1.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
2.
Football in Germany
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Football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a system, with the Bundesliga and 2. The winner of the Bundesliga is crowned the German football champion, additionally, there are national cup competitions, most notably the DFB-Pokal and DFL-Supercup. The Germany national football team has won four FIFA World Cups and it also holds a record three UEFA European Championships. The Germany womens national team has won two FIFA Womens World Cups and a record eight UEFA European Womens Championships. Germany is the nation that has won both the mens and womens World Cup. In addition, Germany is the nation to have won the applicable regional/continental championship for both the mens and womens team. No team has more combined mens and womens World Cup championships, the first football match arguably took place in Braunschweig in 1874. Two schoolteachers, August Hermann and Konrad Koch, initiated the first match after Hermann had obtained a round football from England, in 1875, Koch published the first German version of the rules of football, although Kochs version of the game still closely resembled Rugby football. The Dresden English Football Club is considered the first modern football club in Germany and it was founded in 1874 by Englishmen living and working around Dresden. In the following 20 years the game achieved a growing popularity, Football clubs were founded in Berlin, Hamburg and Karlsruhe. On 28 January 1900, representatives from 86 football clubs from German-speaking areas in and outside the German Empire met in the restaurant Mariengarten in Leipzig, the founding meeting was led by E. J. Kirmse, chairman of the Leipziger Fussball Verband. Ferdinand Hueppe, representing the DFC Prag, was elected first president of the DFB, the first championship beyond municipal areas was held in 1898 from the Verband Sueddeutscher Fussball-Vereine, later affiliated with the DFB. The German national football team represents Germany in international football competitions since 1908 and it is controlled by the German Football Association DFB, the governing body of football in Germany. After the war, Germany was occupied in three states, the DFB and its team continued in what was called West Germany, while the Saarland and East Germany fielded separate teams for some years. The FIFA World Cup 1974 was staged in West Germany, meeting on 22 June 1974 in a politically charged match in Hamburg, East Germany beat West Germany 1–0, on a goal by Jürgen Sparwasser. Both German teams advanced to the second round anyway, the GDR team was eliminated there, while the DFB team eventually went on to win the tournament
3.
Paderborn
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Paderborn is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and born, the river Pader originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried. Paderborn was founded as a bishopric by Charlemagne in 795, although its history began in 777 when Charlemagne built a castle near the Pader springs. In 799 Pope Leo III fled his enemies in Rome and reached Paderborn, where he met Charlemagne and it was during this time that it was decided that Charlemagne would be crowned emperor. Charlemagne reinstated Leo in Rome in 800 and was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Leo in return, in 836, St. Liborius became the patron saint of Paderborn after his bones were moved there from Le Mans by Bishop Badurad. St. Liborius is commemorated in Paderborn every year in July with the Liborifest, the bishop of Paderborn, Meinwerk, became a Prince of the Empire in 1100. The bishop had several buildings built, and the area became a place for the emperors to stay. The city was taken by Prussia in 1802, then by the French vassal state Kingdom of Westphalia from 1807 to 1813, native Friedrich Sertürner, a pharmacists apprentice in Paderborn, was the first to isolate morphine from opium in 1804. In 1930, the See of Paderborn was promoted to archdiocese, during World War II, Paderborn was bombed by Allied aircraft in 1944 and 1945, resulting in 85% destruction, including many of the historic buildings. After the city was reconstructed in the 1940s and 1950s, Paderborn became an industrial seat in Westphalia. The British Army has retained a significant presence in the area, Paderborn is situated at the spring of the Pader river, approximately 30 kilometres east of Lippstadt and approximately 50 kilometres south of Bielefeld on the Pader river. The hills of the Eggegebirge are located east of the city, the city of Paderborn consists of the following Stadtteile, Paderborn has a population of over 144,000, of which approximately 10% are students at the local university. Additionally, about 10,000 members or relatives of members of the British armed forces live within Westfalen Garrison, 60% of the population are Catholics, 20% Lutherans and 20% other. Paderborn is the headquarters of the former Nixdorf Computer AG, which was acquired by Siemens in the early 1990s, the company is now known as Wincor Nixdorf which is still located in Paderborn, but Siemens retains a considerable presence in the city. Paderborn has the largest computer museum in the world, the de, from 2001 to 2005 it hosted the RoboCup German Open. The town supports the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie for regular symphony concerts in the Paderhalle, the city is known today for its exhibitions in three museums, the Kaiserpfalz, The Diocesian Museum and the Art Museum - Städtische Galerie. The local baseball team, the Paderborn Untouchables, has won many German championships, and the local American Football team, in 2006 the Paderborn Baskets, the home basketball team of the city achieved the Bundesliga. The Paderborn Baskets played in the playoffs of the 2008-09 German basketball league, SC Paderborn 07 is a German football club based in Paderborn
4.
