General Information about Germany

Location

The Federal Republic of Germany is situated in the centre of Europe and reaches in North-South direction from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea down to the Alps. The landscape becomes hillier the further South one travels.

Bochum is located in the West of Germany and belongs to the federal state, or land, North-Rhine Westphalia. The urban area of Bochum is relatively flat, at the Southern city border, however, a hilly area called "Bergisches Land", meaning "mountaneous country", commences.

• Wikipedia: Germany
• Wikipedia: North-Rhine Westphalia
• Wikipedia: Bochum

Population

Germany is fairly closely populated for a sizeable state, with more than 82 Million inhabitants on an area of 357.000 km². North-Rhine Westphalia has 18 Million inhabitants and is thus the most populated Federal State within Germany.

Of these 82 Million inhabitants, 9% - about 7 million people - are foreigners. Most of these foreigners come from Turkey, Italy, Greece, the former Yugoslav Republic, Poland and the former Soviet Union. Many immigrants from past decades have in the meantime been granted German citizenship.

Climate

Germany has a temperate climate and is located within the transitional area between the maritime climate of Western and the continental climate of Eastern Europe. In Bochum the climate is predominantly maritime. During summer (June, July, August) average temperature seldom rises above 20°C, but on some days temperatures up to 30°C are possible. In Winter (December, January, February) the average temperature is just above freezing point, although on some days, it can be much colder (down to –10°C). Rainfall is divided relatively evenly throughout the year, i.e. there are no explicit rainy or dry seasons.

Timezone

Germany is situated in the Central European Timezone (UTC+1) which reaches from Spain to Portugal. Between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October it is Germany's summertime (UCT+2).

Across the continents there are notable time lags, e.g. compared to UTC+1 it is seven hours earlier in Mexico and seven hours later in Singapore.

Update yourself about the time difference when travelling to Germany or calling someone from here.

Currency

The Federal Republic of Germany introduced the currency Euro (€) in 2002. The Euro is a legal currency in 16 of the 27 EU-States as well as in six non-EU-States, a number of other states have introduced fixed exchange rates with regard to the Euro.

1,- € is divided up into 100 Cent. There are Euro-Coins valued between 0.01 € (1 Cent) and 2,- €, as well as bank notes with values ranging from 5,- € to 500,- €.

The front of the Euro coins is identical in all countries, on the back, however, every country can coin their own motives. Nonetheless all coins can be used to pay in the whole ambit of the Euro. The banknotes are identical in all countries involved.