe 3rd highest GDP in the world and is the 5th when it comes to the spending power parity. Its 2007 growth rate was 2.4%.

Since its industrialization it has played the role of the driving force in the global economy. The “Made in Germany” export tag is the main element of the country’s wealth. With its export volume of 1.133 trillion dollars it was the highest exporter in 2006. It obtained a surplus of 165 billion dollars.

70% of its total revenue comes from the service sector, 29.1% from the industrial sector and 0.9% from the agricultural sector. The majority of manufactured goods is comprised of automobiles, machines, metal and chemicals.

Germany is the leading manufacturer of wind turbines and solar energy technologies. International trading fairs and congresses are held in Hannover, Frankfurt and Berlin every year.

Frankfurt is an important financial center and is the home of The European Central Bank. There are 37 companies of German origin in the Fortune 500 list. The biggest 10 of these are Daimler, Volkswagen, Allianz SE (most profitable company), Siemens, Deutsche Bank (second), E.ON, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom, Metro and BASF. The companies with the most employees are Deutsche Post, Robert Bosch GmbH and Edeka. Internationally known Germany companies are Mercedez-Benz, SAP, BMW, Adidas, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen and Nivea.

Germany is a member of the European Union and its commercial market. Germany defends the idea of a closed European economy and unity in politics. When it comes to decisions in trade and commerce, it moves according to all of the European Union members and shares the same currency with them. The financial decisions made by Germany, just like all the other Eurozone companies, are made in The European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

After the reunion in 1990, living standards and income rates increased in the states of West Germany and this standard is trying to be preserved since then, across the whole of Germany.

The old East German economy modernization ?and the integration of it with the Western states has been planned on a long term until the year 2019 and close to 80 billion dollars is being transferred from West to East every year.

The rate of unemployment has been decreasing since 2005 and in June 2008? a record low was achieved at 7.5%. The percentage varies between East and West from 6.2% to 12.7%. When the current reigning government was following a precautionary and limited financial policy and having affected the public sector, Angela Merkel realized numerous reforms for the improvement of the labor market and for higher living standards.