COMM-101Introduction to Communication

Prepared by Yağız Can Zerenüz & Şahin Pehlivan

Geography of Germany• Germany is a country in west-central Europe, that stretches from the Alps,

across the North European Plain to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Germany has the second largest population in Europe (after the European part of Russia) and is seventh largest in area. The territory of Germany covers 357,021 km2 (137,847 sq mi), consisting of 349,223 km2 (134,836 sq mi) of land and 7,798 km2 (3,011 sq mi) of waters.

• Germany shares borders with nine European countries, second only to Russia: Denmark in the north, Poland and the Czech Republic in the east, Austria and Switzerland (its only non-EU neighbor) in the south, France in the southwest and Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the west.

Facts and Statistics• Location: Central Europe, bordering Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czech

Republic 646 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km, Switzerland 334 km

Capital: Berlin

Climate: Temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind

Population: 82,424,609 (July 2014 est.)

Ethnic Make-up: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish)

Religions: Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%

Government: Federal republic

The Capital City Of Germany

• Berlin, Germany's capital and largest city. Berlin is a state-city at the same time.

• II. Before World War II, 4.3 million people live in the city in 2008, 3.5 million people live. Berlin, northern Germany, is set in a sandy area between the Spree and Havel rivers. From 1961 to 1990 (Communist), the city is divided into the wall dividing East and West Berlin (Berlin Wall) later "wall of shame" was named.After the wall was demolished.

CLIMATE• Germany's climate is temperate and marine, with cold, cloudy, wet winters and

moderate warm summers and in the south occasional warm föhn wind. The greater part of Germany lies in the cool/temperate climatic zone in which humid westerly winds predominate. In the northwest and the north, the climate is extremely oceanic and rain falls all the year round. Winters there are relatively mild and summers comparatively cool. In the east, the climate shows clear continental features; winters can be very cold for long periods, and summers can become very warm. Dry periods are often recorded.

• In the centre and the south, there is a transitional climate which may be predominantly oceanic or continental, according to the general weather situation. Winters are mild and summers tend to be cool, though maximum temperatures can exceed 30 °C (86 °F) for several days in a row during heat waves. The warmest regions of Germany can be found in the south-west (see rhine rift, German Wine Route and Palatinate). Here summers can be hot with many days exceeding 30 °C (86 °F). Sometimes, minimum temperatures do not drop below 20 °C (68 °F), which is relatively rare in other regions.

Population of Germany82,593,419

• The population of Germany is estimated at 82,593,419 as of July 1 2014.

• Germany's population is equivalent to 1.14% of the total world population.

• Germany ranks number 16 in the list of countries by population.

• The population density in Germany is 232 people per Km2.• 74% of the population is urban (61,437,197 people in

2014).• The median age in Germany is 45.9 years.

Ethnic Make-Up

• Ethnic groups• The Germans, in their various changes of territory,

inevitably intermingled with other peoples. In the south and west they overran Celtic peoples, and there must at least have been sufficient communication for them to adopt the names of physical features such as rivers and hills; the names Rhine, Danube, and Neckar, for example, are thought to be of Celtic origin.

Ethnic Make-up: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish)

RELIGION IN GERMANYChristianity is the largest religion in Germany with 62% of the total population.[1] The 2011 Census reported a slightly higher percentage of 66.8%,[2] due to the specific design of the questionnaire. The second largest religion is Islam with 4.6 to 5.2% of the country's total population. There is also a small presence of other religions such as Buddhism and Judaism. During the last few decades, the two largest churches inGermany, namely the Protestant Evangelical Church in Germany and the Roman Catholic Church, have lost significant number of adherents.

STATICS ABOUT RELIGIONChristianity is the largest religion in Germany, with around 52 million adherents (62.8%) in 2008[11] of which 24.5 million are Protestants (29.9%) belonging to the EKD and 24.9 million are Catholics (30.0%) in 2008, the remainder belong to small denominations (each (considerably ) less than 0.5% of the German population).[12] The second largest religion is Islam with an estimated 3.8 to 4.3 million adherents (4.6 to 5.2%)[13] followed by Buddhism and Judaism, both with around 200,000 adherents (0.3%). Hinduism has some 90,000 adherents (0.1%) and Sikhism 75,000 (0.1%). All other religious communities in Germany have fewer than 50,000 (<0.1%) adherents.

