Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Political Status: Divided into British, French, Soviet, and U.S. occupation zones in July 1945; Federal Republic of Germany under democratic parliamentary regime established in Western zones on May 23, 1949; German Democratic Republic established under Communist auspices in Soviet zone on October 7, 1949; unified as the Federal Republic of Germany on October 3, 1990.

Area: 137,854 sq. mi. (357,041 sq. km.).

Population: 82,492,000 (2006E). A 1981 census in the GDR yielded a total of 16,705,635, while a 1987 census in the FRG yielded a total of 61,077,042.

Major Urban Centers (2005E): BERLIN (3,507,000), Hamburg (1,743,000), Munich (1,267,000), Cologne (966,000), Frankfurt am Main (649,000), Stuttgart (598,000), Essen (589,000), Dortmund (588,000), Düsseldorf (578,000), Bremen (545,000), Leipzig (531,000), Hannover (514,000), Dresden (500,000), Duisburg (494,000), Bonn (317,000), ...