German-speaking Europe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The German language (both as an official language and as a minority language) is spoken in a number of countries and territories in Central Europe. To cover this speech area they are often referred to as the German speaking countries or the German speaking area. (The few overseas territories which speak German are not commonly included in this term.) The countries are as follows:
German as the only language with official status:
- Germany and her States
- Austria
- Liechtenstein
German language as one of several with (some) official status:
- Denmark
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
- Alsace and Lorraine in Eastern France
- Switzerland
- South Tyrol in Northern Italy
- Hungary (Banat Swabians)
- Transylvania in Romania
- Namibia
- Poland
German speaking minorities, but no official status :
Owing to tourism and second-home colonies some areas around the Mediterranean Sea (like the Balearic Islands) have small German-speaking communities.
