GERMANY

DE LEON
PARRENO

Germany is
a country in
west-central
Europe that
stretches
from the
Alps, across
the North
European
Plain to the
North Sea
and the
Baltic Sea.

Germany has the second

largest
population in
Europe with 80,722,792.
It is also the seventh largest in
Area
With (137,847 sq mi),
consisting of (134,836 sq mi)
of land
and (3,011 sq mi) of waters.
Germany has 9 neighbor
countries.
Nort: Denmark
East : Poland, Czech Rep.
West:
Netherlands,Belgium,Luxemb
urg & France
South: Switzerland & Austria

 BASIC INFORMATIONS;
Official Title: Federal Republic of Germany
(Bundesrepublik Deutschland)
Motto: Unity and Justice and Freedom (Einigkeit und
Recht und Freiheit)
Population: 81,083,600
(30 September 2015)
Official Language:
Standard German
Currency: Euro

Basic Information

Capital: Berlin
Ethnic Groups:
German 91.5%, Turkish
2.4%, Italian 0.7%,
Greek 0.4%, Polish
0.4%, other 4.6%
Religion: No state
church; 62.8%
Christians; 34.1% nonaffiliated

TERRITORY OF GERMANY

The territorial changes of

Germany include all changes in
the borders and territory
of Germany. from its formation
in 1871 to the present. Modern
Germany was formed in 1871
when Otto von
Bismarck unified most of the
German states, with the notable
exception of Austria, into
the German Empire. After
the First World War.

Economy
Germanyis the largest national economy inEurope,
thefourth-largest by nominal GDPin the world, andfifth
by GDP (PPP). The country is a founding member of
theEuropean Unionand theEurozone.
Germany is rich intimber,iron
ore,potash,salt,uranium,nickel,copperandnatural
gas. Energy in Germany is sourced predominantly
byfossil fuels(50%), followed by nuclear power second,
then gas, wind, biomass (wood and biofuels), hydro and
solar. Germany is the first major industrialized nation to
commit to the renewable energy transition
calledEnergiewende. Germany is the leading producer
of wind turbines in the world.

The Berlin Wall

Potsdam Conference - After World War II, Germany was
divided into zones of occupation by the Allied Powers (United
States, France, Great Britain, and Soviet Union). West
Germany was the Western powers occupied zone while the
Soviets was East Germany
The same was done to the German capital of Berlin since it
encompassed both sides of Germany
West Germany became a prosperous democracy, while
communist East Germany was not as livable. Many East
Germans migrated to the West, and the East German
government built a Berlin Wall in order to stop the mass
exodus

Reunification
With the fall of communism in the 1980s, the West
German governments agenda of a unified German nation,
and the massive protests by East Germans, East Germany
yielded and allowed its citizens to cross the border
The West and East German states formally merged on
October 3, 1990

POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Federal parliamentary republic
Federal government Defense, foreign
policy, immigration, transportation,
communications, fiscal policy
State government Education, internal
security, other basic and administrative
services
The 1949 Constitution or the
Grundgesetz (Basic Law) divides the
power between the federal and state
governments
Major Parties:
Christian Democratic Union/Christian
Social Union coalition
Social Democratic Party
Free Democratic Party
Green Party
Left Party

Chancellor Angela
Merkel

President Joachim Gauck

The Executive
Branch
The Chancellor is the head of government who exercises
general supervision over the whole German government.
He/she is elected by the Bundestag (Lower house of
Parliament) usually every four years.
The President, elected by a Federal Convention composed
of the Bundestag and state representatives, is the
ceremonial head (tasked to represent the state and uphold
the law. Unlike the Chancellor, he/she has no veto power,
but without the signature of the President, a piece of
legislation can be open for debate.
The Cabinet is composed of federal ministers appointed by
the Chancellor. The Chancellor presides over the Cabinet.

The Legislative Branch

Bicameral legislature
Bundestag
Lower house
Elected by the people, half of
them are representatives and
half of them are from elected
party-lists
Bundesrat
Upper house
Composed of representatives
from regional or state
governments (Lnder)

The Bundestag has 598

seats. Its role and
functions involve
legislation, policy review,
federal budget, and
party funding.

The Judicial Branch

The German judicial system is an independent body composed
of three kinds of courts:
Ordinary Courts Civil and criminal cases
Specialized Courts - Administrative, labor, social, fiscal,
and patent law
Constitutional Courts Judicial and constitutional review
The Federal Constitutional Court is the highest court in
the land, but it only concerns matters pertaining to the
German Basic Law. The Bundestag and Bundesrat elect the
14 judges who serve 12-year terms.
The highest court for criminal and civil cases is the Federal
Court of Justice.

SIGNIFICANT
PEOPLE

ADOLF HITLER

ALBERT EINSTEIN

POPE BENEDICT XVI

CURREN
T ISSUES

School Violence and Drop outs

Bullying and victim-ism of children is the main

problem that they are facing in Germany. Also,
school dropout rates have skyrocketed since 2008,
especially in Eastern Germany. Some say it is
their surroundings, such as bad neighborhoods,
bad parenting, etc. The government is currently
trying to stop Elementary School violence and
High school dropouts, but it is very hard to stop
because of the plethora of children taking place in
both.

Hunger
There is a discussion going on about hunger in
Germany. Reverend Bernd Siggelkow, founder of
theBerlin-basedsoup kitchen"Die Arche",
claimed that a number of German children go
hungry each day. He blamed the lack of jobs, low
welfare payments, and parents who were drugaddicted or mentally ill.Siggelkow has been
criticized by a number of people who said there
was no hunger in Germany.

Religion in education
Some German states have banned Muslim
teachers from wearingheadscarvesin class.
Students are allowed to wear headscarves. All
German States havebanned crossesfrom the
classroom. However the cross is allowed in class if
none of the students objects to it, but must be
removed if any student objects. Generally the use
of allreligious symbolsby teachers is prohibited in
state schools