Founded: 1949, followed by German reunification with accession of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) on 3 October 1990

Head of state: President Joachim Gauck (as of March 2012)

Head of government: Chancellor Angela Merkel (as of November 2005)

Capital: Berlin

The five largest cities: Berlin (3.5m inhabitants), Hamburg (1.8m inhabitants), Munich (1.4m inhabitants), Cologne (1m inhabitants), Frankfurt am Main (680,000 inhabitants)

Official language: German

National holiday: 3 October (Day of German Unity)

Membership: European Union, G8, G20, NATO, OECD, OSCE, UN

Religions: Roman Catholic (30 percent), Evangelical Church in Germany (30 percent), Muslim (almost 5 percent), other (almost 2 percent), without confession (35 percent)

Time zone: CET

Climate: moderately cool Westerlies climate, between the oceanic climate of the Atlantic and the continental climate of eastern Europe

Economic output GDP (per capita): €30,569

Labour force: 42 million

Average annual gross income per full-time employee: €42,605

International vehicle code: D

Internet TLD: .de

Telephone country code: +49

Currency: euro (€1 = 100 cents)