Germany

POPULATION:

AREA: 349,223 square kilometers, located in Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark.

LEADERS: Chief of state: President Horst Koehler (since July 2004); head of government: Chancellor Angela Merkel (since November 2005).

FACTS: Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation, Germany is among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages, shipbuilding, textiles.

(China Daily 08/25/2007 page1)