18 January 1871 (German Empire unification); divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and later, France) in 1945 following World War II; Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) proclaimed 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zones; German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone; unification of West Germany and East Germany took place 3 October 1990; all four powers formally relinquished rights 15 March 1991
26 July 1965 (from UK)
Religions
Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%
Sunni Muslim
Languages
German
Maldivian Dhivehi (dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English spoken by most government officials
Exports
machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles
fish
External Debt
$5,624,000,000,000 $
$890,800,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6734 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
rufiyaa (MVR) per US dollar - NA (2007), 12.8 (2006), 12.8 (2005), 12.8 (2004), 12.8 (2003)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.500%
5.000%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
41
0
Location
Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Southern Asia, group of atolls in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India
Area
357,022 km sq
298 km sq
Coastline
2,389 km
644 km
Climate
temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind
tropical; hot, humid; dry, northeast monsoon (November to March); rainy, southwest monsoon (June to August)
