The North German Plain, extending across the breadth of Germany, is a mixture of fertile farmland and sandy heaths. The uplands of the south include the Black Forest, the Swabian and the Bavarian Alps. The climate is temperate, with continental tendencies in eastern parts, where winters are colder.
Rainfall is spread evenly throughout the year.
One of the most dramatic political events of recent years was the reunification of East and West Germany. During 1989 increasing public unrest in East Germany led, in October, to the downfall of the long-serving Communist leader Erich Honecker and, a month later, to the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Reunification required the agreement of the World War II occupying powers. The former Soviet Union, politically weakened itself, capitulated and agreed to German reunification within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and undertook to withdraw all Warsaw Pact troops from German soil. Monetary union was achieved in July 1990 and political union completed in October of the same year.