North Rhine-Westphalia
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North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with a population of approximately 18 million, and the fourth largest by area. Its capital is Düsseldorf, the most populous city is Cologne, four of Germanys ten largest cities—Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, and Essen—are located within the state, as well as the largest metropolitan area on the European continent, Rhine-Ruhr. North Rhine-Westphalia was formed in 1946 as a merger of the provinces of North Rhine and Westphalia, the state has been run by a coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens since 2010. The Ubii and some other Germanic tribes such as the Cugerni were later settled on the west side of the Rhine in the Roman province of Germania Inferior, North of the Sigambri and the Rhine region were the Bructeri. By the 8th century the Frankish dominion was established in western Germany. But at the time, to the north, Westphalia was being taken over by Saxons pushing south. The Merovingian and Carolingian Franks eventually built an empire which controlled first their Ripuarian kin, the Ottonian dynasty had both Saxon and Frankish ancestry. As the central power of the Holy Roman Emperor weakened, the Rhineland split into small independent principalities, each with its separate vicissitudes. Such struggles as the War of the Limburg Succession therefore continued to create military, Aachen was the place of coronation of the German emperors, and the ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine bulked largely in German history. Prussia first set foot on the Rhine in 1609 by the occupation of the Duchy of Cleves and about a century later Upper Guelders and Moers also became Prussian. At the peace of Basel in 1795 the whole of the bank of the Rhine was resigned to France. In 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium, around 1 AD there were numerous incursions through Westphalia and perhaps even some permanent Roman or Romanized settlements. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest took place near Osnabrück and some of the Germanic tribes who fought at this came from the area of Westphalia. Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time in Paderborn and nearby parts and his Saxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversary Widukind to places near Detmold, Bielefeld, Lemgo, Osnabrück, Widukind was buried in Enger, which is also a subject of a legend. Along with Eastphalia and Engern, Westphalia was originally a district of the Duchy of Saxony, in 1180 Westphalia was elevated to the rank of a duchy by Emperor Barbarossa. The Duchy of Westphalia comprised only an area south of the Lippe River. Parts of Westphalia came under Brandenburg-Prussian control during the 17th and 18th centuries, the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, signed in Münster and Osnabrück, ended the Thirty Years War
5.
Bundesliga
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The Bundesliga, is a professional association football league in Germany and the football league with the highest average stadium attendance worldwide. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germanys primary football competition, the Bundesliga is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Seasons run from August to May, most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played on weekdays. All of the Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal, the winner of the Bundesliga qualifies for the DFL-Supercup. A total of 54 clubs have competed in the Bundesliga since its founding, FC Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga the most, winning the title 25 times. However, the Bundesliga has seen other champions with Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Bundesliga is broadcast on television in over 200 countries. The Bundesliga was founded in 1962 in Dortmund and the first season started in 1963, the structure and organisation of the Bundesliga along with Germanys other football leagues have undergone frequent changes right up to the present day. The Bundesliga was founded by the Deutscher Fußball-Bund, but is now operated by the Deutsche Fußball Liga, the Bundesliga is composed of two divisions, the 1. Bundesliga, and, below that, the 2, Bundesliga, which has been the second tier of German football since 1974. Below the level of the 3, Liga, leagues are generally subdivided on a regional basis. For example, the Regionalligen are currently made up of Nord, Nordost, Süd, below this are thirteen parallel divisions, most of which are called Oberligen which represent federal states or large urban and geographical areas. The levels below the Oberligen differ between the local areas, the league structure has changed frequently and typically reflects the degree of participation in the sport in various parts of the country. In the early 1990s, changes were driven by the reunification of Germany, every team in the two Bundesligen must have a licence to play in the league, or else they are relegated into the regional leagues. To obtain a licence, teams must be healthy and meet certain standards of conduct as organisations. As in other leagues, there are significant benefits to being in the top division. Bundesliga teams draw significantly greater levels of fan support, average attendance in the first league is 42,673 per game — more than twice the average of the 2. Greater exposure through television and higher attendance levels helps 1, Bundesliga teams attract the most lucrative sponsorships. Bundesliga teams develop substantial financial muscle through the combination of television and gate revenues, sponsorships and this allows them to attract and retain skilled players from domestic and international sources and to construct first-class stadium facilities
6.
