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) |
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Capital city > Geographic coordinates
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52 31 N, 13 24 E |
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Constitution 23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united Germany 3 October 1990 |
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Corruption
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8.2 |
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[16th of 160]
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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 |
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Government type
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federal republic |
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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) |
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Parliamentary seats > Female
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31% |
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[6th of 143]
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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 |
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Time required to start a business > days
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24 days
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[122nd of 171]
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Trademarks, residents
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62,576
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[5th of 98]
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Transnational Issues > Disputes > International
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none |
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