Berlin had modest beginnings as a trading centre in the 13th century, growing into a European powerhouse that hogged the 20th century stage. Since reunification in 1990, it has evolved into a dynamic, sexy and creative city where a surprising lightheartedness lurks beneath an austere exterior.
Berlin is the heart of modern Germany, with a stoic beat that echoes through grand public buildings, glorious museums and theatres, urbane restaurants, bustling pubs and raucous nightclubs. It's a city that thrives on change and that has made a virtue out of reinventing itself.
| Full Name: | Berlin |
|---|---|
| Population: | 3,390,000 |
| Area: | 889 square kilometres |
| Language Spoken | German |
| Religion | 34% Protestant, 34% Catholic, 4% Muslim, 28% unaffiliated or other. There are at least 105,000 Jews, most of them post-1990 immigrants from the former Soviet Union (the pre-Holocaust figure was over half a million). |