Croatia
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Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state between Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which one of the countrys primary subdivisions. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres and has diverse, mostly continental, Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The countrys population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, the Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They organised the state into two duchies by the 9th century, tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Petar Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which seceded from Austria-Hungary, a fascist Croatian puppet state backed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany existed during World War II. After the war, Croatia became a member and a federal constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991 Croatia declared independence, which came wholly into effect on 8 October of the same year, the Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration. A unitary state, Croatia is a republic governed under a parliamentary system, the International Monetary Fund classified Croatia as an emerging and developing economy, and the World Bank identified it as a high-income economy. Croatia is a member of the European Union, United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the service sector dominates Croatias economy, followed by the industrial sector and agriculture. Tourism is a significant source of revenue during the summer, with Croatia ranked the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world, the state controls a part of the economy, with substantial government expenditure. The European Union is Croatias most important trading partner, since 2000, the Croatian government constantly invests in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Internal sources produce a significant portion of energy in Croatia, the rest is imported, the origin of the name is uncertain, but is thought to be a Gothic or Indo-Aryan term assigned to a Slavic tribe. The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym *xъrvatъ is of variable stem, the first attestation of the Latin term is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir from the year 852. The original is lost, and just a 1568 copy is preserved—leading to doubts over the authenticity of the claim, the oldest preserved stone inscription is the 9th-century Branimir Inscription, where Duke Branimir is styled as Dux Cruatorvm. The inscription is not believed to be dated accurately, but is likely to be from during the period of 879–892, the area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period
7.
2006 FIFA World Cup
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The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the qualification process which began in September 2003. Thirty-one teams qualified from this process, along with the host nation, Germany and it was the second time that Germany staged the competition, and the tenth time that it was held in Europe. Italy won the tournament, claiming their fourth World Cup title and they defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shootout in the final, after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish in third place, Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Serbia and Montenegro, Trinidad and Tobago, and Togo made their first appearances in the finals. The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion non-unique viewers. The final attracted an audience of 715.1 million people. The 2006 World Cup ranks fourth in non-unique viewers, behind the World Cup in 1994,2002, as the winner, Italy represented the World in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. The vote to choose the hosts of the 2006 tournament was held in July 2000 in Zürich and it involved four bidding nations after Brazil had withdrawn three days earlier, Germany, South Africa, England and Morocco. Three rounds of voting were required, each round eliminating the nation with the least votes, the first two rounds were held on 6 July 2000, and the final round was held on 7 July 2000, which Germany won over South Africa. Accusations of bribery and corruption have marred the success of Germanys bid from the very beginning, on the very day of the vote, a hoax bribery affair was made public, leading to calls for a re-vote. Oceania delegate Charlie Dempsey, who had initially backed England, had then been instructed to support South Africa following Englands elimination and he abstained, citing intolerable pressure on the eve of the vote. Just a week before the vote, the German government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder lifted their arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, daimlerChrysler invested several hundred million Euro in Hyundai, while one of the sons of the companys founders was a member of FIFAs executive committee. Both Volkswagen and Bayer announced investments in Thailand and South Korea, whose respective delegates Worawi Makudi, the sum of 6.7 million Euro was later demanded back by Dreyfus. In order to retrieve the money, the Organizing Committee paid an aquivalent sum to the FIFA, allegedly as a German share for the cost of a closing ceremony, the DFB announced they would consider seeking legal action against Der Spiegel. During a press conference on 22 October 2015, Nierbach repeated his stance, according to Niersbach, the payment had been agreed upon during a meeting between Franz Beckenbauer and FIFA president Blatter, with the money being provided by Dreyfus. On the same day, FIFA contradicted Niersbachs statement, saying, By our current state of knowledge, the following day, former DFB president Theo Zwanziger publicly accused Niersbach of lying, saying, It is evident that there was a slush fund for the German World Cup application. According to Zwanziger, the 6.7 million Euros went to Mohamed Bin Hammam, on 22 March 2016 it was announced that the FIFA Ethics Committee was opening proceedings into the bid
8.
