Germany Economy, People, Culture, Flag

Germany consists of people hailing from mixed ethnic backgrounds. The Turkish forms the largest group, while foreign residents make up for nine percent of the population. Besides this, there are also large numbers of refugees from East European Union as well as immigrants from countries like Italy, Spain and Greece. German is the language that is commonly spoken.

Germany has contributed immensely towards art and culture. However, today German culture remains so merged with that of Europe that it becomes slightly difficult to draw the boundaries. German culture reflects various traces of medieval art and architecture in the form of cathedrals, monasteries, and castles that dot the country. Germany is also known for its love for music and literature.

The flag of Germany consists of three equal horizontal

bands - black at the top, red in the middle and gold at the bottom.
Please click here to view the Flag of Germany

Germany had a flourishing economy, which however, was forced onto a decline curve after the unification of East and West Germany in 1990. It was the differences between the economic systems of the two portions that caused the economy of East Germany to deteriorate. Even today, improving the East Germany's economy amounts to be a costly affair, with annual transfers from west to east working out to roughly $70 billion. This accompanied with the country's ageing population and high rate of unemployment has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. In the years 2002 and 2003, the economic growth fell short of 1%. However, corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are laying the foundations to allow Germany to meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization.

Information on Germany, Its Geography & History