Proper noun

Germany (countable and uncountable; plural Germanies or Germanys)

1. (uncountable) Country in Central Europe. Official name: Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland).
2. (countable; hist. 1949-1990) Either of the German states, FRG and GDR. The two Germanies exchanged permanent representatives in 1974.
3. (countable; hist. pre-1871) Any of the German states. Melton’s useful new book traces the explosion of public institutions in eighteenth-century England, France and the Germanies.

Germany ( / ˈ dʒ ɜr m ən i /), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The territory of Germany covers 357,021 square kilometers (137,847 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants in 2010, it has the largest population among member states of the European Union, and it is home to the third-largest number of international migrants worldwide.

A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state, the country was first unified amidst the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. After World War II, Germany was divided in 1949 into two separate states—East Germany and West Germany—along the lines of Allied occupation. Germany was reunified in 1990 upon the entry of the German Democratic Republic into the Federal Republic. West Germany was a founding member of the European Community (EC) in 1957, which became the European Union in 1993. It is part of the Schengen Area and adopted the European currency, the euro, in 1999.

Germany is a federal parliamentary republic of sixteen states (Bundesländer). The capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, G8, G20, and the OECD. It is a major power with the world's fourth largest economy by nominal GDP and the fifth largest in purchasing power parity. It is the second largest exporter and third largest importer of goods. In absolute terms, Germany allocates the second biggest annual budget of development aid in the world, while its military expenditure ranked seventh. The country has developed a high standard of living and established a comprehensive system of social security. It holds a key position in European affairs and maintains a multitude of close partnerships on a global level. Germany is recognised as a scientific and technological leader in several fields.

Germany is a modern European nation (formally Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or Federal Republic of Germany) whose recorded ethnic, territorial, and political history reaches back to the 1st century BCE.

Sourced

• Thinking of Germany in the night robs me of my sleep.
  • Original (German): Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht, dann bin ich um den Schlaf gebracht.
  • Heinrich Heine, Nachtgedanken (1843)

• If now, after the collapse, should any of these lackeys of Adolf Hitler have the insolence to claim they were merely harmless onlookers, let them feel the scourge of avenging mankind.
  • Original (German): Wenn nun jetzt, nach dem Zusammenbruch, sich einige dieser Lakaien von Adolf Hitler die Frechheit erlauben, als harmlose Mitläufer gelten zu wollen, dann kann man nur wünschen, daß sie schnellstens die Wut der rächenden Menschheit zu spüren bekommen.
  • Friedrich Kellner, My Opposition, 1945.

• The death is a master from Germany.
  • Original (German): Der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland.
  • Paul Celan, "Todesfuge", published in 1948.

• The Satan of the Italian and English poets may be more poetic; but the German Satan is more satanic; and in this respect one could say, the Satan is a German invention.
  • Original (German) : Der Satan der italienischen und englischen Dichter mag poetischer sein; aber der deutsche Satan ist satanischer; und insofern könnte man sagen, der Satan sei eine deutsche Erfindung.
  • Friedrich Schlegel, Athenäumsfragmente 379
  • Note: The Italian poet may mean Dante, the English poet John Milton.

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Mon Aug 23 13:30:23 2010