Germany

Germany is a country consists of 16 states and its capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 square kilometers. With 80.3 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state in the European Union. After 1945 at the end of World War II, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990, the country was reunified.

Germany is a great power in regional and global affairs and is a developed country with a very high standard of living, featuring comprehensive social security that includes the world's oldest universal health care system.

More than 30% of Germans spend their holiday in their own country. With more than 133 million foreign visitors (2008) Germany is ranked as the 7th most visited travel destination worldwide. A total of 27.2 billion Euros is spent on travel and tourism: this is equivalent to 3.2% of Germany's GNP.

Some of the most visited cities are Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart and Dresden.

Among the states, Bavaria is Germany's most popular tourist destination famous for its beautiful towns and natural scenery. Its capital city is Munich.

Another top tourist destination is the state of Baden-Württemberg in the south-west of Germany, famous for the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) region, the romantic city of Heidelberg and the sunniest and warmest city in Germany, Freiburg. The state capital city is Stuttgart.

See more tourist information on Germany.