Germany, Federal Republic of German Bundesrepublik Deutschland, is a major industrialized nation in central Europe (Germany pp). It is a federal union of sixteen states. Although Germany has a long, complex history and rich culture, it did not become a unified nation until 1871 (Germany pp). Before then, Germany was a confederacy,1815-1867, and, before 1806, it was a collection of separate and quite different principalities (Germany pp). The seventh largest country in Europe, Germany has a total area of 137, 827 square miles of terrain that ranges from low-lying coastal flats along the North and Baltic seas to a central area of rolling hills and river valleys, to the forested mountains and snow-capped Alps in the south (Germany pp).

Germany has an estimated population of 82, 424, 609 people, and is overwhelmingly urban, where most people lead a prosperous, comfortable lifestyle with adequate leisure time and comprehensive social welfare benefits (Germany pp). The capital and largest city of Germany is Berlin, however, Bonn, which was the provisional capital of West Germany, is still home to several government offices (Germany pp). The principal language...

The composers Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven are probably the best known the world over and literary greats include Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Thomas Mann (Germany pp).
After German unification in 1990, the great differences between the West and East German economic systems nearly brought East Germany to total collapse (Germany pp). Many East German enterprises failed, however, new private and public investments, most from West Germany, have since flowed into the former East Germany as its economy was restructured and privatized (Germany pp).

By 1994 Germany's economy had recovered from its slump, and the export sector was the first to expand again, followed by investments and consumption (Germany pp). However, in spite of the recovery, per capita industrial output in the former East Germany was still only one-third that…