Germany borders the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and Denmark to the north, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France to the west, Switzerland, and Austria in the south, the Czechia and Poland in the east. Additionally, it shares maritime borders with Sweden and the United Kingdom.
An area of 357,022 km² makes Germany the seventh-largest country in Europe, compared; it is about two-thirds the size of France, or slightly smaller than the US state of Montana.
Germany has a population of 83,2 million people (2020); the capital and largest city is Berlin, with about 3.3 million inhabitants.
The German economy is the fifth-largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe’s largest. Germany is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its Western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and declining net immigration are increasing pressure on the country’s social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms.