After the Germany had been divided into four occupation zones (American, British, French and Soviet) at the end of the Second World War, in September 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was established in the territory corresponding to the first three (Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; acronym BRD), also commonly known as Germany Ovest or Germany di Bonn, from the name of the capital. Only a month later, in the Soviet zone, the proclamation of the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, abbreviation DDR), also commonly known as Germany Orientale or also, in the literature of Western countries, Germany di Pankow, from the East Berlin area where the government is based. Thus the country, already mutilated in 1945 of the extensive regions located east of the Oder-Neisse line (114,000 km 2 of the territory included in the 1937 borders), incorporated de facto by Poland and to a small extent by the USSR, was divided in two states that do not recognize each other and between which relations of all kinds are difficult and scarce.
The BRD has an extension of 247.971 km 2 and a population. of 52,149,600 residents (evaluation of 1958), which rise respectively to 248,452 km 2 and 54,373,400 residents if we also include the western sectors (American, British and French) of Berlin, which in its turn had been divided into four occupation zones and which is completely included in the territory of the GDR. However, it should be noted that Berlin, including the Soviet sector, is de jure completely foreign to both republics.
The GDR measures 107,431 km 2 and counts 16,221,450 residents. (evaluation of 1958), which rise respectively to 107,834 km 2 and 17,311,700 residents if the eastern (Soviet) sector of Berlin is included. The federal republic, which corresponds to 70% of the territory of the present Germany and more than 75% of its population, is therefore much larger and more populous than the democratic republic, which it also exceeds in terms of population density. (210 residents per km 2 in front of 151). The entire Germany stretches for 356,286 km 2 and has 71,685,100 residents. (valuation of 1958), equal to 201 residents per km 2.
West Germany (BRD). – Its capital is Bonn (141,600 residents In 1958), a city in the Rhineland. It consists (see table) of 9 Länder (literally “Countries”), with regional governments, to which the territory of the Saar (see) was rejoined in 1957, as well as practically West Berlin.
According to COLLEGETOPPICKS, the territory of the BRD extends between 55 ° 3 ‘and 47 ° 16’ of lat. N and between 5 ° 52 ‘and 13 ° of long. E. It borders, in addition to the GDR, with eight other countries, namely Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia; overlooks the North Sea and the Baltic. Its extension corresponds to 53% of the pre-war Germany (1937).
According to an estimate of 1953, about 48.7 million residents then existing in the BRD, 22.9 million were male and 25.8 female. This fact depends on the greater losses suffered by the population. male during the war. In 1952 the marriage rate was 9.4 ‰; the birth rate (live births) of 15.7 ‰; that of mortality of 10.4%. In 1952, therefore, the natural increase of the populaz. it was 5.3%. To this must be added the flow of refugees, who continue to pass every year from the democratic republic to the federal republic (294,000 units in 1950). There is also a similar movement in the opposite direction, but it is much less considerable.
As of October 1, 1951, there were about 10 million refugees in the federal territory. Their geographic distribution is far from uniform, since they constitute eg. 31% of the total population in Schleswig-Holstein, 27% in Lower Saxony, 27% in Bavaria, less than 7% in Rhineland-Palatinate. Subsequently there was a tendency towards a more balanced territorial distribution. However, again in 1951, for the entire federal republic the percentage of refugees out of the total of people between 20 and 65 years old exceeded 16%. To accommodate this huge mass of population, the federal republic had to overcome considerable economic and social problems (jobs, construction, etc.).
Cities of the BRD, in addition to the provincial capitals of Länder, which have a number of residents more than 100,000 (as of June 1958):
Aachen = Aachen (159,500); Augsburg = Augsburg (203,000); Bielefeld (174,000); Bochum (356,900); Bottrop (108,900); Braunschweig (244,400); Bremerhaven (135,000); Cologne = Köln (749.500); Darmstadt (130,000); Dortmund (629,500); Duisburg (495,400); Essen (719,800); Frankfurt s. M. (643.100); Freiburg im Breisgau (134,700); Gelsenkirchen (387,900); Hagen (186,300); Heidelberg (125,850); Herne (116,100); Karlsruhe (229,900); Kassel (196,800); Krefeld (203,300); Lübeck = Lübeck (230,200); Ludwigshafen am Rhein (154,700); Mannheim (297,000); Mönchengladbach (150,000); Mülheim in Ruhr (177,400); Münster in Westf. (168,100); Nuremberg = Nürnberg (436.900); Oberhausen (253.900); Offenbach a. Main (108,400); Oldenburg (119,900); Osnabrück (132,300); Regensburg = Regensburg (121,500); Recklinghausen (128,400); Remscheid (121,300); Salzgitter (104,500); Solingen (65,000); Wanne-Eickel (106,900); Wuppertal (413,300); Würzburg (109,400).
In 1950, 23% of the active population was employed in agriculture and forestry; 41% to industry; 11% to trade, including credit and insurance; 6% to services (hospitality, domestic services, free professions, etc.); 10% to the public administration; about 6% to transport; while a little more than 2% were in unspecified positions. From the point of view of religion, 51.2% of the residents belonged to the evangelical churches and 45.2% to the Catholic church. The Jews were 17,000.
