Total area: 356,910 km2
land area: 349,520 km2; comprises the formerly separate Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and Berlin following formal unification on 3 October 1990

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Montana

Land boundaries: 3,790 km total
Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czechoslovakia 815 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km, Switzerland 334 km

Coastline: 2,389 km

Maritime claims: Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: North Sea and Schleswig-Holstein coast of Baltic Sea--3 nm (extends, at one point, to 16 nm in the Helgolander Bucht); remainder of Baltic Sea--12 nm

Disputes: the boundaries of Germany were set by the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany signed 12 September 1990 in Moscow by the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union; this treaty entered into force on 15 March 1991; a subsequent treaty between Germany and Poland, reaffirming the German-Polish boundary, was signed on 14 November 1990 and is set to be ratified in 1991; the US Government is seeking to settle the property claims of US nationals against the former GDR

Climate: temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm, tropical foehn wind; high relative humidity

Terrain: lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south

Natural resources: iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel

Land use: arable land 34%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 16%; forest and woodland 30%; other 19%; includes irrigated 1%

Environment: air and water pollution; ground water, lakes, and air quality in eastern Germany are especially bad; significant deforestation in the eastern mountains caused by air pollution and acid rain

Note: strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea

NOTE: The information regarding Germany on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Germany Geography 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Germany Geography 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.