Germany

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{{Infobox Country or territory|native_name = |conventional_long_name = Federal Republic of Germany|common_name = Germany|national_anthem = (third stanza)also called ]|latd=52 |latm=31 |latNS=N |longd=13 |longm=24 |longEW=E|largest_city = capital|official_languages = German language|government_type = Parliamentary Federal republic|leader_title1 = President of Germany|leader_name1 = Horst Köhler|leader_name2 = [Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union (Germany))|sovereignty_type = Kingdom of Germany|sovereignty_note =|established_event1 = Holy Roman Empire|established_date2 = [18 January 1871|established_date3 = [23 May 1949|established_date4 = [3 October 1990 [1957-->|area_rank = 63rd|area_magnitude = 1 E11|percent_water = 2.416|population_estimate = 82,314,900|population_estimate_year = 2006|population_estimate_rank = 14th|population_density_km2 = 230.9|population_density_sq_mi = 598.5 (Euro sign)|currency_code = EUR|time_zone = CET|utc_offset = +1|time_zone_DST = CEST|utc_offset_DST = +2|cctld = .de, [Low German, Sorbian languages, Romani language and Frisian language are officially recognized and protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.-->

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (, ), is a country in Western Europe-central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Germany is a parliamentary Federation republic of States of Germany (). The capital city and seat of government is Berlin. As a nation-state, the country was Unification of Germany near the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. After World War II, Germany's government was re-formed, its territory was divided into two separate statesFederal Constitutional Court of Germany (2 BvF 1/73; BVerfGE 36, 1): The German Reich as the German state is identically the very same to the West Germany it exists as a nation-state and international legal personality (public international law) since 1871]. In 1949, at East Germany – West Germany division there was no foundation of a new West German state and no successor of the German Reich, instead of that a part of Germany was reorganized. along the lines of allied occupation in 1949 and then was German reunification in 1990. Germany is a founding member of the European Union, and with over 82 million people it has the largest population among the EU member states. Germany Foreign Direct Investment Magazine. January 5, 2005. Retrieved 2006, December 7.

The Federal Republic of Germany is a modern great power, a member state of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G4 nations and, as of 2006, ranked sixth in military expenditure.{{cite web] by nominal GDP, the world's List of countries by exports, and the world's List of countries by imports. In 2007 it held the rotating presidencies of both the European Council and the G8 summits.

History The ethnogenesis of the Germanic peoples is assumed to have occurred during the Nordic Bronze Age, or at the latest, during the Pre-Roman Iron Age. From southern Scandinavia and northern Germany, the tribes began expanding south, east and west in the 1st century BC, coming into contact with the Celtic tribes of Gaul as well as Iranian peoples, Balts, and Slavic peoples tribes in Eastern Europe. Little is known about early Germanic history, except through their recorded interactions with the Roman Empire, etymological research and archaeological finds.Jill N. Claster: Medieval Experience: 300–1400. NYU Press 1982, p. 35. ISBN 0814713815.

Under Augustus, the Roman General Publius Quinctilius Varus began to invade Germania (a term used by the Romans running roughly from the Rhine to the Ural Mountains), and it was in this period that the Germanic tribes became familiar with Roman tactics of warfare while maintaining their tribal identity. In AD 9, three Roman legions led by Varus were defeated by the Cheruscan leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Modern Germany, as far as the Rhine and the Danube, thus remained outside the Roman Empire. By AD 100, the time of Tacitus' Germania (book), Germanic tribes settled along the Rhine and the Danube (the Limes Germanicus), occupying most of the area of modern Germany. The 3rd century saw the emergence of a number of large West Germanic tribes: Alamanni, Franks, Chatti, Saxons, Frisians, Sicambri, and Thuringii. Around 260, the Germanic peoples broke through the Limes and the Danube frontier into Roman-controlled lands.The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 12, p. 442. ISBN 0521301998.

