(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.14 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.17 years
male: 74.01 years
female: 80.5 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.26 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: German(s)
adjective: German

Ethnic groups: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, Italians 0.7%, Greeks
0.4%, Poles 0.4%, other 4.6% (made up largely of people fleeing the
war in the former Yugoslavia)

Religions: Protestant 38%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 1.7%,
unaffiliated or other 26.3%

Languages: German

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1977 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Federal Republic of Germany
conventional short form: Germany
local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
local short form: Deutschland

Data code: GM

Government type: federal republic

Capital: Berlin
note: the shift from Bonn to Berlin will take place over a period of
years, with Bonn retaining many administrative functions and several
ministries even after parliament moves in 1999

Administrative divisions: 16 states (Laender, singular--Land);
Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg,
Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen,
Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt,
Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen

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

National holiday: German Unity Day (Day of Unity), 3 October
(1990)

Constitution: 23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became
constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990

Legal system: civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial
review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 ye