FC Bayern Munich
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Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. commonly known as FC Bayern München, FCB, Bayern Munich, or FC Bayern, is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. FC Bayern was founded in 1900 by 11 football players, led by Franz John, although Bayern won its first national championship in 1932, the club was not selected for the Bundesliga at its inception in 1963. The club had its period of greatest success in the middle of the 1970s when, under the captaincy of Franz Beckenbauer, overall, Bayern has reached ten European Cup/UEFA Champions League finals, most recently winning their fifth title in 2013 as part of a continental treble. Since the formation of the Bundesliga, Bayern has been the dominant club in German football with 26 titles and has won 8 of the last 12 titles and they have traditional local rivalries with 1860 Munich and 1. FC Nürnberg, as well as with Borussia Dortmund since the mid-1990s, since the beginning of the 2005–06 season, Bayern has played its home games at the Allianz Arena. Previously the team had played at Munichs Olympiastadion for 33 years, the team colours are red and white, and the team crest shows the white and blue flag of Bavaria. In terms of revenue, Bayern Munich is the biggest sports club in Germany, as of November 2016, Bayern has over 284,000 members. There are more than 4,000 officially-registered fan clubs with over 314,000 members, the club has other departments for chess, handball, basketball, gymnastics, bowling, table tennis and senior football with more than 1,100 active members. FC Bayern is ranked second in the current UEFA club coefficient rankings, FC Bayern Munich was founded by members of a Munich gymnastics club. Within a few months, Bayern achieved high-scoring victories against all rivals, including a 15–0 win against FC Nordstern. In the following years, the club won some trophies and in 1910–11 Bayern joined the newly founded Kreisliga. The club won league in its first year, but did not win it again until the beginning of World War I in 1914. In the years after the war, Bayern won several regional competitions before winning its first South German championship in 1926, an achievement repeated two years later. Its first national title was gained in 1932, when coach Richard Little Dombi Kohn led the team to the German championship by defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0 in the final, the advent of Nazism put an abrupt end to Bayerns development. Club president Kurt Landauer and the coach, both of whom were Jewish, left the country, many others in the club were also purged. Bayern was taunted as the Jews club, while local rival 1860 Munich gained much support, josef Sauter, who was inaugurated 1943, was the only NSDAP member as president. As some Bayern players greeted Landauer, who was watching a friendly in Switzerland lead to continued discrimination, Bayern was also affected by the ruling that football players had to be full amateurs again. In the following years, Bayern could not sustain its role of contender for the national title, after the war, Bayern became a member of the Oberliga Süd, the southern conference of the German first division, which was split five ways at that time
9.
FIFA eligibility rules
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In the 20th century, FIFA allowed a player to represent any national team, as long as the player held citizenship of that country. FIFA has used its authority to overturn results of competitive matches that feature ineligible players. FIFAs eligibility rules also demand that in mens competitions, only men are eligible to play, historically, it was possible for players to play for different national teams. For example, Alfredo di Stefano played for Argentina and Spain, di Stefanos Real Madrid team-mate Ferenc Puskás also played for Spain after amassing 85 caps for Hungary earlier in his career. Other 20th century examples of players officially representing more than one country – excluding those resulting from changes to geopolitical borders e. g. e, fixtures not recognised by FIFA as full internationals. These caps are not officially recognised due to a dispute between FIFA and the Colombian Football Federation at the time, the first player to do so was Antar Yahia, who played for the France under-18s before representing Algeria in qualifiers for the 2004 Olympic Games. In March 2004, FIFA amended its policy on international eligibility. An emergency FIFA committee ruling judged that players must be able to demonstrate a connection to a country that they had not been born in. Defender Nikola Vujadinović, for example, would be eligible to play for the teams of Serbia or Montenegro. In June 2009, FIFA Congress passed a motion that removed the age limit for players who had played for a countrys national team at youth level to change national associations. This ruling features in Article 18 of the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes, thiago Motta has three caps for Brazil in matches deemed friendlies for Brazil and now represents Italy. Mehdi Carcela-González was born and raised in Belgium, and won two caps for Belgium in official friendly matches before switching to his nation of Morocco in 2011. Diego Costa represented Brazil in 2 friendlies before switching his allegiances to Spain in 2013, apostolos Giannou represented Greece in a friendly in 2015, before switching his allegiances to Australia, making his debut for the latter in March 2016. A FIFA Players Status Committee is responsible for making such judgements, FIFA takes punitive action against teams that field ineligible players. In August 2011, FIFA expelled Syria from the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification process following the appearance of George Mourad in a qualification match against Tajikistan. Mourad had made friendly match appearances for Sweden earlier in his career, after the game, a protest was lodged by their opponents Vanuatu, on the basis that Wynne was not an eligible player. As Wynne was 20 years old, it was impossible for him to have lived in New Zealand for five years after the age of 18. This protest was upheld by the Oceania Football Confederation, resulting in New Zealand being disqualified, there are 25 FIFA member associations that share a common nationality with at least one other FIFA member association
10.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
Günther Rybarczyk (1993–2001)
Pavel Dochev (2003–2005)
Jos Luhukay (2005–2006)