After the fall of the Western Roman empire the Franks created an empire under the Merovingian kings and subjugated the other Germanic tribes. Swabia became a duchy under the Frankish Empire in 496, following the Battle of Tolbiac. Already king Chlothar I ruled the greater part of what is now Germany and made expeditions into Duchy of Saxony while the Southeast of modern Germany was still under influence of the Ostrogoths. In 531 Saxons and Franks destroyed the Kingdom of Thuringia. Saxons inhabit the area down to the Unstrut river.During the partition of the Frankish empire their German territories were a part of Austrasia. In 718 the Franconian Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel marked war against Saxony, because of its help for the Neustrians. The Franconian Carloman, son of Charles Martel started in 743 a new war against Saxony, because the Saxons gave aid to Duke Odilo of Bavaria.In 751 Pippin III, mayor of the palace under the Merovingian king, himself assumed the title of king and was anointed by the Church. The Frankish kings now set up as protectors of the Pope, Charlemagne launched a decades-long military campaign against their heathen rivals, the Saxons and the Eurasian Avars. The Saxons (by the Saxon Wars (772-804)) and Avars were eventually overwhelmed and forcibly converted, and their lands were annexed by the Carolingian Empire.

Holy Roman Empire (843–1806) s of the Holy Roman Empire (1341 parchment)

The medieval empire stemmed from a division of the Carolingian Empire in 843, which was founded by Charlemagne on 25 December 800, and existed in varying forms until 1806, its territory stretching from the Eider River in the north to the Mediterranean Sea coast in the south. Often referred to as the Holy Roman Empire (or the Old Empire), it was officially called the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ("Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicæ") starting in 1448, to adjust the title to its then reduced territory.

Under the reign of the Ottonian emperors (919–1024), the Stem duchy of Duchy of Lorraine, Duchy of Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Thuringia, and Bavaria were consolidated, and the German king was crowned Holy Roman Emperor of these regions in 962. Under the reign of the Salian emperors (1024–1125), the Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy, although the emperors lost power through the Investiture Controversy. Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), the German princes increased their influence further south and east into territories inhabited by Slavic peoples. Northern German towns grew prosperous as members of the Hanseatic League.

, (1483–1546) initiated the Protestant Reformation

The edict of the Golden Bull of 1356 in 1356 provided the basic constitution of the empire that lasted until its dissolution. It codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors who ruled some of the most powerful principalities and archbishoprics. Beginning in the 15th century, the emperors were elected nearly exclusively from the Habsburg dynasty of Archduchy of Austria.

The monk Martin Luther wrote his The 95 Theses questioning the Roman Catholic Church in 1517, thereby sparking the Protestant Reformation. A separate Lutheranism church was acknowledged as the newly sanctioned religion in many German states after 1530. Religious conflict led to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), which devastated German lands. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended religious warfare among the German states, but the empire was de facto divided into numerous independent principalities. From 1740 onwards, the German dualism between the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1806, the Imperium was overrun and dissolved as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.Fulbrook, Mary: A Concise History of Germany, Cambridge University Press 1991, p. 97. ISBN 0521540712

Restoration and revolution (1814–1871)

Following the fall of Napoleon I of France, the Congress of Vienna convened in 1814 and founded the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund), a loose league of List of German Confederation member states. Disagreement with European Restoration politics partly led to the rise of Liberalism in Germany movements, demanding unity and freedom. These, however, were followed by new measures of repression on the part of the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich. The Zollverein, a tariff union, profoundly furthered economic unity in the German states. During this era many Germans had been stirred by the ideals of the French Revolution, and nationalism became a more significant force, especially among young intellectuals. For the first time, the colours of black, red and gold were chosen to represent the movement, which later became the Flag of Germany.Martin, Norman. German Confederation 1815–1866 (Germany) Flags of the World. Oct. 5, 2000. Retrieved 2006, December 7.

