!Germany Germany is a country, Region - Western Europe, Capital - Berlin, Population in 2003 - 82,476,000, Population density - 231 per sq km, Surface area - 357,022 sq km and Currency - euro. !!History It constituted an empire in 1871, occupied a commanding position in Central Europe, and stretched from Switzerland in the S. to the German Ocean and Baltic Sea on the N.; Austria to the SE., Russia to the NE., while France, Belgium, and the Netherlands on the W. It was made up of 26 States of widely varying size and importance, comprising four kingdoms (of which Prussia is by far the largest and most influential), six grand-duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free towns (Lübeck, Bremen, Hamburg), and one imperial province, Alsace-Lorraine. !!Geography The main physical divisions are (1) the great lowland plain stretching from the centre to the Baltic and North Sea, well watered by the Ems, Weser, Elbe, Oder, Vistula, and their tributaries, in which, bating large sandy tracts, agriculture employs a large class, and cereals, tobacco, and beetroot are raised; (2) the mountainous district, in the interior of which the Fichtelgebirge is the central knot, in which vast forests abound, and rich deposits of coal, fire-clays, iron, and other metals are worked, giving rise to iron-works and potteries; (3) the basin of the Rhine, on the W., where the vine is largely cultivated, and extensive manufactures of silks, cottons, and hardware are carried on; fine porcelain comes from Saxony and vast quantities of beer from Bavaria; Westphalia is the centre of the steel and iron works. There are excellent roads, canals, and navigable rivers facilitate communication along with other infrastructure facilities. Majority of the people are Protestants and education is compulsory and more highly developed than in any other European country.