Germany (Freedom Ascendant)

Germany (Listeni/ˈdʒɜːrməni/; German: Deutschland, pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃlant]), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is a federal semi-parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 36 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi), and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With about 128 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular immigration destination in the world. Germany's capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr (main centres: Dortmund and Essen). The country's other major cities are Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Bremen, Dresden, Hannover, Nuremberg, Breslau, Danzig, Königsberg, Straßburg, Ödenburg, and Marburg an der Drau.

Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation which spread throughout the German-speaking regions of Europe, on to the Polish, Czech, and Hungarian regions. The remains of the Holy Roman Empire formed the German Confederation in 1815, while the German revolutions of 1848–49 established major democratic rights first.

In 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states were unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Erfurt Imperial Republic. In 1939 the French invaded, and without a large army due to the impositions of the Versailles Treaty, Germany was unable to defend itself against the invasion from France and Poland, and was occupied. By 1945 Germany and most of Europe were left in destruction and ruins. After the end of World War II in Europe and a period of Allied assistance, a new German state was founded: the republican and democratic Federal Republic of Germany.

In the 21st century, Germany is a great power and has the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the fifth-largest by PPP. As a global leader in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the world's third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a developed country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled and productive society. It upholds a social security and universal health care system, environmental protection and a tuition-free university education.

The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957 and the European Union in 1993. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999. Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 8th highest in the world. Known for its rich cultural history, Germany has been continuously the home of influential and successful artists, philosophers, musicians, sportspeople, entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, and inventors.