Official name: Bundesrepublik Deutschland (short: BRD) or Federal Republic Germany
Area: 356,970 square km. (8.7 x the Netherlands)
Number of inhabitants: 82.4 million (July 2004), of which more than 7 million foreigners
Population density: 231 people per square kilometer
Capital: Berlin
Monetary unit: The Euro since 2002. (1 ? = $ 1.24; 1 Dollar = ? 0.7; Rate in Jan. 2009)
Fuel prices: Gas: ? 1.15; Diesel: ? 0.88; LPG: ? 0.64 (October 2004)
License plate of cars: DK
Telephone country prefix: 49
Internet country code: .de
Time difference: GMT+1; the same as in Holland
Road network: The road network is 321,000 km long, of which 11,309 km Autobahn (highways) and is in very good shape. The roads in former East Germany are also quite good.
Prices in general: The prices of food and most non-food are in former East Germany still lower than in the west but most prices are the same as in Holland.
The best in Austria: Germany is a big country and there are many nice places, like the capital Berlin. But we also like the mountains in the south and the peacefullness of a village like Zermtzel.

Geographical data:
Germany is a federal republic in central Europe. Since the reunion with the former DDR on October 3 1990, Germany is, after Russia, the Ukrain, Germany, Spain and Sweden the biggest country of Europe.
Germany lies central on the European continent and borders to no less than 9 other countries: Denmark (68 kilometer) in the north, the Netherlands (577 km), Belgium (167 km), Luxembourg (135 km) and France (451 km) in the west, Switzerland (334 km) and Austria (784 km) in the south, and the Czech Republic (646 km) and Poland (456 km) in the east. About one third of the area was formed by the former Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR).
More information at insidecountryinfo.com.

Population:
Germany has the largest population of all the countries of the Europesan Union and is one of the most dense populated countries of Europe, with more than 230 per km2. Only in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom is the population density higher.
Look at insidecountryinfo.com to find out more about this.

Languages:
German is a language mainly spoken in the central European countries: Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and northern Switzerland. But there are more countries with German-=speaking minorities: South-Tirol, Elzas-Lotharingen, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Russia (the Volga-Germans).
German is the seventh language on earth and is spoken by about 120 million people.
Click on encarta.msn.com to learn more about the German language.

History:
Since 1990 West- and East-Germany are united again into one federal Germany. We have decided not to write a detailed history anymore, since we would have to cite other sources that are often on the internet already. Instead a few links with more information about German history:

Climate:
Germany has mainly moderate climate, characterized by cool winters and warm summers.

Flora and fauna:
About one-third of the country is covered with woodlands and consists of trees like oak, ash, elm, beech, birch, pine, fir, and larch. The animals include deer, red foxes, hares, and weasels. Migratory birds include various species of songbirds, storks, geese, and other larger fowl that fly into Germany from Africa. Herring, flounder, cod, and ocean perch are also found near the coastal waters.