Demographics of Germany

The following is an overview of the demographics of Germany.

The population of Germany is approximately 82,468,000. There are about 7 million foreign residents, the largest single nationality group of whom are the Turkish. Germany has been a prime destination for refugees from many developing countries, in part because its constitution long had a clause giving a 'right' to political asylum, but restrictions over the years have made it less attractive.

Germany has one of the world's highest levels of education, technological development, and economic productivity. Since the end of World War II, the number of youths entering universities has more than tripled, and the trade and technical schools are among the world's best. With a per capita income level of about $27,000, Germany is a broadly middle class society. Germans also are mobile; millions travel abroad each year. A generous social welfare system provides for universal health care, unemployment compensation, and other social needs. Due to Germany's aging population and struggling economy, the welfare system came under a lot of strain from the 1990s. This lead the government to push through a wide-ranging programme of belt-tightening reforms, Agenda 2010, including the labour market reforms known as Hartz I - IV.

Major cities

City name	Location	Description	Population	Largest German ethnic groups	Largest non-German ethnic groups
Berlin		Berlin is the capital of Germany and its largest city. Berlin lies in the eastern part of the country and has a reputation for an Eastern European lifestyle.	5 million	Berliners, "Prussians", Polish Germans, Russian Germans and others	Turks (and German Turks), Poles, Russians
Hamburg Metropolitan Region		Hamburg is Germany's most Anglo-Saxon city with a long tradition for sea trade and civil establishment. Hamburg is proud of its sophisticated bar and music scene and its reputation as Germany's "capital of good taste".	4 million	Hamburgers, "(Lower-)Saxons" and others	Scandinavians, Turks, Portuguese
Munich		The "secret capital" has Germany's highest standard of living. Countless sporting and leisure opportunities - both in the city and in its picturesque region. Munich is a powerhouse of the German economy and rich in Bavarian culture.	3 million	Bavarians, Franks and "Zugereiste"	Austrians, Italians, Croats
Cologne / Ruhr Area agglomeration		Cologne is the largest and unofficial capital city of the Rhineland, the very Western part of Germany. Particularly among young Germans Cologne is known as a "fun city" for its nightlife and open-minded atmosphere.	11 million	Rhinelanders, "Prussians" Polish Germans, German Turks and others	Spaniards, Poles, Japanese (large Japanese community in Düsseldorf)
Frankfurt Rhine Main Area		Frankfurt is the economic and financial center both for Germany and the continental European Union. Frankfurt is arguably Germany's most international city and Frankfurt International Airport is one of the biggest airports worldwide. Within Germany the city itself has a reputation to be boring.	5 million	Hessians, "Prussians", German Turks and others	Turks, Greeks, Americans

Ethnic groups

Nationalities in Germany (Dec 31, 2004)

Germans (Ethnic Germans) 7 Million have got a migration backround	75,212,900 1
legal foreign residents	7,288,000 1
Turks and German Turks	1,764,300 1
Italians and Italo-Germans	548,200 1
Serbs	507,328 4
Greeks	316,000 1
Poles and Polish Germans	292,100 1
Croatians	229,200 1
Russians and German Russians	179,000 2
Austrians	174,000 1
Bosnians	156,000 1
Ukrainians	128,100 2
Portugueses and Ibero-Germans	116,700 2
Dutchmen	114,100 2
Spaniards and Ibero-Germans	108,300 2
Frenchmen	100,500 2
Americans	96,600 1
Britons	95,900 2
Vietnamese	83,500 2
Romanians	73,400 2
Moroccans	73,000 2
Chinese	71,600 2
Iranians	100,000 2
Macedonians	100,000 1
Afghans	57,900 2
Hungarians	47,800 2
Lebanese	40,900 2
Bulgarians	39,200 2
Czechs 3	38,800 2
Indians	38,900 2
Swiss	35,400 2
Sri Lankans	60,000 2
Pakistanis	30,900 2
Tunisians	22,400 2
Belgians	21,800 2
Slovenes	21,000 1
Ghanians	20,600 2
Slovaks	20,200 2
Danes	18,000 2
Swedes	16,200 2
Algerians	14,500 2
Lithuanians	14,700 2
Finns	13,100 2
Albanians	10,500 2
Irishmen	10,000 2
Luxembourgers	6,800 2
Sources: 1 destatis 2 destatis. Notes: 3 Including 8500 Persons with old Czechoslovakian citizenship 4 Including people from former Yugoslavia, who registered as Yugoslavians before the country broke up.

The official statistics collect only nationality data: Germans 91.5%, Turks 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Italians, Serbs, Greeks, Poles, Croats, Russians, and Bosniaks.

While most of the German citizens are ethnic Germans or naturalized immigrants, there are four other sizable groups of people that have lived in Germany for centuries. They are referred to as "national minorities" (nationale Minderheiten): Danes, Frisians, Roma and Sinti, and Sorbs.

There is a Danish minority (about 50,000, according to government sources) in the most northern-most state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Eastern and Northern Frisians (60,000 inhabitants define themselves as "Frisians") live at Schleswig-Holstein's western coast, and in the north-western part of Lower Saxony. They are part of a wider community (Frisia) stretching from Germany to the northern Netherlands.

