Germany, formally the Federal Republic of Germany, is a nation in Central Europe. It is the 2nd most populous country in Europe after Russia, as well as the most heavily populated member state of the European Union. Germany is situated in between the Baltic and also North seas to the north, as well as the Alps to the south; it covers a location of 357,022 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi), with a population of over 83 million within its 16 constituent states.

Germany boundaries Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the eastern, Austria as well as Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The nation’s resources and largest city is Berlin, as well as its economic centre is Frankfurt; the largest metropolitan location is the Ruhr.

Numerous Germanic tribes have actually lived in the north parts of contemporary Germany given that timeless antiquity. A region called Germania was documented prior to AD 100. In the 10th century, German territories created a main part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, north German regions came to be the centre of the Protestant Reformation.

Complying With the Napoleonic Battles and the dissolution of the Divine Roman Empire in 1806, the German Confederation was created in 1815. In 1871, Germany came to be a nation-state when most of the German states combined right into the Prussian-dominated German Realm. After World War I and also the German Change of 1918– 1919, the Realm was replaced by the semi-presidential Weimar Republic.

The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 caused the establishment of a tyranny, The second world war, and also the Holocaust. After the end of World War II in Europe as well as a duration of Allied profession, Germany was split into the Federal Republic of Germany, normally known as West Germany, as well as the German Democratic Republic, East Germany.

The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Area and also the European Union, while the German Autonomous Republic was a communist Eastern Bloc state as well as member of the Warsaw Pact. After the loss of communism, German reunification saw the former East German states sign up with the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990– becoming a government legislative republic.

Germany is a great power with a solid economic situation; it has the largest economic situation in Europe, the globe’s fourth-largest economic situation by nominal GDP, as well as the fifth-largest by PPP. As a global leader in numerous commercial, clinical and technological sectors, it is both the globe’s third-largest merchant and also importer of products.

As an established nation, which places very high up on the Human Growth Index, it provides social security and an universal health care system, environmental protections, as well as a tuition-free college education. Germany belongs to the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the G20, and also the OECD. It has the third-greatest variety of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.