德国(Germany)
正式名称德意志联邦共和国（Federal Republic of Germany）
德语作Deutschland
欧洲中北部国家。面积357,021平方公里。人口约82,386,000（2001）。首都︰柏林。人口中大多数是德国人。语言︰德语（官方语）。宗教︰路德宗、天主教。货币︰欧元（euro）。地形上，北部多为平原，东北部及中部多丘陵，巴伐利亚高原沿南部。中部和西部地区主要属莱茵河流域，其他重要的河流还有易北河、多瑙河和奥得河。德国属已开发的自由市场经济，以服务业和制造业为主；是世界上最富有的国家之一。出口品包括汽车和钢铁制品。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。联邦的权力集中於两院制的国会。
日耳曼部族在西元前2世纪末，进入德国，赶走了塞尔特人。罗马人征服该地区，遭失败。9世纪加洛林王朝解体，该地区仅为一政治实体。君主政权的统治软弱，权力遂落入贵族之手，於是组成了封建邦国。在撒克逊人的统治下恢复了君主政权的权威，重振神圣罗马帝国。其领土集中在德意志和义大利北部。神圣罗马帝国皇帝与天主教教宗之间的持续矛盾削弱了皇室的权力。1517年马丁.路德的反动，加速了帝国的分裂，三十年战争的爆发达顶点，使德意志分裂，欧洲最後分为基督教和天主教两大阵营。德意志的人口和疆域逐渐减少。德意志的众多封建诸侯取得了实际上的完全主权。1862年俾斯麦逐渐控制普鲁士，在未来的十年内统一了德意志帝国。1918年第一次世界大战後，德国战败，帝国被瓦解；被迫割让一些海外领地和欧洲领土。希特勒在1933年成为德国总理，并建立独裁的第三帝国，受纳粹党控制。1939年希特勒入侵波兰引爆了第二次世界大战。1945年战败後，德国被同盟国分成四个占领区。由於这些占领区的重新统一问题未能与苏联yizhi一致，促使1949年德意志联邦共和国（西德）和德意志民主共和国（东德）的成立。德国前首都柏林仍分为两个区域。西德成为一个繁荣的议会制民主国家。东德成为在苏联控制下的一个一党专政的国家。1989年东德共产党政府以平和的方式被推翻。1990年东、西德复归一统。在庆祝统一之际，西德在政治和经济上寻求与东德的合作，导致较富裕西德人民沈重的财政负担。不论如何，由於德国为欧洲联盟会员之一，该国与西欧就更深一层的政治和经济持续进行结合。
English version：
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.
