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Administrative divisions 16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern (Bavaria), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarland, Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen (Thuringia); note - Bayern, Sachsen, and Thueringen refer to themselves as free states (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat)
Capital city > Geographic coordinates	52 31 N, 13 24 E
Constitution 23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united Germany 3 October 1990
Corruption	8.2		[16th of 160]
Diplomatic representation from the US > Mailing address PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE 09265, clayallee 170, 14195 Berlin
Executive branch > Cabinet Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor
Executive branch > Chief of state President Horst KOEHLER (since 1 July 2004)
Flag description three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold
Government type	federal republic
Independence 18 January 1871 (German Empire unification); divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and later, France) in 1945 following World War II; Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) proclaimed 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zones; German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone; unification of West Germany and East Germany took place 3 October 1990; all four powers formally relinquished rights 15 March 1991
Judicial branch Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)
Legal system civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (614 seats; elected by popular vote under a system combining direct and proportional representation; a party must win 5% of the national vote or three direct mandates to gain proportional representation and caucus recognition; to serve four-year terms) and the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments are directly represented by votes; each has three to six votes depending on population and are required to vote as a block)
Parliamentary seats > Female	31%		[6th of 143]
Political parties and leaders Alliance '90/Greens [Claudia ROTH and Cem OEZDEMIR]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Horst SEEHOFER]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Guido WESTERWELLE]; Left Party or Die Linke [Lothar BISKY and Oskar LAFONTAINE]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Franz MUENTEFERING]
Status federal democracy
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal
Time required to start a business > days	24 days		[122nd of 171]
Trademarks, residents	62,576		[5th of 98]
Transnational Issues > Disputes > International	none

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