In light of a Revolutions of 1848, which successfully established a republic Revolutions of 1848 in France, intellectuals and commoners started the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. The monarchs initially yielded to the revolutionaries' liberal demands. King Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of Emperor, but with a loss of power; he rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, leading to a temporary setback for the movement. Conflict between King William I, German Emperor of Prussia and the increasingly liberal parliament erupted over military reforms in 1862, and the king appointed Otto von Bismarck the new Prime Minister of Prussia. Bismarck successfully waged Second War of Schleswig in 1864. Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the North German Federation (Norddeutscher Bund) and to exclude Austrian Empire, formerly the leading German state, from the affairs of the remaining German states.

German Empire (1871–1918) is at the center in a white uniform.

The state known as Germany was political union as a modern nation-state in 1871, when the German Empire was forged, with the Kingdom of Prussia as its largest constituent.After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the German Empire () was proclaimed in Palace of Versailles on 18 January 1871. The House of Hohenzollern dynasty of Prussia ruled the new empire, whose capital was Berlin. The empire was a unification of all the scattered parts of Germany except Austria (, or "Lesser Germany"). Beginning in 1884, Germany began establishing List of former German colonies outside of Europe.

In the period following the unification of Germany, Emperor William I, German Emperor's foreign policy secured Germany's position as a great nation by forging alliances, isolating French Third Republic by diplomatic means, and avoiding war. Under William II, German Emperor, however, Germany, New Imperialism, took an imperialism course leading to friction with neighbouring countries. Most alliances in which Germany had been previously involved were not renewed, and new alliances excluded the country. Specifically, France established new relationships by signing the Entente Cordiale with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and securing ties with the Russian Empire. Aside from its contacts with Austria-Hungary, Germany became increasingly isolated.

in blue.

Germany's imperialism reached outside of its own country and joined many other powers in Europe to claim their share of Africa. The Berlin Conference divided Africa between the European powers. Germany owned several pieces of land on Africa including German East Africa, German South-West Africa, Togoland, and Cameroon. The Scramble for Africa caused tension between the great powers that may have contributed to the conditions that led to World War I.

The Assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914 triggered World War I. Germany, as part of the unsuccessful Central Powers, suffered defeat against the Allies of World War I in World War I casualties conflicts of all time. The German Revolution broke out in November 1918, and Emperor William II and all German ruling princes abdication. An Armistice with Germany (Compiègne) putting an end to the war was signed on 11 November and Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. Its negotiation, contrary to traditional post-war diplomacy, excluded the defeated Central Powers. The treaty was perceived in Germany as a humiliating continuation of the war by other means and its harshness is often cited as having facilitated the later rise of Nazism in the country.Stephen J. Lee: Europe, 1890–1945. Routledge 2003, p. 131. ISBN 0415254558.

Weimar Republic (1919–1933)

After the success of the German Revolution in November 1918, a Weimar Republic was proclaimed. The Weimar Constitution came into effect with its signing by President of Germany Friedrich Ebert on 11 August 1919. The Communist Party of Germany was established by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in 1918, and the German Workers Party, later known as the National Socialist German Workers Party or Nazi Party, was founded in January 1919.

Suffering from the Great Depression, the harsh peace conditions dictated by the Treaty of Versailles, and a long succession of more or less unstable governments, the political masses in Germany increasingly lacked identification with their political system of parliamentary democracy. This was exacerbated by a wide-spread right-wing (Monarchism, Völkisch movement, and Nazi) , a political myth which claimed that Germany lost World War I because of the German Revolution, not because of military defeat. On the other hand, radical left-wing communism, such as the Spartacist League, had wanted to abolish what they perceived as "Capitalism" in favour of a . Paramilitary troops were set up by several parties and there were thousands of politically motivated murders. The paramilitary intimidated voters and seeded violence and anger among the public, which suffered from high unemployment and poverty. After a succession of unsuccessful cabinets, President Paul von Hindenburg, seeing little alternative and pushed by right-wing advisors, appointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933.

