KNOWLEDGE BASE Facts About Germany

The information on this page was current at the time it was published. Regulations, trends, statistics, and other information are constantly changing. While we strive to update our Knowledge Base, we strongly suggest you use these pages as a general guide and be sure to verify any regulations, statistics, guidelines, or other information that are important to your efforts.

 

Map of Germany

 

Quick Facts About Germany

 

To help get you started, we've gathered some key information on Germany. These Germany stats are designed to give you a quick summary for what you'll learn more about throughout the Globig site. If there's something missing, use Ask Globig to send us your request. We'll let you know when we've added the Germany information you'd like to see. 

 

Conventional Long Form Name: Federal Republic of Germany
Local Conventional Short Form Name: Germany
Local Long Form Name: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Abbreviation: Deutschland
Internet Country Code: .de
Capital: Berlin
People are Called: Germans
Official Language: German
European Union status: Member
Total Population: 83.24 Million (DE Statis Statistisches Bundesamt)
Urban Population: 75.3% (World Factbook)
Major Urban Areas: 3.574 million BERLIN (capital), 1.788 million Hamburg, 1.576 million Munich, 1.144 million Cologne, 796,000 Frankfurt (2023)
Currency: Euro
Currency Symbol: € 
Thousands Separator (space or dot) and Decimal Mark (comma): 1 234 567,89
A Million is a Million: But a US 'billion' is a German 'Milliarde' and a German 'Billion' is a US 'trillion'!
Clock: 24 hour clock, with times written as 14:45 or 14.45
Dates: (D)D. MM. (YY)YY (note the spaces after the dots, and generally don’t use a leading zero for days unless for alignment)
Time Zone: UTC+1
Daylight Savings Time: +1 hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Phone Number Country Code: 49
Landline Phone Number Format: 5 to 11 digits, including area code
Cell Phone Number Format: 10 or 11 digits
Calling to Germany from the US or Canada: 011 49 + phone number
Standard Work Week: The Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz) generally regulates working hours in Germany
Annual Leave: Regulated by the Bundesurlaubsgesetz -the Federal Holidays Act
National Holiday:  Unity Day, 3 October
Voting Age: 18
Drinking Age: 16 for beer and wine; 18 for spirits. Drunk driving laws are strictly enforced! 
Smoking: Each of the 16 federal states has their own smoke-free laws for public places. As of December 2014, nearly 40% of the German population lives in a state with a strict smoking ban including all restaurants, pubs, cafés and discos; other states will probably introduce similar strict laws in the future. Fines can be as much as €1,000 

 

 

Globig Resources

World Factbook

Statistisches Bundesamt - German Government statistics site

World Bank

European Commission

Eurostat

Trade Helpdesk

 

 

KNOWLEDGE BASE Facts About Germany