• Literacy rate: 99%
• Numbers in tertiary education: 1.8m students

The education system

Nearly one-tenth of total government expenditure goes on education, which is run by the Länder. They coordinate teaching policies, but have autonomy within their borders. The German approach to education stresses academic and vocational achievement. Sporting or cultural activities tend to be organized informally. Nearly all schools have Internet access.

Young people wanting to leave school must continue studying at least part-time until 18. Those who wish to go to university attend the upper-secondary Gymnasien to prepare for the Abitur exam. Students were taking an average of seven years to complete degrees, until new legislation added shorter bachelor's and master's degrees as in other countries. Research is done as much by major companies as by the universities.

• Protected land as percentage of total land area: 32% (27% partially protected)
• CO2 emissions trend: 9.6 tonnes per capita

Environmental treaties

• Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Washington DC, 1973: yes
• Convention on Biological Diversity Earth Summit in Rio, 1992: yes
• 1992 Amendment to protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer (amendment to Montreal Protocol) Copenhagen, 1992: yes
• Kyoto Convention on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions Earth Summit in Kyoto, 1997: yes
• Basel convention on the dumping of hazardous wastes (Basel) Basel, 1989: yes
• Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar) Ramsar, Iran 1971: yes

Germans are among the world's most environmentally conscious people. Campaigns led by the Green Party, which emerged as a powerful political force in the 1980s, have influenced the policies of all major parties. The Greens are a significant force in the Bundestag; they joined the SPD-led federal government coalition in 1998, and are strongly represented in Land parliaments and local councils.

Germany has some of the strictest pollution controls in the world, with ambitious targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, compelling businesses to become more energy-efficient. Germans recycle around 80% of their waste paper and glass, and three-quarters of their used tires.

The nuclear debate has been vigorously fought and won by the Greens; a gradual program of closing existing nuclear power plants was approved in 2001, though waste disposal is still an issue. Fears in the 1980s that up to 50% of trees were sick or dying because of car fumes and industrial pollution led to Germany becoming the first European country to insist that new cars be fitted with catalytic converters. The east had the highest per capita rate of sulfur emissions in the world, but these have been reduced by the closure of industrial plants and the elimination of the noxious Trabant cars.

• Doctors: 1 per 303 people
• Major causes of death: Cancers, heart, cerebrovascular, and respiratory diseases

The German social security system, pioneered by Bismarck, is one of the most comprehensive in the world. Health insurance is compulsory, and employer and employee contributions are high. Though most hospitals are run by the Länder, some are still owned by Germany's wealthy churches. Almost one-quarter of health spending is now private.

Germans are increasingly health-conscious, paying great attention to diet. Nearly a million people go on cures every year to the country's 200-plus spas. In the east there is a higher incidence of lung diseases, the legacy of industrial pollution.