Exact population: 82,422,299 (July 2006 est.)

Literacy: Total population: 99% (1997 est.); male: NA%; female: NA%

Ethnicities: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish)

Area: Total: 357,021 sq km; land: 349,223 sq km; water: 7,798 sq km

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

Terrain: Lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south

Extremes: Lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m; highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m

Imports: France 9%, Netherlands 8.3%, US 7%, Italy 6.1%, UK 5.9%, China 5.6%, Belgium 4.9%, Austria 4.2% (2004)

Exports: France 10.3%, US 8.8%, UK 8.3%, Italy 7.2%, Netherlands 6.2%, Belgium 5.6%, Austria 5.4%, Spain 5% (2004)

Industries: Among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages; shipbuilding; textiles

Source: CIA World Factbook