Third Reich (1933–1945) and Benito Mussolini in Yugoslavia

On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag fire. Some basic democratic rights were quickly abrogated afterwards under an emergency decree. An Enabling Act of 1933 gave Hitler's government full legislative power. Only the Social Democratic Party of Germany voted against it; the Communists were not able to present a viable opposition, as many of their deputies had already been murdered or imprisoned.Roderick Stackelberg, Hitler's Germany: origins, interpretations, legacies. Routledge 1999, p. 103. ISBN 0415201144.Scheck, Raffael. Establishing a Dictatorship: The Stabilization of Nazi Power Colby College. Retrieved 2006, 7 December. A centralised totalitarian state was established by a series of moves and decrees making Germany a single-party state. Industry was closely regulated with quotas and requirements, to shift the economy towards a war economy. In 1936 German troops entered the demilitarized Rhineland, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policies proved inadequate. Emboldened, Hitler followed from 1938 onwards a policy of expansionism to establish Großdeutschland. To avoid a two-front war, Hitler concluded the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with the Soviet Union, a pact which was later broken by Germany.

In 1939, the Causes of World War II led to the Germans invasion of Poland (1939) a blitzkrieg on September 1 against Second Polish Republic, followed two days later by declarations of war by Britain and France, marking the beginning of World War II. Germany quickly gained direct or indirect control of Occupied Europe of Europe.

, Potsdamer Platz 1945

On 22 June 1941, Hitler broke the pact with the Soviet Union by opening the Eastern Front (World War II) and Operation Barbarossa. Shortly after Empire of Japan Attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on the United States. Although initially the German army rapidly advanced into the Soviet Union, the Battle of Stalingrad marked a major turning point in the war. Subsequently, the German army commenced retreating on the Eastern Front, followed by the eventual defeat of Germany. On 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day after the Red Army occupied Berlin.

In what later became known as The Holocaust, the Third Reich regime enacted governmental policies directly subjugating many parts of society: Jews, Slavic peoples, Communists, Roma people, homosexuality, Freemasonry, political dissidents, priests, preachers, Confessing Church, and the disability, amongst others. During the Nazi era, about eleven million people were murdered in the Holocaust, including six million Jews and three million Poles. World War II and the Nazi genocide were responsible for about 35 million dead in Europe.

Division and reunification (1945–1990)

The war resulted in the death of nearly ten million German soldiers and civilians; Oder-Neisse line; Expulsion of Germans after World War II from its former eastern territories and other countries; and the destruction of multiple major cities. The German Reich within its borders of 1937 continues, but the national territory and Berlin were partitioned by the Allies of World War II into four military occupation zones. The sectors controlled by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States were merged on 23 May 1949, to form the West Germany; on 7 October 1949, the Soviet Zone established the East Germany. In English, the "two Germanies" (incorrect expression because both were part of one Germany as a whole) were known informally as "West Germany" and "East Germany" and the two Berlins as "West Berlin" and "East Berlin".

West Germany, established as a liberal parliamentary republic with a "social market economy", was allied with the United States, the UK and France. The country eventually came to enjoy prolonged economic growth beginning in the early 1950s (). West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1958. Across the border, East Germany was at first occupied by, and later (May 1955) allied with, the USSR. An authoritarian country with a Soviet-style command economy, East Germany soon became the richest, most advanced country in the Warsaw Pact, but many of its citizens looked to the West for political freedoms and economic prosperity.Colchester, Nico. D-mark day dawns Financial Times. January 1, 2001. Retrieved 2006, December 7 The Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to stop East Germans from escaping to West Germany, became a symbol of the Cold War. However, tensions between East and West Germany were somewhat reduced in the early 1970s by Chancellor Willy Brandt's , which included the de facto acceptance of Germany's territorial losses in World War II.

in front of the Brandenburg Gate shortly after the opening in 1989

In the face of a growing migration of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary and mass demonstrations during the summer of 1989, East German authorities unexpectedly eased the border restrictions in November, allowing East German citizens to travel to the West. Originally intended as a pressure valve to retain East Germany as a state, the opening of the border actually led to an acceleration of the reform process in East Germany, which finally concluded with the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany a year later on 12 September, 1990 and German reunification on 3 October 1990. Under the terms of the treaty, the four occupying powers renounced their rights under the Instrument of Surrender, and Germany regained full sovereignty.