According to the Eurobarometer Poll 2010, 45% of German citizens agreed with the statement "I believe there is a God", whereas 25% agreed with "I believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 27% said "I do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".[19]According to a new 2012 poll released by WIN-Gallup International, 51% of the German citizens said that they are religious, 33% said not religious, 15% said atheist, and 1% gave no answer.

POLITICS OF GERMANY

Germany is a federal parliamentary republic, and federal legislative power is vested in the

Bundestag (the parliament of Germany) and theBundesrat (the representative body of the Länder,

Germany's regional states).

There is a multi-party system that, since 1949, has been dominated by the Christian Democratic

Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The judiciary of Germany is

independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system is laid out in the 1949

constitution, the Grundgesetz (Basic Law), which remained in effect with minor amendments after

German reunification in 1990.

The constitution emphasizes the protection of individual liberty in an extensive catalogue of human

and civil rights and divides powers both between the federal and state levels and between the

legislative, executive and judicial branches.

Germany was a founding member of the European Community in 1958, which became the EU in

1993. It is part of the Schengen Area, and has been a member of the eurozone since 1999. It is a

member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20 and the OECD.

CULTURE OF GERMANY

CULTURE OF GERMANY

The federated states are in charge of the cultural institutions. There are 240 subsidized theatres, hundreds of symphonic orchestras, thousands of museums, and more than 25,000 libraries spread in Germany. These cultural opportunities are enjoyed by many: there are over 91 million German museum visits every year; annually, 20 million go to theatres and operas; 3.6 million per year listen to the symphonic orchestras. The UNESCOinscribed 38 properties in Germany on the World HeritageList.

LANGUAGE

German is the official and predominant spoken language in Germany.[4] It is one of 23 official languages in the European Union, and one of the three working languages of the European Commission, along with English and French. Recognised native minority languages in Germany are Danish, Sorbian, and Frisian. They are officially protected by the ECRML. The most used immigrant languages are Turkish, Kurdish, Polish, the Balkan languages, and Russian.

GERMAN CARNIVAL

The German traditional carnival includes many humorous and traditional elements. The two major carnival events in Germany are the Mainzer Fastnacht and the Kölner Karneval. These are both in the Rhineland region, but the tradition is practised all over Catholic regions of Germany. It varies with local traditions, but has two main elements:

Büttenrede: Gatherings of (often) thousands of people in halls, with humorous readings, music, dancing and drinking. Common themes are puns, satire and roastings of celebrities. These events at the Mainzer Fastnacht and Kölner Karneval are televised across Germany by a major, public television network.

Umzüge: Parades in which clubs (musical, sports, etc.), political parties and organizations parade along a given route. The groups dress in traditional clothes or uniforms and/or ride carnival floats, often featuring political or humorous messages.

GERMAN CUISINEGerman cuisine has evolved as a national cuisine through centuries of social

and political change with variations from region to region.

The southern regions of Germany, including Bavaria and neighbouring Swabia,

share many dishes. Furthermore, across the border in Austria, one will find

many different dishes. However, ingredients and dishes vary by region. Many

significant regional dishes have become international, but have proliferated in

very different variations across the country presently.

MEAT

Pork, beef, and poultry are the main varieties of meat consumed in Germany,

pork being the most popular.[2] The average person in Germany will consume

up to 61 kg (134 lb) of meat in a year.[3] Among types of poultry, chicken is most

common, although duck, goose, and turkey are also consumed. Game meats,

especially boar, rabbit, and venison are also widely available all year

round. Lamb and goatare also available, but are less popular.

