Demographics of Germany

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Germany's population pyramid.
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Germany's population pyramid.

The following is an overview of the demographics of Germany.

The population of Germany is approximately 82,468,000. Germany's population is characterized by zero or declining growth [1], with an aging population and smaller cohort of youths.

There are more than 15 million people of non-german descent (first and second generation, including mixed heritage), about 7 million of which are foreign residents. The largest single nationality group 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.

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[edit] Major metropolitan areas

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 cosmopolitan lifestyle, the German "city that never sleeps". 4 million Berliners, "Prussians", Polish Germans, German Turks, Russian Germans and others 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, Afghanistanis, Iranians
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" Turks, Croats, Serbs, Greeks, Austrians, Italians
Leipzig/Halle Metropolitan Region Also dubbed "City of Heroes", Leipzig is the place, where the 1989 revolution started that brought the wall finally down. Today totally refurbished, it sports Europe's highest density of Art Nouveau architecture.[citation needed] Very lively bar scene, fastest growing economy in Germans 1.2 million Leipziger, "Saxons" and others Asians, Russians, Italians, Iranians
Cologne / Rhine Ruhr Area 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. 10 million Rhinelanders, "Prussians" Polish Germans, German Turks and others Spaniards, Poles, Iranians, 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, Iranians, Italians, Greeks, Koreans, Americans

[edit] Ethnic groups

Nationalities in Germany (Dec 31, 2004)
Germans
75,212,900 1
legal foreign residents 7,288,000 1
Turks 1,764,300 1
Italians 548,200 1
Serbs 507,328 4
Greeks 370,000 6
Poles 292,100 1
Croatians 229,200 1
Russians 179,000 2
Austrians 174,000 1
Bosnians 156,000 1
Ukrainians 128,100 2
Romanians 125,651 2
Portuguese 116,700 2
Dutchmen 114,100 2
Spaniards 108,300 2
Frenchmen 100,500 2
Iranians 100,000 2
Americans 96,600 1
Britons 95,900 2
Vietnamese 83,500 2
Moroccans 73,000 2
Chinese 71,600 2
Slav Macedonians 61,000 5
Sri Lankans 60,000 2
Afghans 57,900 2
Azerbaijani 55,000 2
Hungarians 47,800 2
Lebanese 40,900 2
Bulgarians 39,200 2
Indians 38,900 2
Czechs 3 38,800 2
Swiss 35,400 2
Pakistanis 30,900 2
Koreans 29,800 
Eritrean 25,000 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
Lithuanians 14,700 2
Algerians 14,500 2
Finns 13,100 2
Albanians 10,500 2
Irish 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.
5 know-library
6 [1] Office for foreign of Germany (Relations between Greece and Germany)

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.

After World War 2, there was an influx of 12 million ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe who were expelled or fled after Germany had lost the war.

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. Some of these immigrants are of mixed heritage.

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. Some Jews from the former Soviet Union are of mixed heritage.

There are also around 100,000 Afro-Germans and 150,000+ African nationals as well as nearly 100,000 Indian-Germans.

See Also:

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[edit] 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 because of 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.

[edit] Immigration

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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, even though, if asked, many Germans would not be of this opinion. In its State of World Population 2006 report, the United Nations Population Fund lists Germany with hosting the third-highest percentage of international migrants worldwide, about 5% or 10 million of all 191 million migrants [2].

[edit] Religions

Main article: Religion in Germany

Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%[2] 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 Jewish minority communities are mainly in the big cities.

[edit] Languages

German is Germany's only official and most-widely spoken language. Standard German is understood throughout the country, while dialects — some quite distinct from the standard language — are used in everyday speech, especially in rural regions. Speakers with regional dialects and accents are not frowned on or interpreted as uneducated. On the contrary, dialects are seen as symbols of regional identity and spoken throughout all social classes.

English is the most common foreign language and almost universally taught by the secondary level. Other languages taught are French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. Dutch is taught in counties bordering the Netherlands. Latin and Greek are part of the classical education syllabus 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 (the majority were originally from the East).

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

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)

[edit] Literacy

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

[edit] 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:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

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

Life expectancy at birth (2001):

total population: 78.29 years
male: 75.59 years
female: 81.34 years

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

[edit] References

  1. ^ Population Handbook, 5th edition. Population Reference Bureau.
  2. ^ United Nations Population Fund: State of World Population 2006

[edit] External links

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