Hallo und herzlich willkommen in Deutschland!

Once more, GC’s beautiful World Fair started – and this time, Princess Luna and I will also talk about the small country in the center of Europe: Germany!

yes, we are the small blue thing
Aren't we cute? Oh my, thank you!

However, this is no reason to underestimate our country. Let's just take the topic 'economy', for example. Or to be more precise: export economy.

When you look at the charts and tables, you'll always see the same three countries on the top: China, USA and - who'd have thought - Germany. Yes, you read right - although Germany is just a tiny widget on the map, the country itself is quite productive and exports a lot of things to all over the world.

But let's better skip the economy part before it's too late - I already get the feeling of being in school.

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If you are a bright spark, you most likely know which language we speak in Germany...right, it's German totally not obvious. Would I ever recommend to learn the language? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, no.

Why? Well, first off, German is a super hard language: We have thousands of grammar rules, thousands of things you have to keep in mind regarding the spelling and also the pronunciation isn't always that easy.

Sounds a bit unreliable from someone whose mother tongue is German? You think, I don't know what I'm talking about? Oh yes, I do xD

I myself don't have any problems with the German language, that's true. But I know many other German people who do have problems - as native speakers!

And not that it's only hard - it also sounds pretty harsh. Everyone who ever heard a German talking will know what I'm talking about: While English is sweet and soft, German is more like SHOUTING AT EACH OTHER (not my words - many non-Germans told me).

Yes, that's true: About 81 million people apparently shout at each other in a language that has more grammar rules than Bill Gates money has. And those people are spread in 16 Federal States:
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony, North-Rhine Westphalia, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony, Thuringia, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Baden-Wuerttemberg and, last but not least, Bavaria.



Quite a lot for a small country like this, hm? But that's okay. Because we have parliaments, law courts and most importantly OUR FEDERAL CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, who keep everything under control.



Cool lady, hm? She isn't really the boss of everything but she is basically the first person that comes to your mind when you think about the German goverment.
But in all honesty - how could it be even possible to think about someone else?



She and her hands are a legend, after all!

*coughcough* Okay, sorry. Let's go back to the actual general information I wanted to provide.

Just like many other European countries, our currency is the Euro, €. And also, like many other European countries, Germany is part of the European Union and has maaaaaany neighboring countries - namely: Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Quite a lot, hm? But you know the good thing about it? You only need to drive a few hundred miles and voilá, you're already in another country. Hence going on foreign travel is pretty easy here - even with a car.



And being that close to other countries also has another impact on Germany: We have many different ethnicities and religions in our country

Ethnicities: German (89.59%),Turkish (3.45%), Polish (0.87%), Afro-German (0.75%), Italian (0.68%), Arab (0.56%), Croatian (0.49%), Romanian (0.46%), Greek (0.46%), Russian (0.27%), Serbian (0.27%), Azerbaijani (0.25%), Albanian (0.22%), Hungarian (0.19%), Other (1.49%)

Religions: Catholicism (30.59 %), Protestantism (28.48%),Islam (4.95%), Buddhism (0.33%), Hinduism (0.14%), Judaism (0.12%), Other (35.39% - also includes atheism)

Yeah, yeah...multiculti Germany. Multiculti and a life expectancy of 80.89 years. What a life...

Want a deeper impression of Germany? No problem! Just check out the other threads:
(if you have any questions or comments, reply in the respective thread)

Cities and Sights
Culture
History
School system
Clichés
Basic sentences

((Once you feel all-knowing about Germany, check out our Trivia Quiz! You get the golden opportunity to get a German World Fair stamp, after all ))

The two weeks of our World Fair are almost over and sadly this also means that all this fun is over now too.
I want to thank everyone who read and replied to the threads and also everyone who participated in the quiz! It's been a lot of fun for me to talk and exchange thoughts with you about my country and I hope you guys enjoyed it as well!

So once again, thank you very much, everyone!
Feel free to put the signature in your galleria or to use it or whatever! Just see it as a little thank you on my part!