Population: 182.5 million; 27,176 Brazilians live in Germany

World Cup base: Kempinski Hotel in Falkenstein (Hesse). If the team wins its Group, from the Round of 16 onwards it will reside at the Schlosshotel Lerbach in Bergisch Gladbach (North Rhine-Westphalia)

Brazil’s largest metropolis is also jokingly referred to as the largest “German” industrial city. After all, 1,000 companies with German capital employ some 230,000 people in São Paulo. Brazil is Germany’s most important trading partner in Latin America – with growing potential. From 2003 to 2004, the value of German exports rose from 4.1 to 4.7 billion euros; imports from Brazil rose from 3.9 to 4.6 billion euros. The two countries also have close cultural ties: five Goethe Institutes work nationwide in Brazil; 80,000 students are learning German at school; 50 higher education partnerships ensure vigorous knowledge transfer; and more than 28,000 Brazilian students and researchers have received a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Population: 22 million; 7,879 Australians live in Germany

World Cup base: Wald- und Schlosshotel Friedrichsruhe in Friedrichsruhe (Baden-Württemberg)

Germans were among the first European settlers on the continent, which is why German-Australian relations do not only go back a long way, but are also deep. Especially in research networks, Germans and Australians cooperate at a very high level. Some 200 cooperation agreements between Australian and German institutions of higher education reflect these close relations. Eight Australian universities are seeking to build additional contacts from the Australia Centre Europe in Berlin. Close contacts also exist in industry: Germany accounts for a fifth of Australian trade with the EU. In the other direction, five billion euros of German direct investment flowed “down under”. Investors include BASF and Bosch. Incidentally, Siemens has been active in Australia since 1872.

Population: 4.4 million; 229,172 Croats live in Germany

World Cup base: Dorint Resort & Spa in Bad Brückenau (Bavaria)

The centuries-old cultural link with the German-speaking region is still “audible” in Croatia. Many Croatians speak German, and a quarter of all Croatian schoolchildren learn German as their first foreign language. Moreover, almost 230,000 Croatians live and work in Germany, while, in the other direction, some 1.5 million German tourists travel to Croatia, which is increasingly being discovered as an attractive holiday destination. Its popularity is growing. Economically, Germany is Croatia’s second most important trading partner and one of its largest investors. Since the country’s independence, in 1991, Germany has supported Croatia with roughly 100 million euros for bilateral technical and financial cooperation and some 22 million euros for humanitarian assistance.

Population: 127 million; 27,550 Japanese live in Germany

World Cup base: Hotel Hilton in Bonn (North Rhine-Westphalia)

“Little Tokyo” is not a district in Japan’s capital city, but an area on the Rhine – to be more precise, in Düsseldorf. More than 7,000 Japanese live in the North Rhine-Westphalian capital and 500 Japanese companies are represented in North Rhine-Westphalia. As a result, the most populous German state is the largest and most important European business location for Japanese companies – alongside London. Relations between Germany and Japan are traditionally close. The two countries regard each other as their most important partners in Europe and Asia respectively. A highlight of bilateral interchange has been running since last year: Germany has been successfully presenting itself in its Asian partner country with exhibitions and events organized as part of the project entitled Germany in Japan 2005/2006.