Geography of Germany

Location:

Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark

Geographic coordinates: 51 00 N, 9 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area:

total: 357,021 km²

land: 349,223 km²

water: 7,798 km²

Climate:

temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm foehn wind

Terrain:

lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Freepsum Lake -2 m

highest point: Zugspitze 2,962 m

Land boundaries:

total: 3,621 km

border countries: Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czech Republic 646 km, Denmark 68 :km, France 451 km, Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km, :Switzerland 334 km

Coastline: 2,389 km

Maritime claims:

continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

territorial sea: 12 nm

Land use:

arable land: 33%

permanent crops: 1%

permanent pastures: 15%

forests and woodland: 31%

other: 20% (1993 est.)

Natural resources:

iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land

Irrigated land: 4,750 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding

Environment

Current issues:

emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany; hazardous waste disposal; government (under Chancellor Schröder, SPD) announced intent to end the use of nuclear power for producing electricity; government working to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive

International Agreements:

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea

See also: Germany, National parks (Germany)