Germany has a very favorable geographical location and borders nine countries. In the north, Germany is washed by the North and Baltic Seas. It has a total of 2390 km of coastline. The most important communication axes connecting northern and southern, western and eastern Europe pass through its territory.
The climate of Germany
According to PETWITHSUPPLIES, Germany has a moderate climate, significantly oceanic in the north. Towards the southeast, continentality increases with greater differences between summer and winter. Average January temperatures are usually below freezing in Bavaria, above freezing in the north and in the Rhine Valley. It is warmest in the Upper Rhine Valley, which also has a relatively dry winter and a long period of sunshine, and in the vicinity of Dresden. Precipitation ranges between 600-900 mm in most areas, in the north and west it is more regular, in the south it tends to fall during the growing season. The Alps (over 2000 mm), Black Forest, Harz and Šumava are very rainy. The snow cover tends to be discontinuous outside the mountains and usually lasts only a few days, 3-5 months in the mountains. In the basins, inversions often occur in winter.
Flora and fauna
Forests cover almost 30% of the country’s surface, but most of the original oak and beech stands, even at lower elevations, have already been replaced by spruce and pine monocultures. More continuous forest stands are in the mountains, especially in the Černý les, to which the dark fir gave its name, and in Šumava, where beech trees also grow high. The border of the forests in the Alps is at 1600–1800 m above it, and stands of heather and alpine meadows spread out above it. Large areas of forests, especially in the Lusatian Basin and the Ore Mountains, are damaged by acid rain. Environmental pollution has decreased significantly in recent years. In the North German Lowland, there are extensive wet heaths and marshy bogs.
The fauna of Germany is typical for the whole of Central Europe, but it has preserved its original character only in the Alps (ibex, chamois, marmot, snow grouse, eagle). The stocks of game and steppe animals are limited, rare species are only rarely found. Migratory birds are richer. A large part of the territory of Germany (around 15%) is protected.
Society of Germany
For centuries, Germany was a conglomeration of competing city-states, principalities and kingdoms that only relatively recently came together in a confederation. The price for the flare-up of nationalism and appetites for world domination was high, and Germany found itself in ruins after the end of World War II. Great power interests then divided Germany for forty years. The western part soon developed into the economically strongest country in Europe, while the eastern part, on the other hand, approached the socialist average. Only the fall of communism in Eastern Europe enabled their reunification in 1990.
State system
According to the West German constitution of 1949, Germany is a federal republic of ten states (Länder). In 1990, in connection with the unification, five new federal states were created on the territory of East Germany. A united Berlin became the sixteenth country and the new capital of Germany.
The legislative body is a bicameral parliament, consisting of the Bundestag (662 deputies elected for four years) and the Bundesrat, whose 68 members represent individual countries. The Bundestag elects the chancellor, the head of the government. The president, who is the formal head of state, is elected for a five-year term by the electorate, composed of delegates to the federal (federal) parliament and regional parliaments. The composition of the government of the individual federal states may differ from the federal government.
