Germany is the second most populated European country, with Russia holding the title of first.
Germany has many types of land environments from the fertile northern plains that stretch from the Baltic Seas northward and the central highlands that extend to the Black Forest and then to the Alps in the south.
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Germany Facts for Kids:
Population: 82,490,000 people
Capital City: Berlin, 3,327,000 people
Language: German
Religions: Protestant, Roman Catholic
Currency: Euro
Area: 137,847 sq mi. (357,022 sq km)
Literacy Percentage: 99
Life Expectancy: 78 years
Where is Germany
Germany is located in central Europe and shares borders with nine countries:
Denmark
The Czech Republic
Austria
Switzerland
France
Luxemburg
Poland
Belgium
The Netherlands
Germany is the second-largest country in Central Europe after Russia.
There are three natural borders in Germany’s northern regions the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Lowlands. The Alps mountains and Lake Constance form the borders of Germany in the south.
Geography Superlatives
Highest Mountain
The highest mountain, which is called the Zugspitze (meaning ‘windy peak’), is 2,963 meters/9,721 feet.
Many German tourists visit the mountain top each year.
Longest River
The Rhine River is the longest river. This river runs more than 1233 kilometers from its source in Switzerland to its mouth in the North Sea, 865 of them through Germany alone.
Throughout history, the Rhine served as a link between East Germany and West Germany and a significant transport route since Roman times.
Before flowing into the North Sea at Rotterdam, the Rhine flows through six European countries – Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
Biggest Lake
Lake Constance is 571 km2 in size and 395 meters above sea level.
Lake Constance is on the border between Switzerland, Austria, and Germany, at the foot of the Alps.
On its fertile shores, fruit is grown, and fishing and winemaking are major industries.
German States
The Federal Republic of Germany is divided into 16 states. The biggest of these is Bavaria, and the smallest is Bremen.
Some of them date back as far as the early Middle Ages, but most were made after World War II.
Baden-Württemberg
Bavaria (Bayern)
Berlin
Brandenburg
Bremen
Hamburg
Hesse (Hessen)
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)
North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz)
Saarland
Saxony (Sachsen)
Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt)
Schleswig-Holstein
Thuringia (Thüringen)
Best places in Germany to visit
Berlin
The capital and biggest city in Germany is Berlin. The city is located in the eastern part of Germany.
There are three rivers running through Berlin, the Havel, Dahme, and the Spree.
You’ll find lots of museums and theatres. Berlin has around 170 museums to keep you busy.
There are so many things to do in the city that it’s hard to list everything!
One of Berlin’s most famous districts is Mitte is home to the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag Building, and Berlin Cathedral Church.
Munich
There are many museums and historic buildings in Munich.
It hosts an Oktoberfest celebration every year, and its oldest beer hall, the Hofbräuhaus, was founded in 1589.
In Munich’s Technische Universitat, slides help students reach classes much quicker. How cool is that!
BMW was born in Munich, one of the world’s top-selling car manufacturers.
The brand has its own museum.
You can find out about the company’s history and see some retro models, as well as learn about future projects and the automotive industry in general.
Some German History
While human beings settled in the area of Northern Europe after the end of the last Ice Age (10,000 years ago), it is believed that it was around 5,000 years ago that people settled in the area that we now know as Germany and began to speak a language that is similar to the one that they speak today.
The early years of the German areas were small states that were ruled by kings and dukes. There was a lot of fighting and arguing as each tried to take power from the others.
Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome referred to the people that lived in the area that was East of the Rhine River as ‘Germania’ so that they could distinguish it from the area of Gaul that they had conquered.
In 1517, Martin Luther led the reformation against the Roman Catholic Church and those in the northern areas of the country became Protestants, while people living in the southern areas remained Roman Catholic.
At the end of the ‘Thirty Years War’ (1618-1648), Germany was divided into a number of sectors: Bavaria, Saxony, and Prussia.
Once the Napoleonic Wars ended, the area known as Germany began to grow and become successful with the Industrial Revolution. The areas that had been separated became unified and Germany became a center for science, music, arts, and humanities.
It took until 1871 until the country was actually united through an alliance of a politician by the name of Otto von Bismarck.
By the time the later 19th century rolled around many of the European countries were making attempts at developing colonies in Asia and Africa and Germany was in competition with them.
Germany became a world power that competed with Great Britain’s by 1900 and they led the Central Powers in the 1914-1918 World War I, fighting against Great Britain, Russia, France, and then the United States. The loss of the war forced Germany to sign the “Treaty of Versailles” which required that they pay war reparations and would be stripped of their colonies, Alsace-Lorraine, and areas of Poland.
The German monarchy was demolished in the German Revolution of 1918-1919 and they established the Weimar Republic which was a parliamentary democracy that was quite unstable.
The 1930s brought about the Great Depression around the world and Germany, already in great debt from the repayment of war costs, fell into disarray and despair. The people were looking for someone or something to help to bring them back to their former glory and that is when Adolf Hitler entered the scene.
Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power in 1933 with promised to build Germany to her former greatness. His troops invaded Poland, which started World War II, creating death camps where millions of Jews were murdered as well as anyone that went against Hitler’s concept of government and his idea of the ‘pure race’.
Many of the countries became allies to fight against Hitler and the war finally ended in 1945.
The second world war allowed Germany to be divided into East (communist) and West (democratic) as part of the settlement with the Soviet Union as an ally. A wall was built to separate the two parts of the country. Many of the factories were dismantled by the Soviet Union and rebuilt in Russia (with little success). The United States brought many of German scientists to America to work on scientific and space/rocket programs.
Germany was the centerpiece for the ‘Cold War’ between the Soviet Union and the Western countries. This lasted forty-four years until 1989 when the German wall was torn down and the Cold War ended.
The two sides of Germany blended back into a single country and worked to regain its place as a powerful country. They joined the European Union and are one of the strongest European countries today.
Fun Facts about Germany
- 86% of the people in Germany live in urban or city areas.
- It has the lowest birthrate in the world.
- Germany is a haven for immigrant workers with over 7.3 million immigrants employed in the country.
- German companies are known around the world. Some of the best-known names include: Siemens, Daimler AG, and Volkswagen.
- Sports clubs are very popular among Germans. Soccer, volleyball, basketball, ballet, and dancing are the most popular school sports.
The Environment
The high level of German interest in environmentally friendly technology has allowed some of their manufacturers such as Transrapid (the railway that is maglev) and Nordex (wind turbines) to be well-known and adopted on a global scale.
