| Geography and Climate |
Germany is located in Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark. Area comparatively slightly smaller than Montana.
Total land boundary is 3,621 km, border countries are 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.
Climate in Germany is temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm, tropical foehn wind; high relative humidity. Terrain consists of lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south. Elevation extreme has the lowest point in Freepsum Lake -2 m and highest point in Zugspitze 2,962 m. Major natural resources are iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel. Land use: arable land: 33%, permanent crops: 1%, permanent pastures: 15%, forests and woodland: 31%,
other: 20% (1993 est.). Irrigated land: 4,750 sq km (1993 est.)
Environment—current issues: emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries and lead emissions from vehicle exhausts (the result of continued use of leaded fuels) contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; heavy pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany; hazardous waste disposal.
Geography—note: strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea.
Ref. Anonymous, 1999 |