222. Which country borders Germany?

Answer options

1. Hungary
2. Portugal
3. Spain
4. Switzerland

Explanation

Germany borders nine states, including Switzerland, with which the Federal Republic shares a historically shaped frontier along the Rhine and around Lake Constance. The present borders derive from post‑1945 international settlements (the Potsdam order), the confirmation of the Oder–Neisse line, and their definitive consolidation by the 1990 Two Plus Four Treaty and the German‑Polish Border Treaty. Constitutionally, the delineation of frontiers and the border regime fall within the Federation’s external authority and its exclusive legislative competence (Basic Law arts. 32 and 73), while cross‑border cooperation by Länder and municipalities rests, inter alia, on the Council of Europe’s Madrid Convention and the Karlsruhe Agreement. Under the Schengen acquis—also applicable to Switzerland—systematic personal border checks have largely been removed without extinguishing the legal existence of the state border.