World Factbook
Germany
Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Area
land
348,672 sq km
water
8,350 sq km
total
357,022 sq km
Climate
temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind
Terrain
lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south
Land use
other
15% (2023 est.)
forest
32.8% (2023 est.)
agricultural land
47.5% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: arable land
arable land: 33.4% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent crops
permanent crops: 0.6% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent pasture
permanent pasture: 13.5% (2023 est.)
Location
Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Coastline
2,389 km
Elevation
lowest point
Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.5 m
highest point
Zugspitze 2,963 m
mean elevation
263 m
Irrigated land
5,065 sq km (2020)
Map references
Europe
Land boundaries
total
3,694 km
border countries
Austria 801 km; Belgium 133 km; Czechia 704 km; Denmark 140 km; France 418 km; Luxembourg 128 km; Netherlands 575 km; Poland 447 km; Switzerland 348 km
Maritime claims
territorial sea
12 nm
continental shelf
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone
200 nm
Natural hazards
flooding
Geography - note
strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea; most major rivers in Germany -- the Rhine, Weser, Oder, Elbe -- flow northward; the Danube, which originates in the Black Forest, flows eastward
Natural resources
coal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber, arable land
Area - comparative
three times the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Montana
Geographic coordinates
51 00 N, 9 00 E
Population distribution
second most populous country in Europe; a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations, particularly in the far-western part of the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia
Major lakes (area sq km)
salt water lake(s)
Stettiner Haff/Zalew Szczecinski (shared with Poland) - 900 sq km
fresh water lake(s)
Lake Constance (shared with Switzerland and Austria) - 540 sq km
Major watersheds (area sq km)
Atlantic Ocean drainage
Rhine-Maas (198,735 sq km), (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km)
Major rivers (by length in km)
Donau (Danube) river source (shared with Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km; Elbe river mouth (shared with Czechia [s]) - 1,252 km; Rhein (Rhine) (shared with Switzerland [s], France, and Netherlands [m]) - 1,233 km note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth