Polity · 1949 CE – 1990 CE
German Democratic Republic
Deutsche Demokratische Republik
- Peak recorded area
- 112,473 km²
- 1953 CE
- Rulers on record
- 12
- from 1949 CE
- Data series
- 60
- 1949 CE–1990 CE
Overview
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally viewed as a communist state and described itself as a socialist workers' and peasants' state. The economy of the country was centrally planned and state-owned.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
3 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. CShapes 2.0 holds 2 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1990 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population37 obs · 1954 CE–1990 CE | 16.2Mpersons1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Urban Population37 obs · 1954 CE–1990 CE | 4.4Mpersons1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| % Christian7 obs · 1955 CE–1985 CE | 62.58%1985 CE · CoW World Religion Project |
| % Nonreligious7 obs · 1955 CE–1985 CE | 37.07%1985 CE · CoW World Religion Project |
| % Other Religion7 obs · 1955 CE–1985 CE | 0.35%1985 CE · CoW World Religion Project |
| % Jewish2 obs · 1980 CE–1985 CE | 0%1985 CE · CoW World Religion Project |
Economy
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Total Exports37 obs · 1954 CE–1990 CE | 0million USD (current)1990 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports37 obs · 1954 CE–1990 CE | 0million USD (current)1990 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance37 obs · 1954 CE–1990 CE | 0million USD (current)1990 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Openness37 obs · 1954 CE–1990 CE | 0million USD (current)1990 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 32 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arms Imports Tiv Million40 obs · 1950 CE–1990 CE | 398tiv_million1990 CE · SIPRI Arms Transfers TIV |
| CINC Score37 obs · 1954 CE–1990 CE | 0.0062CINC (share of world capability)1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption37 obs · 1954 CE–1990 CE | 166Mcoal-ton equivalents1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production37 obs · 1954 CE–1990 CE | 5.3Mtons1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel37 obs · 1954 CE–1990 CE | 137Kpersons1990 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure33 obs · 1957 CE–1989 CE | 14Bcurrent USD1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
Governance
6 of 17 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index42 obs · 1949 CE–1990 CE | 0.709index (0-1)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index42 obs · 1949 CE–1990 CE | 0.414index (0-1)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type42 obs · 1949 CE–1990 CE | 2RoW index (0-3)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index42 obs · 1949 CE–1990 CE | 0.867index (0-1)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index41 obs · 1950 CE–1990 CE | 0.542index (0-1)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Checks And Balances16 obs · 1975 CE–1990 CE | 1count1990 CE · Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023 |
Development
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index42 obs · 1949 CE–1990 CE | 0.931index (0-1)1990 CE · V-Dem v15 |
Rulers
12 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Otto GrotewohlHead of Government1949 CE – 1964 CE
- Wilhelm PieckHead of State1949 CE – 1960 CE
- Walter UlbrichtHead of State1960 CE – 1973 CE
- Willi StophHead of Government1964 CE – 1973 CE
- Horst SindermannHead of Government1973 CE – 1976 CE
- Willi StophHead of State1973 CE – 1976 CE
- Erich HoneckerHead of State1976 CE – 1989 CE
- Egon KrenzHead of State1989 CE
- Hans ModrowHead of Government1989 CE – 1990 CE
- Manfred GerlachHead of State1989 CE – 1990 CE
- Lothar de MaizièreHead of Government1990 CE
- Sabine Bergmann-PohlHead of State1990 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- German
- Currency
- Deutsche Mark (DEM), East German mark (DDM)
Memberships
- Warsaw PactWPMilitary alliance · founding member1955 CE – 1990 CE
- 8-member Defense Pact (1955)Military alliance · member1955 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Russia Defense Pact (1964)Military alliance · member1964 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Hungary Defense Pact (1967)Military alliance · member1967 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Poland Defense Pact (1967)Military alliance · member1967 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Czechoslovakia Defense Pact (1967)Military alliance · member1967 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Bulgaria Defense Pact (1967)Military alliance · member1967 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Romania Defense Pact (1972)Military alliance · member1972 CE – 1989 CE
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · member1973 CE –
- German Democratic Republic–Yemen People's Republic Non-Aggression Pact (1979)Historical alliance · member1979 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Angola Non-Aggression Pact (1979)Historical alliance · member1979 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Mozambique Entente (1979)Historical alliance · member1979 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Ethiopia Non-Aggression Pact (1979)Historical alliance · member1979 CE – 1989 CE
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
CoW World Religion Projectv1.1
Maoz, Z. & Henderson, E.A. (2013). The World Religion Dataset, 1945-2010. International Interactions 39(3).
Free academic use, citation
Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023DPI 2023
Cruz, C., Keefer, P. & Scartascini, C. (2023). Database of Political Institutions 2023. Inter-American Development Bank.
IDB open data, attribution
SIPRI (2024). Arms Transfers Database (Trend-Indicator Values).
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
German Democratic Republic is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.