Bratwurst, one of the most popular foods in Germany

VEGETABLES

Vegetables are often used in stews or vegetable soups, but are also served as side dishes. Carrots, turnips, spinach, peas, beans, broccoli and many types of cabbage are very common. Fried onions are a common addition to many meat dishes throughout the country.Asparagus, especially white asparagus known in German as Spargel, is a common side dish or may be prepared as a main dish. Restaurants will sometimes devote an entire menu to nothing but white asparagus when it is in season. Spargel season (German:Spargelzeit or Spargelsaison) traditionally begins in mid-May and ends on St. John's Day (24 June).Typical serving of spargel with Hollandaise sauce and potatoes

BEVERAGES

Beer is very common throughout all parts of Germany, with many local and regional breweries producing a wide variety of beers. The pale lager pilsener, a style developed in the mid-19th century, is predominant in most parts of the country today, whereas wheat beer(Weißbier/Weizen) and other types of lager are common, especially in Bavaria. A number of regions have local specialties, many of which, like Weißbier, are more traditionally brewed ales. Among these are Altbier, a dark beer available around Düsseldorf and the lower Rhine,Kölsch, a similar style, but light in color, in the Cologne area, and the low-alcohol Berliner Weiße, a sour beer made in Berlin that is often mixed with raspberry or woodruff syrup. Since the reunification of 1990, Schwarzbier, which was common in East Germany, but could hardly be found in West Germany, has become increasingly popular in Germany as a whole. Beer may also be mixed with other beverages:The various kinds of bottled Kölsch beer

SPORT IN GERMANY

Sport is an important part of German culture and society. In 2006 about 27.5 million people were members of the more than 91,000 sport clubs in Germany. Almost all sports clubs are represented by the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (DOSB, German Olympic Sports Federation).With a total of 26,000 clubs and 178,000 teams the German Football sport is financed by means of state funding and state contributions, voluntary service, private sponsors and membership fees.Together with football, ice hockey and handball, basketball in Germany is among the most popular spectator sports.Allianz Arena in Munich, venue for the 2006 FIFA World Cup opening game

German Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Styles

With approximately 121 million speakers, mainly in the European countries of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg, German is one of the world's major languages. As it belongs to the same family of languages as English, German is relatively easy to learn for native English speakers, and beginners will notice much vocabulary and grammar that is similar between the two languages. However, there are aspects of German verbal and non-verbal communication styles that may be surprising to those communicating in a German-speaking environment for the first time.

GesturesGestures are one type of non-verbal communication in which German usage differs from that common in the United States. Germans use their little finger to point, for example, whereas in the U.S. it is usual to point with the index finger. When counting items on their fingers, Germans customarily start by numbering their thumb as "one." This can cause confusion for foreigners when ordering drinks in German bars, as in many other countries it is usual to discard the thumb and count from the index finger.

Body LanguageGermans value direct eye contact, particularly during face-to-face conversations, seeing it as a sign of honesty and interest in the discussion. A person who does not look you in the eye is regarded as untrustworthy and of weak character. Smiles are used with discretion, typically being reserved for close friends and family only. Germans do not normally smile to express politeness as is common in the United States.

FormalityVerbal communication in Germany tends to be more formal than in the United States. It is usual to show respect to people with academic qualifications, so someone with a Ph.D. should be addressed as "Herr Doktor" or "Frau Doktor," literally "Mr. Dr." and "Mrs. Dr." respectively. Addressing business partners by their first names is not usually appropriate, and German employees tend to refer to all colleagues as either "Herr" or "Frau," followed by their surname. When you speak in German, it is important to remember that the language has two different words for "you." As "du" is reserved for addressing children, animals and close personal friends, "Sie" should normally be used when initiating conversations with colleagues and acquaintances, unless the other person specifically suggests that you use "du."

Directness

Verbal communication in Germany tends to be clear and to the point.

Germans value language that is frank and direct and may be suspicious of

indirect, ambiguous comments. When Germans answer the telephone, for

example, it is common to simply give their last names rather than a greeting

such as "hello," which might be expected in the United States. This

directness is sometimes difficult for foreigners to deal with, and

misunderstandings may occur if a typically blunt German statement is

mistakenly interpreted as an insult.

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