East Germany was the common name of a former republic of central Europe, bordered on the north by the Baltic Sea, on the east by Poland, on the south by the Czech Republic, and on the south and west by the former West Germany. East Germany had an area of 108,178 sq km (41,768 sq mi). It was established officially as the German Democratic Republic (GDR; German Deutsche Demokratische Republik) on October 7, 1949, as one of two successor states-West Germany (officially the Federal Republic of Germany, or the FRG) being the other-to the nation of Germany after its defeat in World War II (1939-1945). East Germany ceased to exist when it reunified with West Germany on October 3, 1990.