Since reunification, Germany has taken a leading role in the European Union and NATO. Germany sent a peacekeeping force to secure stability in the 1999 NATO bombing in Yugoslavia and sent a force of Bundeswehr to Afghanistan as part of a NATO effort to provide War in Afghanistan (2001–present) after the ousting of the Taliban.Dempsey, Judy. Germany is planning a Bosnia withdrawal International Herald Tribune. Oct. 31, 2006. Retrieved 2006, November 30

Government is the old and new site of the German parliament

Germany is a Federal republic, parliamentary democratic, Representative democracy Democracy republic. The German political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1949 Constitution known as the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Basic Law). Amendments to the Grundgesetz require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of parliament; the articles guaranteeing fundamental rights, a democratic state, and the right to resist attempts to overthrow the constitution are valid in perpetuity and cannot be amended. Article 79 of the Grundgesetz The Grundgesetz remained in effect, with minor amendments, after German reunification in 1990, despite the intention of the Grundgesetz to be replaced by a proper constitution after the reunion. (This was called Grundgesetz for precisely this reason.)

The Chancellor of Germany (currently Angela Merkel) is the head of government and exercises Executive (government), similar to the role of a Prime Minister. Federal legislative power is vested in the parliament consisting of the Bundestag (Diet (assembly)) and Bundesrat of Germany (Federal Council), which together form a unique type of legislative body. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections; the members of the Bundesrat represent the governments of the States of Germany and are members of the state cabinets, which appoint them and can remove them at any time.

has been the seat of the German Chancellor since 2001.

Since 1949, the party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union (Germany) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2006, December 7. although smaller parties, such as the liberal Free Democratic Party (Germany) (which has had members in the Bundestag since 1949) and the Alliance '90/The Greens (which has controlled seats in parliament since 1983) have also played important roles.

The German head of state is the President of Germany, elected by the Bundesversammlung (Germany) (federal convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The second highest official in the German order of precedence is the President of the Bundestag, who is elected by the Bundestag itself. He or she is responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the Chancellor. He or she is nominated by the President of Germany and elected by the Bundestag. If necessary, he or she can be removed by a constructive motion of no confidence by the Bundestag, where "constructive" implies that the Bundestag needs to elect a successor.

Foreign relations hosting the G8 summit in Heiligendamm

Germany has played a leading role in the European Union since its inception and has maintained a Franco-German cooperation since the end of World War II. The alliance was especially close in the late 1980s and early 1990s under the leadership of Christian Democratic Union (Germany) Helmut Kohl and Socialist Party (France) François Mitterrand. Germany is at the forefront of European states seeking to advance the creation of a more unified and capable European political, defence and security apparatus. Declaration by the Franco-German Defence and Security Council Elysee.fr May 13, 3004. Retrieved 2006, December 3.

Since its establishment on 23 May 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany kept a notably low profile in international relations, because of both its recent history and its occupation by foreign powers.Glaab, Manuela. German Foreign Policy: Book Review Internationale Politik. Spring 2003. Retrieved 2007, January 3. During the Cold War, Germany's partition by the Iron Curtain made it a symbol of East-West tensions and a political battleground in Europe. However, Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik was a key factor in the détente of the 1970s.Harrison, Hope. GERMAN HISTORICAL INSTITUTE, WASHINGTON, DC, BULLETIN SUPPLEMENT 1, 2004, "AMERICAN DÉTENTE AND GERMAN OSTPOLITIK, 1969–1972". In 1999 Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government defined a new basis for German foreign policy by taking a full part in the decisions surrounding the Kosovo War and by sending German troops into combat for the first time since World War II. Germany's New Face Abroad Deutsche Welle. Oct. 14, 2005. Retrieved 2006, December 3.

