Getting your novel published: Which country?

I did look through the stickies in this section of the forum, but couldn't find any info on this (I'm half-blind, so don't thrash me, k?)

To the point: I'm a long way from trying to get my first book published, but when the time comes, how does one choose in which country or countries to get their novel published?

It seems logical to me (as an English speaker and writer) to try and get published in North America, purely because the potential for sales there is much higher than in Britain (Britain having a smaller population than most individual States).

But then, the other day when I was talking to my girlfriend's niece, in German (I'm British but live in Germany), she asked me where would I eventually be selling my novel. I said it would have to be an English-speaking country because my literary skills aren't good enough to rewrite my book in German. She said, "Schade." (Shame). But that got me to thinking: Why should publishing your novel be limited to one country? I realise about publisher's rights, and that you can't get your work published by another publisher while you're locked into one contract, but outside of that how feasible is it to try for multiple countries when putting your manuscript out there?

I have a fairly good idea that having a novel translated into another language - and done well - can be costly. I also know that the subtle nuances of a writer can be lost in translation if not done by an established expert in the field.

Any experiences or thoughts on this?

Thanks eqb and Mr Flibble for the info. Good to know we can sell the rights to publishers in different countries depending on the language.
If I understand correctly, selling the rights to a U.S. publisher for World English would mean they have the say on where it gets distributed within North America, Britain and Australia.

Similarly, would a German publisher holding the rights to the World German translation cover Germany, Austria and Switzerland?

Also, how likely is it that, if I were to choose a UK publisher, they would distribute in the US as well? Or vice versa? It still seems like a much more lucrative decision to try for a North American publisher, purely due to potential sales. I'd hate to get tied into a UK publishing deal that didn't also publish in America and/or Australia.

Again, I have to stress I have no experience in this yet. I just can't imagine a UK publisher having much success in sales across the pond. Maybe I'm wrong. If anyone else is reading this, who entered into a contract with a UK publisher, maybe they could share their experiences with sales in North America and/or Australia?

More good information, thanks guys!
Actually, waylander, I was going to use the erstwhile David Gemmell, who is and always will be my absolutely favourite fantasy author, as an example. I may be wrong, but I don't think his books sold comparatively well in the US compared to UK/EU sales?