Germany is a large European state located in the center and in the north of Europe. Has access to the Baltic, North Sea; the southern part captures the territory of the Alps mountain system. The area of this country is 357 thousand 409 km 2 . The number of inhabitants is about 82 million, which is 17th in the world and second in Europe.
The capital of Germany is the city of Berlin. The main language is recognized German. Among religious faiths Christianity prevails. Germany is an important economic center of Europe and the whole world. Here, a rather high standard of living (5th place in the world) and the volume of GDP. The currency used is the euro. In Germany, the administrative division is quite complex and diverse.
Government structure
Germany is a federal state consisting of 16 entities (lands). By type of government, it is a parliamentary republic. For many years now, Angela Merkel has been Federal Chancellor. The presidency in Germany is quite formal.
Economy
Despite the absence of large deposits of natural resources (with the exception of coal), the economy of this state is actively developing and is one of the most developed in the world. Of the greatest importance is industry and the service sector. Moreover, about 54 percent of the economy is precisely services. The role of agriculture is quite insignificant (0.5 - 1.5% of GDP). In terms of gross domestic product, the country ranks 5th in the world. Ahead of it is only the USA, China, India, Japan. It features a very large volume of product exports.
Unemployment in Germany is around 7%.
Administrative division of Germany
It is a federal state consisting of 16 lands: Lower Saxony, Bavaria, Berlin, Saarland, Thuringia, Hesse, Brandenburg, Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hamburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony.
Each of them has some state sovereignty, to which the principles of international law apply.
Land sovereignty
With regard to the independence and sovereignty of the land there is no unambiguous interpretation. The concept of "federal land" is often used, but in legal documents, such as the Basic Law of Germany, this concept does not apply. There they are not considered as administrative units of the country. Nevertheless, each of these land entities has its own representative office in the capital of the country - Berlin.
Each land has its own legislative body called the Landtag. The executive body is the land government. It includes the prime minister and ministers.
Administrative structure
The form of administrative-territorial division of Germany is rather complicated. According to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, every land in the country has full sovereignty over local government. This leads to differences in the administrative structure of different lands.
Smaller territorial units are areas. In Germany, there are 429. Of these, 313 are rural and 116 are urban. City-districts are Berlin, Hamburg and others.
In five lands, the territory is divided into administrative districts, each of which includes several districts.
An even smaller unit of territorial division is the so-called community. They are also called communes. There is a community management system. In total, there are 12,141 communities in the country. They are subordinate to areas of Germany. There is no administrative division of communities, as it is the smallest territorial unit of the country.
In some lands it is customary to unite several communities in the so-called amts. There are 252 of them in the country.
Conclusion
Thus, the administrative division of Germany is a complex historical process, which resulted in a large number of different administrative land units. At the same time, the Germans remain faithful to the traditions and remnants of the past, and so far they are in no hurry to change the cumbersome zoning system. Sufficient independence of the regions of Germany may complicate the process of governing this country.
The administrative division of Germany is important for tourists wishing to spend a vacation in this country. Otherwise, it is of interest to historians, as well as to those who moved there for permanent residence.