• Main international airport: Frankfurt/Main International (48.4m passengers)
• Merchant fleet, total tonnage: 782 ships (6.11m grt)

The transportation network

• Extent of inland waterways navigable by commercial craft: 7500 km (4660 miles)
• Extent of national paved road network: 649,515 km (403,589 miles)
• Extent of motorways, freeways or major national highways: 11,786 km (7323 miles)
• Extent of commercial rail network: 35,868 km (22,287 miles)

Germany virtually invented the modern highway with the first Autobahnen in the 1930s. These have since become Europe's most elaborate highway network; there are generally no tolls and few speed limits, despite protests from environmentalists. The efficient railroad system has been restructured as a first step toward privatization. Germany's high-speed ICE railroad opened its main north–south routes in 1991 and has expanded greatly since then. Urban transportation systems are highly efficient.

During the Cold War, a Germany divided since the end of World War II was inevitably forced to play a subservient role in international affairs. West Germany closely adhered to US interests, while East Germany took its orders directly from the Soviet Union. After reunification in 1990 the emphasis changed, and Germany began to voice a foreign policy which reflects its position as the most powerful country in Europe.

In 2001 Germany was given command of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Macedonia, and German troops were involved in the "war on terrorism" in Afghanistan. Extremely critical of the US-led assault on Iraq in 2003, Germany continues to champion EU enlargement, and, because of large-scale investment, has considerable influence in eastern Europe.