This article describes the geography of Germany.

Location

Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark and north of Austria and Switzerland.

Geographic coordinates:

Map references: Europe

Area

• Total: 357,021 km²
• Land: 349,223 km²
• Water: 7,798 km²

Climate

Temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm föhn wind

Terrain

Lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south

Elevation extremes

• Lowest point: Wilstermarsch (near Itzehoe) -3.5 m
• Highest point: Zugspitze 2,962 m

Land boundaries

• Total: 3,621 km
• Border countries: 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

Coastline

2,389 km

Maritime claims

• Continental shelf: 200m depth or to the depth of exploitation
• Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
• Territorial sea: 12 nm

Land use

• Arable land: 33%
• Permanent crops: 1%
• Permanent pastures: 15%
• Forests and woodland: 31%
• Other: 20% (1993 est.)

Natural resources

Iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land

Irrigated land

4,750 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards

Flooding

Environment--Current issues

Emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany; hazardous waste disposal; government (under Chancellor Schröder, SPD) announced intent to end the use of nuclear power for producing electricity; government working to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive

Environment--International Agreements

• Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
• Signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants

Geography--note

Strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea

Extreme points

This is a list of the extreme points of Germany, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.

• Northernmost Point: List, Sylt, Schleswig-Holstein
• Southernmost Point: Oberstdorf , Bavaria
• Westernmost Point: Millen , North Rhine-Westphalia
• Easternmost Point: Deschka , Saxony
• Highest Point: Zugspitze
• Lowest Point: Wilstermarsch

The northernmost point in mainland Germany lies near Aventoft , Schleswig-Holstein

The extreme points of medieval Germany are mentioned in the first stanza of Das Lied der Deutschen, of which the third stanza is today the national anthem of Germany. They were in part no longer accurate when the song was penned, because Austria and Flanders had different affiliations by then. The limits mentioned are the rivers Meuse/Maas which crosses France, Belgium and the Netherlands, the Neman River, which runs through Belarus and Lithuania but previously formed part of the border of East Prussia, the Adige in German-speaking South Tyrol which was transferred from the Habsburg Empire to Italy after World War I, and the Belt which is a part of the Baltic Sea between Germany and Denmark

See Also

• Germany
• National parks (Germany)
• Geography of Europe