Germany is a big country in the middle of Europe. It shares borders with the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland. The biggest and most well-known forest area in Germany is in the southwest, close to the border with Switzerland. This is the Black Forest, a hilly area with lots of fir and pine trees. It has been said that Germany is the "Land of Poets and Thinkers." Germans are known for all kinds of art, but classical music is their specialty. Bach, Brahms, Schumann, Wagner, and Beethoven are some of Germany's most famous musicians. Germany is part of the European Union. Germany is the biggest country in the world. There are 137,847 square miles (357,022 km²) of it, of which 34,836 square miles (90,224 km²) are land and 7,798 square miles are water. There are sixteen federal states in Germany. Different states have 403 administrative areas, with 294 being rural and 102 being urban. These are called Kreis or Landkreis in the constitution. With 27,240 square miles (70,550.19 km²), Bavaria is the biggest state. With 77% of its people living in cities and towns, Germany is one of the world's most heavily populated countries.
Berlin, the capital of Germany, is a major tourist attraction. It boasts more bridges than Venice and is nine times the size of Paris. Germany is a major player in the global auto industry. Reaching 2011 sales of 3,4 million vehicles. Volkswagen's Golf has been a best-seller since 1981, and the company sold over 240,702 of them in Europe alone in 2012. Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW were the best-selling German automakers in 2013. The only language more widely taught than German is Spanish. There are three stripes across the bottom of the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany: a black one, a red one, and a yellow one. It was also used in West Germany before they joined together.
West Germany and East Germany had different political views. After the war, the Soviet Union became interested in East Germany. When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, East and West Germany joined together to form the Federal Republic of Germany. It takes up almost 140 square miles of land, which makes Germany the seventh largest country in Europe. Germany is home to more than 83 million people, making it the 18th most populous country in the world. People know Germany for its part in both World Wars I and II. It is known as the home of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement, which tried to take over many European countries. One fact about Germany that not many people know is that Hitler wasn't German. He was born and raised in Austria-Hungary as a child.
The Zugspitze, which is 2,963 meters (9,721 ft) high, is Germany's tallest mountain. Germany has over 25,000 castles. Germany has the fourth largest economy in the world and the biggest in Europe. Germany's GDP is $4.55 trillion right now. Germany has 36 international airports, and all of them are major hubs for flights into and out of countries around the world. The Euro is the currency that Germany uses as its own money. It helped to make the Eurozone and was a strong supporter of a single EU currency. It is known as Das Land der Dichter und Denker. Copper, nickel, natural gas, uranium, and coal are some of the important natural products that Germany has. Germany is getting rid of its nuclear power plants one by one. Germany has a lot of national parks, such as the Bavarian Forest National Park, the Jasmund National Park, the Harz National Park, and the Wadden Sea National Park. More than 100 Germans have won the Nobel Prize in their field. Albert Einstein, who was born in Germany, is one of them. Artists like Johann Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Richard Wagner all lived and worked in Germany.
The Autobahn is Germany's famous highway that runs between the country's biggest towns and is 12,993 kilometers (8,073 miles) long.
Germans drive on the right side of the road. Most people in Germany like to play football, also called soccer. There have been four World Cup wins for the German men's team: in 1954, 1974, 1990, and 2014.
The German custom of having a Christmas tree, called a "Tannenbaum," is thought to have begun by Martin Luther, a German protestant in the 1600s. Our country has the most zoos in the world, with more than 400. A record from Guinness World Records says that the world's smallest street is in Reutlingen, Germany. The street is called Spreuerhofstrasse and is only 31 cm (one foot) wide at its narrowest point. People in Berlin call the Chancellor's office the "washing machine" because of the way it is built. Zoos are very popular places to visit, and the Berlin Zoo is one of the most well-known. People all over the world know the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin as a symbol of peace and unity.
As Germany's second-largest metropolis, Hamburg is certainly not second-best. Hamburg, a city in Germany, is a major port and was formerly the country's commercial hub because of its convenient access to the water.
In the beginning, Germany was made up of many small states that were run by dukes and kings. But in 1871, a politician called Otto von Bismarck brought the country together. Germany was made up of many kingdoms and powers, but the country was often called Germania, the Holy Roman Empire, or the Franks. It was also called Prussia in the past.