Real Estate Ads

Articles

WebLinks

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is acountry in Central Europe. Because of its central location, Germany sharesborders with more European countries than any other country on thecontinent.  It is bordered to thenorth by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland andthe Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west byFrance, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The territory of Germanycovers 357,021 km² and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Withover 82 million inhabitants, it has the largest population of any member stateof the European Union and is home to the third-largest number of internationalmigrants worldwide.

Germany is a federal parliamentary republic of sixteenstates. The capital and largest city is Berlin.  Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, theG4 nations, and signed the Kyoto protocol. It is the world's third largesteconomy by nominal GDP and the largest exporter of goods in 2007. In absoluteterms, Germany allocates the second biggest annual budget of development aid inthe world, while its military expenditure ranked sixth. The country hasdeveloped a high standard of living and established a comprehensive system of socialsecurity. It holds a key position in European affairs and maintains a multitudeof close partnerships on a global level. Germany is recognized as a scientificand technological leader in several fields.

As of December 2004, about seven million foreign citizenswere registered in Germany, and 19% of the country's residents were of foreignor partially foreign descent. The United Nations Population Fund lists Germanyas most to the third-highest number of international migrants worldwide, about5% or 10 million of all 191 million migrants, or about 12% of the population ofGermany. As a consequence of restrictions of Germany's formerly ratherunrestricted laws on asylum and immigration, the number of immigrants seekingasylum or claiming German ethnicity (mostly from the former Soviet Union) hasbeen declining steadily since 2000.

Germany is the largest national economy in Europe, the thirdlargest by nominal GDP in the world, and ranked fifth by GDP (PPP). Growth in2007 was 2.4% and is predicted to retain this level in the following years.Since the age of industrialization the country has been motor, innovator andbeneficiary of an ever more globalized economy. The export of goods "Madein Germany" is one of the main factors of the country's wealth. Germany isthe world's top exporter with $1.133 trillion exported in 2006 (Eurozonecountries are included) and generates a trade surplus of €165 billion. Theservice sector contributes around 70% to the total GDP, the industry 29.1% andagriculture 0.9%. Most of the country's products are in engineering, especiallyin automobiles, machinery, metals, and chemical goods. Germany is the leadingproducer of wind turbines and solar power technology in the world.

Among the world's largest stock market signed companiesmeasured by revenue, the Fortune Global 500, 37 companies are headquartered inGermany. The ten biggest are Daimler, Volkswagen, Allianz (the most profitablecompany), Siemens, Deutsche Bank (2nd most profitable company), E.ON, DeutschePost, Deutsche Telekom, Metro and BASF.

Germany is a strong European market which could have thepotential to offer investors high returns on investments in commercial andbuy-to-let property, particularly in popular urban locations such as Berlin andMunich. However, in terms of real estate, Germany is not somewhere to investfor short term. Currently prices are generally remaining stagnant, more so thanacross other European property markets, and are looking to remain so for therest of this year.