Area: total equals 357,021 sq km, slightly smaller than Montana
Type of Government: federal republic
Money: deutsche mark (DEM); euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the euro as a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in Germany at a fixed rate of 1.95583 deutsche marks per euro and will replace the local currency for all transactions in 2002
Climate: temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm foehn wind