Germany and the United States have been close allies since the end of World War II. Background Note: Germany U.S. Department of State. July 6, 2006. Retrieved 2006, December 3. The Marshall Plan, the continued U.S. support during the rebuilding process after World War II, and strong cultural ties have crafted a strong bond between the two countries, although Schröder's very vocal opposition to the Iraq War suggested the end of Atlanticism and a relative cooling of German-American relations. Ready for a Bush hug?, The Economist, July 6 2006. Retrieved 2006, December 31. The two countries are also economically interdependent; 8.8% of German exports are U.S.-bound and 6.6% of German imports originate from the U.S. U.S. Embassy in Berlin. May 2006. Retrieved 2006, December 3. The other way around, 8.8 % of U.S. exports ship to Germany and 9.8 % of U.S. imports come from Germany. Other signs of the close ties include the continuing position of German-Americans as the largest ethnic group in the U.S. German Still Most Frequently Reported Ancestry U.S. Census Bureau June 30, 2004. Retrieved 2006, December 3 and the status of Ramstein Air Base (near Kaiserslautern) as the largest U.S. military community outside the U.S. Kaiserslautern, Germany Overview U.S. Military. Retrieved 2006, December 3.

States Germany is divided into States of Germany (Länder, singular Land; commonly Bundesländer, singular Bundesland). It is further subdivided into 439 Districts of Germany (Kreise, singular Kreis) and cities (kreisfreie Städte) (2004).

{| style="background:transparent;" cellspacing="2px"|{| class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align:left; font-size:90%"|- style="font-size:100%; text-align:left"!width="140px"| States of Germany !!width="80px"| Capital !!width="80px"] !!width="80px"| Population ] || Stuttgart ] (Bayern) || Munich ] || Berlin ] || Potsdam ] || Bremen ] || Hamburg ] (Hessen) || Wiesbaden ] || Schwerin ] (Niedersachsen) || Hanover ] (Nordrhein-Westfalen) || Düsseldorf ] (Rheinland-Pfalz) || Mainz ] || Saarbrücken ] (Sachsen) || Dresden ] (Sachsen-Anhalt) || Magdeburg ] || Kiel ] (Thüringen) || Erfurt || style="text-align:right"|16,172 km²|| style="text-align:right"|2,355,000|}||}

Military operation off the coast of Lebanon

Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is a defence force with German Army (Army), German Navy (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force), Central Medical Services (Central Medical Services) and Streitkräftebasis (Joint Service Support Command) branches. Military Service is compulsory for men at the age of 18, and conscripts serve nine-month tours of duty (conscientious objectors may instead opt for an equal length of Zivildienst (roughly translated as civilian service), or a longer commitment to (voluntary) emergency services like a Volunteer fire department, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement or the Technisches Hilfswerk). In 2003, military spending constituted 1.5% of the country's Gross Domestic Product. In peacetime, the Bundeswehr is commanded by the Minister of Defence, currently Franz Josef Jung. If Germany went to war, which according to the constitution is allowed only for defensive purposes, the Chancellor would become commander in chief of the Bundeswehr. Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland Bundestag.de Retrieved 2006, November 30.

As of October 2006, the German military had almost 9,000 troops stationed in foreign countries as part of various international peacekeeping forces, including 1,180 troops stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina; 2,844 Bundeswehr soldiers in Kosovo; 750 soldiers stationed as a part of EUFOR in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and 2,800 German troops in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force force in Afghanistan. As of February 2007, Germany had about 3,000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, the third largest contingent after the United States (14,000) and the United Kingdom (5,200).

Law in Karlsruhe.

The Judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislative branches. Germany has a civil law (legal system) that is based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law. The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (Federal Constitutional Court), located in Karlsruhe, is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review. Federal Constitutional Court, Bundesverfassungsgericht.de, Accessed April 13, 2007 It acts as the highest legal authority and ensures that legislative and judicial practice conforms to the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Basic Law). It acts independently of the other state bodies, but cannot act on its own behalf.

Germany's supreme court system, called Oberste Gerichtshöfe des Bundes, is specialized. For civil and criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the Federal Court of Justice of Germany, located in Karlsruhe and Leipzig. The courtroom style is Inquisitorial system. Other Federal Courts are the Federal Labor Court of Germany in Erfurt, the Bundessozialgericht in Kassel, the Federal Finance Court of Germany in Munich and the Federal Administrative Court of Germany in Leipzig.

Criminal law and private law are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. The German penal system is aimed towards rehabilitation of the criminal; its secondary goal is the protection of the general public. § 2, StVllzg, gesetze-im-internet.de, Accessed April 13, 2007 To achieve the latter, a convicted criminal can be put in preventive detention (Sicherheitsverwahrung) in addition to the regular sentence if he is considered to be a threat to the general public. The Völkerstrafgesetzbuch regulates the consequences of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. It gives German courts universal jurisdiction if prosecution by a court of the country where the crime was committed, or by an international court, is not possible.

State level , 1949

Legislative power is divided between the federation and the state level. The Basic Law presumes that all legislative power remains at the state level unless otherwise designated by the Basic Law itself. In some areas, federal and state level have concurrent legislative power. In such cases, the federate level has power to legislation "if and to the extent that the establishment of equal living conditions throughout the federal territory or the maintenance of legal or economic unity renders federal regulation necessary in the national interest" (Art. 72 Basic Law).

Any federal law overrides state law if the legislative power lies at the federal level. A famous example is the Hessian permission of the death penalty that goes against the ban of capital punishment by the Basic Law. The Bundesrat of Germany is the federal organ through which the states participate in national legislation. State participation in federal legislation is necessary if the law falls within the area of concurrent legislative power, requires states to administer federal regulations, or if designated so by the Basic Law. Every state with the exception of Schleswig-Holstein (whose constitutional jurisdiction is exercised by the Bundesverfassungsgericht in procuration) has its own constitutional courts. The Amtsgerichte, Landgerichte and Oberlandesgerichte are state courts of general jurisdiction. They are competent whether the action is based on federal or state law.

Many of the fundamental matters in administrative law remain in the jurisdiction of the states, though most states base their own laws in that area on the 1976 Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (Administrative Proceedings Act) in important points of administrative law. The Oberverwaltungsgerichte are the highest levels in administrative jurisdiction concerning the state administrations, unless the question of law concerns federal law or state law identical to federal law. In such cases, final appeal to the Federal Administrative Court is possible.

Geography

Germany has the second largest population in Europe (after European Russia) and is seventh largest in area. The territory of Germany covers , consisting of of land and of water. Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at ) in the south to the shores of the North Sea (Nordsee) in the north-west and the Baltic Sea (Ostsee) in the north-east. Between lie the forested uplands of central Germany and the low-lying lands of northern Germany (lowest point: Wilstermarsch at below sea level), traversed by some of Europe's major rivers such as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe. Germany CIA Factbook. November 14, 2006. Retrieved 2006, November 29. Because of its central location, Germany shares borders with more European countries than any other country on the continent. Its neighbours are Denmark in the north, Poland and the Czech Republic in the east, Austria and Switzerland in the south, France and Luxembourg in the south-west and

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Kahn wins Golden Ball award: Germany's Oliver Kahn is voted the best player at the 2002 World Cup finals.

Germany | World news | guardian.co.uk
Germany ... Negatives of Nazi photographs found in attic show the splendour of pre-war German cities and reveal the full devastation wreaked by allied bombers