Germany |
| The Federal Republic of Germany
is situated in the heart of Europe. It has nine neighbors: Denmark to the
north; the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France to the west; Switzerland
and Austria to the south; and the Czech Republic and Poland to the east.
This central location has been more pronounced since October 3, 1990, when
Germany was reunited.
Germany has various charming landscapes. Both low and high mountain ranges are intermingled with upland regions, terraced country, hilly regions and lakelands, and wide open lowlands. From north to south Germany is divided into five regions with different topographical features: the North German Plain, the Central Upland Range, the terrace panorama of the Southwest, the alpine foothills in the south and the Bavarian Alps. Germany is situated in the temperate zone between the Atlantic Ocean and eastern Europe. Sharp changes in temperature are rare and precipitation is present all year round. In the winter, the average temperature is between 1.5 and 6 ° (64 to 68 °). Although the oldes German city, Trier, was settled by the Romans more than 2000 years ago, the development of German culture and language started around the eight century. Today, a multitude of ancient towns, castles and buildings bear witness to Germany's history. Like other European countries, Christianity has molded many attitudes in Germany. Just under 57 million people belong to a Christian church. Roughly 28 million are Roman Catholics, and a minority belong to other Christian denominations. Sports are the favorite leisure time activities in Germany. More than 21 million people are members of some organized sport club. The German Football Federation is by far the biggest sports organization in Germany, with more than 5.25 million members. Soccer is played at thousands of amateur clubs. Sports like tennis, golf, and horse riding are winning increasing popularity. The German Air Force consists of about 80,000 military members. It operates the MRCA Tornado, F-4 Phantom, MiG 29, A-Jet, C-160 Transall, CL-601 Challenger, Let 410, Tupelow 154, Airbus A-310, Boeing 707, Bell UH-1D, Mi8S, T-37 Tweet and T-38 Talon. The German Air Force has been training students at Sheppard AFB since August 1966. Over the course of 30 years, more than 2020 German students have graduated and become fighter pilots. German navigators receive their training at Pensacola NAS, Florida. German helicopter pilots are trained by the US Army at Fort Rucker, Alabama. German multi-engine pilots train together with Lufthansa, the major German airline. |