The Sorbs, a Slavic people with about 60,000 members, are located in the Lusatia region of Saxony and Brandenburg. They are the last remnants of the Slavs that lived in central and eastern Germany since the 7th century.

Roma people have been in Germany since the Middle Ages. They were persecuted by the Nazis, and thousands of Roma living in Germany were killed by the Nazi regime. Nowadays, they are spread all over Germany, mostly living in major cities. It is difficult to estimate their exact number, as the Germany government normally does not keep information on the ethnicity of its citizens. There are also many assimilated Sinti and Roma. A vague figure given by the German Department of the Interior is about 70,000. In the 1990s, many Roma moved to Germany from former Yugoslavia. In contrast to the old-established Roma population, the majority of them do not have German citizenship, they are classified as immigrants or refugees.

Since the 1960s, ethnic Germans from the Soviet Union came to Germany, especially from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. During the time of Perestroika, and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the number of immigrants increased heavily.

Germany now has Europe's third-largest Jewish population. In 2004, twice as many Jews from former Soviet republics settled in Germany as in Israel, bringing the total inflow to more than 200,000 since 1991. Jews have a voice in German public life through the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland.

There are also around 500,000 Afro-Germans and 200,000+ African nationals.

See Also:

• Volga German

East-West Migration

With unification on October 3, 1990, Germany began the major task of bringing the standard of living of Germans in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) up to that of western Germany. This will be a lengthy and difficult process due to the relative inefficiency of industrial enterprises in the former GDR, difficulties in resolving property ownership in eastern Germany, and the inadequate infrastructure and environmental damage that resulted from decades of communist rule. Since reunification, hundreds of thousands of former East Germans have migrated into western Germany to find work.

Drastic changes in the socioeconomic landscape brought about by reunification have resulted in troubling social problems. Economic uncertainty in eastern Germany is often cited as one factor contributing to extremist violence, primarily from the political right. Confusion about the causes of the current hardships and a need to place blame have found expression in harassment and violence by some Germans directed toward foreigners, particularly non-Europeans. The vast majority of Germans condemn such violence.

Immigration

Main article: Immigration to Germany

Due to its high standard of living Germany is attracting vast groups of people from all over the world and is a classical immigration country. Because of Germany's aging population the country depends on immigration, which it is restructuring with a directed immigration law.

Religions

Main article: Religion in Germany

Roman Catholic 32.1%, Lutheran 31.8%, Muslim 4.5%, Jewish 0.1%, unaffiliated or other 31.5% (2002)

Roman Catholic is mainly in the South East (Southern Bavaria) and the Very West (Rheinland & Cologne). Strongholds of Protestants are in all Northern and Eastern Federal States. Muslim and Jews minority communities are mainly in the big cities.

Languages

German is Germany's only official and most-widely spoken language. Standard German is understood all over the country, while dialects — which can be quite distinct from the standard language — are still in use in everyday speech, especially in rural regions. In contrast to France speakers with regional dialects and accents are generally not frowned on or interpreted as uneducated. On the contrary, dialects are seen by their speakers as symbols of their regional identity and spoken throughout all social classes.

English is the most popular foreign language. In secondary education (in some regions even earlier), it is taught as the first foreign language almost everywhere. Other languages taught at schools are French, Italian, Spanish, and Russian. Dutch is taught in counties bordering the Netherlands. Latin and Greek are part of the syllabus of classical education which is offered by some secondary schools.

According to a 2004 survey, two thirds of Germany's citizens have at least basic knowledge of English. About 20% consider themselves as speakers of French, followed by those of Russian (18%), Italian (6.1%), and Spanish (5.6%). The high number of Russian speakers is a result of the GDR's close relation to the Soviet Union — more than half of the Germans in the East speak Russian, compared to 5.5% in the western part of the country (a big part of them is also originally from the East).

Danish, Low German, Sorbian, and Frisian are officially recognized and protected as minority languages per the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in their respective regions. As speakers of Romany are living in all parts of Germany, the federal government has promised to take action to protect the language. Until now, Hesse is the only Land that has followed Berlin's announcement and implemented concrete measures to support speakers of Romany.

Protected Minority Languages in Germany

Language	States
Danish	Schleswig-Holstein
North Frisian	Schleswig-Holstein
Saterland Frisian	Lower Saxony
Low German	Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Westfalia
Upper Sorbian	Saxony
Lower Sorbian	Brandenburg
Romany	Hesse (see text)

Literacy

Over 99% of those of age 15 and above are estimated to be able to read and write.

Statistics

Age structure (2003):

• 0-14 years: 14.7%
• 15-64 years: 67.3%
• 65 years and over: 18%

Population growth rate: 0.0% (2004)

Birth rate: 8.56 births/1,000 population (2003)

Death rate: 10.35 deaths/1,000 population (2003)

Net migration rate: 4.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:

Infant mortality rate: 4.2 deaths (within one year) per 1,000 live births (2003)

Life expectancy at birth (2001):

Total fertility rate: 1.42 children born/woman (2004)

External links

• Homepage of the Federal Statistical Office Germany (in English)