牽手和分手來自同一雙手

INTRODUCTION
More than a decade on from the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Germany has yet to come up with the economic key to coping with its aftermath.

Once regarded as the economic giant of Europe, the German economy has fared much less well in the new millennium.
Unemployment is high and growth is low.

OVERVIEW
The economy in the east remains particularly weak.
Unemployment is double and economic output per head not much more than half of that in the west.
The population is declining too as young people vote with their feet.
Their talents go west with them.

Racist violence is an acutely sensitive issue in Germany.
The authorities are trying a range of strategies to deal with resurgent and sometimes violent far-right wing groups.

In the 1990s Franco-German cooperation was central to European economic integration.
The bond between the two countries was again to the fore in the new millennium when their leaders voiced strong opposition to the US-led war with Iraq.

In the immediate aftermath of the 11 September attacks, the chancellor supported Washington's campaign against international terrorism and sent peacekeepers to Afghanistan.
But Germany subsequently voiced strong opposition to the US-led war on Iraq, insisting that weapons inspectors be given more time to complete their mission.

As birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, among others, Germany's gift to European classical music is colossal while Goethe,
Nietzsche, Kant and Brecht are giants in the world of letters and philosophy.


FACTS
Population: 82.5 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Berlin
Area: 357,027 sq km (137,849 sq miles)
Major language: German
Major religion: Christianity
Life expectancy: 75 years (men), 81 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 Euro = 100 cents
Main exports: Motor vehicles, electrical machinery, metals
GNI per capita: US $25,250 (World Bank, 2003)
Internet domain: .de
International dialling code: +49

LEADERS
President: Horst Koehler


Chancellor: Gerhard Schroeder

Mr Schroeder, chancellor since 1998, indicated that he would seek early elections after his party suffered defeat in a key regional vote in North Rhine-Westphalia in May 2005.

Foreign minister: Joschka Fischer
Interior minister: Otto Schily
Finance minister: Hans Eichel

=cited from BBC website=