Deutschland

Bundesrepublik Deutschland / The Federal Republic of Germany

A Country in Western Europe

Germany lies between the Baltic and North seas and the Alps. It is a federal parliamentary republic led by a chancellor, with over 80-million inhabitants and with the world's 4th-largest economy -  the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany has social security and a universal health care system, environmental protections, and a tuition-free university education.

Its capital is Berlin, and the largest urban area is the Ruhr (Ruhrgebiet), where I lived, as well as in merged in Düsseldorf, the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the center of Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.

It borders Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Luxembourg - I lived in the latter two as well, Paris was 4 hours away on a high-speed train.