Germany

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in western and central Europe. It lies between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the 
Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.
== Geography ==
Germany is in Western and Central Europe, bordering Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria to the southwest, and Switzerland to the south-southwest. France, Luxembourg and Belgium are located to the west of Germany and Netherlands to the northwest. Germany is also bordered by the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Germany is the seventh largest country by area in Europe and 62nd largest in the world.
Germany's elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (the Zugspitze is the highest point at 2,963 meters) in the south to the shores of the North Sea in the northwest and the Baltic Sea in the northeast. The forested uplands in central Germany and the lowlands of northern Germany (Neuendorf-Sachsenbande, Wilstermarsch is the lowest point, at 3.54 meters) are traversed by several major rivers such as the Rhine, Danube, and Elbe. Natural resources include iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, and nickel. 
=== Climate ===
Most of Germany has a temperate climate, ranging from oceanic in the north to the continental in the east and southeast. The winters range from cold in the southern Alps to mild and generally overcast with limited precipitation, while summers can vary from hot and dry to cool and rainy. The northern regions of Germany have prevailing westerly winds that bring in moist air from the North Sea, which moderate the temperature and increasing precipitation. Conversely, the southeast regions have much more extreme temperatures.
=== Biodiversity ===
Germany can be divided into two ecoregions: European-Mediterranean montane mixed forests and Northeast-Atlantic shelf marine. 51% of Germany's land is devoted to agriculture, 30% is forested, and 14% is covered by settlements or infrastructure. 
Germany's flora and fauna include those common to Central Europe. According to studies, beeches, oaks, and other deciduous trees constitute just over 40% of the forests; roughly 60% are conifers, particularly spruce and pine. Many species of flowers, ferns, fungi, and mosses. Wild animals include the roe deer, wild boar, mouflon, fox, badger, hare, and small numbers of the Eurasian beaver. 
There are 16 national parks in Germany. They include the Jasmund National Park, the Vorpommern Lagoon Area National Park, the Müritz National Park, the Wadden Sea National Parks, the Harz National Park, the Hainich National Park, the Black Forest National Park, the Saxon Switzerland National Park, the Bavarian Forest National Park and the Berchtesgaden National Park. In addition, there are 17 Biosphere Reserves and 105 nature parks. More than 400 zoos and animal parks operate in Germany.
== History ==
Ancient humanity was said to have first inhabited Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The first non-modern human fossil (the Neanderthal) was found in the Neander Valley. Similarly dated evidence of modern humans has been found in the Swabian Jura, including 42,000-year-old flutes which are the oldest musical instruments ever found, the 40,000-year-old Lion Man, and the 35,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels. The Nebra Sky Disk (created during the European Bronze Age) is attributed to a site in Germany.
=== Germanic tribes and Frankish Empire ===
Germanic Tribes are thought to date from the Nordic Bronze Age or the Pre-Roman Iron Age. They expanded from southern Scandinavia and north Germany, they expanded south, east, and west, coming into contact with the Celtic, Iranian, Baltic, and Slavic tribes.
While Augustus had ruled Rome, they had began to invade Germania. In 9 AD, three Roman legions were defeated by Arminius. By 100 AD , when Tacitus wrote Germania, Germanic tribes had settled along the Danube and Rhine, occupying most of modern Germany. However, Baden Württemberg, southern Bavaria, southern Hesse and the western Rhineland had been incorporated into Roman provinces. Around 260 AD, Germanic people broke into Roman-controlled lands. After the Huns' invasion in 375 AD, and with the decline of Rome from 395 AD, Germanic tribes moved further southwest. The Franks established the Frankish Kingdom and pushed east to subjugate Saxony and Bavaria, and areas of eastern Germany was inhabited by Western Slavic tribes.
=== East Francia and Holy Roman Empire ===
Charlemagne founded the Carolingian Empire in 800 AD and divided in 843 AD. The Holy Roman Empire emerged from the eastern portion. The territory originally known as East Francia stretched from the Rhine in the west to the Elbe River in the east and from the North Sea to the Alps. The Ottonian rulers (who ruled from 919-1024 AD) consolidated several major duchies. In 996 AD, Gregory V became the first German Pope, appointed by his cousin Otto III, whom he shortly after crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy under the Salian emperors (1024 AD-1125 AD), although the emperors lost power through the Investiture controversy.
Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), German princes encouraged German settlement to the south and east (Ostsiedlung). Members of the Hanseatic League, mostly north German towns, prospered in the expansion of trade. Population declined starting with the Great Famine in 1315 AD, followed by the Black Death of 1348–50 AD. The Golden Bull issued in 1356 AD; provided the constitutional structure of the Empire and codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors.
Johannes Gutenberg introduced movable-type printing to Europe, laying the basis for the democratization of knowledge. In 1517 AD, Martin Luther introduced the Protestant Reformation; the 1555 AD Peace of Augsburg tolerated the "Evangelical" faith (Lutheranism), but also decreed that the faith of the prince was to be the faith of his subjects (cuius regio, eius religio). From the Cologne War through the Thirty Years' Wars (1618–1648 AD), religious conflict devastated German lands and significantly reduced the population.
The Peace of Westphalia ended religious warfare among the Imperial Estates; their mostly German-speaking rulers were able to choose Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, or the Reformed faith as their official religion. The legal system initiated by a series of Imperial Reforms (approximately 1495–1555) provided for considerable local autonomy and a stronger Imperial Diet. The House of Habsburg held the imperial crown from 1438 AD until the death of Charles VI in 1740 AD. Following the War of Austrian Succession and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Charles VI's daughter Maria Theresa ruled as Empress Consort when her husband, Francis I, became Emperor.
From 1740 AD, dualism between the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1772 AD, 1793 AD, and 1795 AD, Prussia and Austria, along with the Russian Empire, agreed to the Partitions of Poland. During the period of the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic era and the subsequent final meeting of the Imperial Diet, most of the Free Imperial Cities were annexed by dynastic territories; the ecclesiastical territories were secularised and annexed. In 1806 AD the Imperium was dissolved; France, Russia, Prussia and the Habsburgs (Austria) competed for hegemony in the German states during the Napoleonic Wars.