什麼是德國

正式名稱德意志聯邦共和國（Federal Republic of Germany）

德語作Deutschland

歐洲中北部國家。面積357,021平方公里。人口約82,386,000（2001）。首都︰柏林。人口中大多數是德國人。語言︰德語（官方語）。宗教︰路德宗、天主教。貨幣︰歐元（euro）。地形上，北部多為平原，東北部及中部多丘陵，巴伐利亞高原沿南部。中部和西部地區主要屬萊茵河流域，其他重要的河流還有易北河、多瑙河和奧得河。德國屬已開發的自由市場經濟，以服務業和製造業為主；是世界上最富有的國家之一。出口品包括汽車和鋼鐵製品。國家元首是總統，政府首腦為總理。聯邦的權力集中於兩院制的國會。

日耳曼部族在西元前2世紀末，進入德國，趕走了塞爾特人。羅馬人征服該地區，遭失敗。9世紀加洛林王朝解體，該地區僅為一政治實體。君主政權的統治軟弱，權力遂落入貴族之手，於是組成了封建邦國。在撒克遜人的統治下恢復了君主政權的權威，重振神聖羅馬帝國。其領土集中在德意志和義大利北部。神聖羅馬帝國皇帝與天主教教宗之間的持續矛盾削弱了皇室的權力。1517年馬丁.路德的反動，加速了帝國的分裂，三十年戰爭的爆發達頂點，使德意志分裂，歐洲最後分為基督教和天主教兩大陣營。德意志的人口和疆域逐漸減少。德意志的眾多封建諸侯取得了實際上的完全主權。1862年俾斯麥逐漸控制普魯士，在未來的十年內統一了德意志帝國。1918年第一次世界大戰後，德國戰敗，帝國被瓦解；被迫割讓一些海外領地和歐洲領土。希特勒在1933年成為德國總理，並建立獨裁的第三帝國，受納粹黨控制。1939年希特勒入侵波蘭引爆了第二次世界大戰。1945年戰敗後，德國被同盟國分成四個佔領區。由於這些佔領區的重新統一問題未能與蘇聯yizhi一致，促使1949年德意志聯邦共和國（西德）和德意志民主共和國（東德）的成立。德國前首都柏林仍分為兩個區域。西德成為一個繁榮的議會制民主國家。東德成為在蘇聯控制下的一個一黨專政的國家。1989年東德共產黨政府以平和的方式被推翻。1990年東、西德復歸一統。在慶祝統一之際，西德在政治和經濟上尋求與東德的合作，導致較富裕西德人民沈重的財政負擔。不論如何，由於德國為歐洲聯盟會員之一，該國與西歐就更深一層的政治和經濟持續進行結合。

Germany

GermanDeutschlandRepublic, northern central Europe. Area: 137,846 sq mi (357,021 sq km). Population (2000 est.): 82,225,000. Capital: Berlin. The majority of the people are German. Language: German (official). Religions: Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism. Monetary unit: euro. The land is generally flat in the north and hilly in the northeast and central region, rising to the Bavarian Alps in the south. The Rhine River basin dominates the central and western part of the country, while other important rivers are the Elbe, Danube, and Oder. It has a developed free-market economy largely based on services and manufacturing; it is one of the richest countries in the world. Exports include motor vehicles and iron and steel products. The chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the chancellor. Federal power is centered in the bicameral Parliament. Germanic tribes entered Germany c. 2nd century BC, displacing the Celts. The Romans failed to conquer the region, which only became a political entity with the division of the Carolingian empire in the 9th century AD. The monarchy's control was weak, and power increasingly devolved upon the nobility, organized in feudal states. The monarchy was restored under Saxon rule in the 10th century, and the Holy Roman Empire, centering on Germany and northern Italy, was revived. Continuing conflict between the Holy Roman emperors and the Roman Catholic popes undermined the empire, and its dissolution was accelerated by Martin Luther's revolt in 1517, which divided Germany, and ultimately Europe, into Protestant and Catholic camps, culminating in the Thirty Years' War (1618-48). Germany's population and borders were greatly reduced, and its numerous feudal princes gained virtually full sovereignty. In 1862 Otto von Bismarck came to power in Prussia and over the next decade reunited Germany in the German empire. It was dissolved in 1918 after the German defeat in World War I. Germany was stripped of much of its territory and all of its colonies. In 1933 Adolf Hitler's became chancellor and established a totalitarian state, the Third Reich, dominated by the Nazi Party. Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939 plunged the world into World War II. Following its defeat in 1945, Germany was divided by the Allied Powers into four zones of occupation. Disagreement with the Soviet Union over their reunification led to the creation in 1949 of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Berlin, the former capital, remained divided. West Germany became a prosperous parliamentary democracy, East Germany a one-party state under Soviet control. The East German communist government was overthrown peacefully in 1989, and Germany was reunited in 1990. After the initial euphoria over unity, the former West Germany sought to incorporate the former East Germany both politically and economically, resulting in heavy financial burdens for the wealthier western Germans. However, the country continued to move toward deeper political and economic integration with Western Europe through its membership in the European Union.