Germany wears its riches well: elegant big-city charm, picture-postcard small towns, pagan-inspired harvest festivals, a wealth of art and culture and the perennial pleasures of huge tracts of forest, delightful castles and fine wine and beer are all there for the enjoying. Germany s reunification in 1990 was the beginning of yet another chapter in Germany s complex history. No visitor will remain untouched by this country s past and the way it affects the nation today.

Few countries have had as much impact on the world as Germany, a land of innovation that has given us the printing press, the automobile, aspirin and MP3 technology. This is the country where you can visit the birth places of Martin Luther, Albert Einstein and Karl Marx, of Goethe, Beethoven and the Brothers Grimm and other greats who, in some way, have forged the fate of humankind. The roots of modern architecture? Right here in Dessau where the Bauhaus movement began. For God’s sake (so to speak), even the pope is German!

Full country name: Federal republic of Germany
Area: 357,045 sq Km
Population: 82,41 million
Capitals: Berlin
People: Predominantly Caucasian, with significant Turkish minority. Germany has absorbed most of the refugees from the former Yugoslavia.
Language:  Germany
Religion: 90% Christian. There are 1.7 million Muslims and about 74,000 Jews (the pre-Holocaust figure was over half a million).
Government: Federal Republic
GDP: €2,24 trillion
Annual growth: 2,7%
Inflation: 2%
Unemployment rate: 10,8%
Major industries: motor vehicles, engineering, chemicals, iron, steel, coal, electronics, environmental technology, food, clothing
Major trading partners:  EU (esp. France, Netherlands, Italy, UK, Belgium/Luxembourg, USA, Japan