The Federal Republic of Germany is situated in the heart of Europe. It
has nine neighbours: Denmark in the north, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg
and France in the west, Switzerland and Austria in the south, and the
Czech Republic as well as Poland in the east. This central location has
been more pronounced since 3 October 1990 when Germany was reunited. The
Federal Republic is more than ever a link between east and west, but also
between Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. As an integral part of the
European Community and NATO, Germany is a bridge to the countries of Central
and Eastern Europe.
The Federal Republic of Germany covers an area of 357,000 sq km. The longest
distance from north to south as the crow flies is 876 km, from west to
east 640 km. Its extremities are List on the island of Sylt in the north,
Deschka, Saxony, in the east, Oberstdorf, Bavaria, in the south, and Selfkant,
North-Rhine/Westphalia, in the west. The total length of the country's
borders is 3,767 km. Germany has a population of 80 million, the largest
in Europe after Russia's, followed by Italy (population 58 million), the
United Kingdom (57 million) and France (56 million). In size, however,
Germany is smaller than France (552,000 sq km) and Spain (505,000 sq km).
Geographical features. Germany has various charming landscapes. Low and
high mountain ranges intermingle with upland plains, terrace country,
hilly regions and lakelands, as well as wide, open lowlands. From north
to south Germany is divided into five regions with different topographical
features: the North German Plain, the Central Upland Range, the terrace
panorama of the southwest, the alpine foothills in the south, and the
Bavarian Alps.
In the north are dry, sandy lowlands with many lakes as well as heaths
and moors. There is also the fertile land south of the Central Upland
Range. These lowland penetrations include the Lower Rhenish Bight, the
Westphalian Bight and the Saxon-Thuringian Bight. The marshes along the
North Sea coast extend as far as the geest. Characteristic features of
the Baltic Sea coastline are, in Schleswig-Holstein, the fjords, in Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania the lakes and the counterbalancing coastline. The main islands
are, in the North Sea, the East Frisian Islands such as Borkum or Norderney,
the North Frisian Islands of Amrum, Fohr, Sylt and the Halligen as well
as Helgoland in the Helgoland Bight. Situated in the Baltic Sea are the
islands of Rugen, Hiddensee and Fehmarn. Some parts of the Baltic coast
have flat, sandy shores, others steep cliffs. Between the North and Baltic
Seas lies the low-hill country called 'Holsteinische Schweiz' (Holstein
Switzerland).
The Central Upland Range divides north Germany from the south. The central
Rhine valley and the Hessian depressions serve as the natural north-south
traffic arteries. The Central Uplands include the Rhenish Slate Mountains
(Hunsruck, Eifel, Taunus, Westerwald, Bergisches Land and Sauerland),
the Hessian Mountains, the Weser and Leine Mountains in western and central
Germany. Right in the centre of Germany are the Harz Mountains. In the
eastern region are the Rhon Mountains, the Bavarian Forest, the Upper
Palatinate Forest, the Fichtelgebirge, the Frankenwald, the Thuringian
Forest and the mountains of the Erzgebirge.
The terrace landscape of the Central Uplands in the south-west embrace
the upper Rhine valley with the adjacent mountain ranges of the Black
Forest, the Odenwald and Spessart, the Palatinate Forest with the Haardt
and the Swabian-Franconian terrace country with the Alb.
In a narrow valley between Bingen and Bonn the river Rhine, the main north-south
axis, slices through the Rhenish Slate Mountains, whose not very fertile
highland areas (Hunsruck, Taunus, Eifel, Westerwald) are considerably
less densely populated than the sheltered wine-growing areas on both sides
of the Rhine which are very popular with tourists. The alpine foothills
embrace the Swabian-Bavarian highlands and lakes, the broad, gravel plains,
the hilly landscape of Lower Bavaria, and the Danube valley. Characteristic
features of this region are the moors, dome-shaped hill ranges and lakes
(Chiemsee, Starnberger See) as well as small villages.
The German part of the Alps between Lake Constance and Berchtesgaden is
limited to the Allgau, the Bavarian Alps and the Berchtesgaden Alps. In
this alpine world lie picturesque lakes, such as the Konigssee near Berchtesgaden,
and popular tourist resorts such as Garmisch-Partenkirchen or Mittenwald.