Editing German language (section)

====Rest of Africa====
An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref name="L1eur">[[Template:German L1 speakers outside Europe|German L1 speakers outside Europe]]</ref> One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.safrika.org/natal_en.html |title=Natal Germans |last=Schubert |first=Joachim |website=German South African Resource Page |access-date=2 August 2016 |archive-date=29 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129161855/http://www.safrika.org/natal_en.html |url-status=live }}</ref> a variety of [[Low German]] concentrated in and around [[Wartburg, KwaZulu-Natal|Wartburg]]. The South African constitution identifies German as a "commonly used" language and the [[Pan South African Language Board]] is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-1-founding-provisions#5 |title=Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – Chapter 1: Founding Provisions |website=South African Government |access-date=18 July 2016 |archive-date=28 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028043044/http://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-1-founding-provisions#5 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Cameroon]] was also a [[Kamerun|colony]] of the [[German Empire]] from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in [[World War I]]. Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become a popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020.<ref>[https://www.goethe.de/resources/files/pdf204/bro_deutsch-als-fremdsprache-weltweit.-datenerhebung-2020.pdf Goethe Insitut - "Deutsch als Fremdsprache weltweit. Datenerhebung 2020"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610081413/https://www.goethe.de/resources/files/pdf204/bro_deutsch-als-fremdsprache-weltweit.-datenerhebung-2020.pdf |date=10 June 2023 }}.</ref> Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bathe |first=Dirk |date=2010-11-29 |title=Deutsch für die Zukunft |trans-title=When German means future |url=https://www.dw.com/de/wenn-deutsch-gleich-zukunft-heißt/a-5070255 |website=DW |language=de-DE |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719161346/https://www.dw.com/de/wenn-deutsch-gleich-zukunft-hei%C3%9Ft/a-5070255 |archive-date= Jul 19, 2023 }}</ref>