Editing Demographics of Germany (section)

==Languages==
{{Main|Languages of Germany}}
[[German language|German]] is the only official and most widely spoken language. [[Standard German]] is understood throughout the country.

Since 2017, the [[Federal Statistical Office of Germany]] included a new question regarding the language spoken at home in the micro-census, a large sample survey that yearly covers approximately 1% of the German population living in private households.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://ids-pub.bsz-bw.de/frontdoor/index/index/searchtype/collection/id/55/rows/100/sortfield/author/sortorder/asc/start/19/nav/next/docId/7857 |title=Germany's micro census of 2017: The return of the language question |last=Adler |first=Astrid |date=2018-09-04 |publisher=Institut für Deutsche Sprache}}</ref> The following table provides the results of the 2023 micro-census, regarding the languages spoken at home.<ref>{{Cite journal |date= |title=Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit – Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund – Ergebnisse des Mikrozensus 2023 – |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Bevoelkerung/Migration-Integration/Publikationen/_publikationen-innen-migrationshintergrund.html |journal=Statistisches Bundesamt |page=}}</ref> After German, the most spoken languages are [[Turkish language|Turkish]] (2.54%), [[Russian language|Russian]] (2.26%), [[Arabic]] (1.74%), [[Polish language|Polish]] (1.22%) and [[English language|English]] (1.20%), each with more than one million people speaking them at home.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Languages spoken at home, 2023 micro census
! colspan="2" |Language
!Absolute number
!Percentage
|-
| colspan="2" |Total population
|83,875,000
|{{percentage bar|100.00}}
|-
| colspan="2" |Only German
|64,632,000
|{{percentage bar|77.05}}
|-
| colspan="2" |Mostly German
|3,669,000
|{{percentage bar|4.37}}
|-
| colspan="2" |Mostly another language
|15,574,000
|{{percentage bar|18.56}}
|-
|Of which
|[[Albanian language|Albanian]]
|597,000
|{{percentage bar|0.71}}
|-
| rowspan="31" |
|[[Arabic]]
|1,462,000
|{{percentage bar|1.74}}
|-
|[[Bosnian language|Bosnian]]
|256,000
|{{percentage bar|0.29}}
|-
|[[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]]
|232,000
|{{percentage bar|0.27}}
|-
|[[Chinese language|Chinese]]
|166,000
|{{percentage bar|0.2}}
|-
|[[Danish language|Danish]]
|20,000
|{{percentage bar|0.02}}
|-
|[[English language|English]]
|1,010,000
|{{percentage bar|1.2}}
|-
|[[French language|French]]
|192,000
|{{percentage bar|0.23}}
|-
|[[Greek language|Greek]]
|301,000
|{{percentage bar|0.36}}
|-
|[[Hindi language|Hindi]]
|80,000
|{{percentage bar|0.09}}
|-
|[[Italian language|Italian]]
|536,000
|{{percentage bar|0.64}}
|-
|[[Croatian language|Croatian]]
|410,000
|{{percentage bar|0.49}}
|-
|[[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]
|574,000
|{{percentage bar|0.68}}
|-
|[[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]
|102,000
|{{percentage bar|0.12}}
|-
|[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
|102,000
|{{percentage bar|0.12}}
|-
|[[Pashto language|Pashto]]
|48,000
|{{percentage bar|0.05}}
|-
|[[Persian language|Persian]]
|448,000
|{{percentage bar|0.53}}
|-
|[[Polish language|Polish]]
|1,024,000
|{{percentage bar|1.22}}
|-
|[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
|166,000
|{{percentage bar|0.20}}
|-
|[[Romanian language|Romanian]]
|762,000
|{{percentage bar|0.91}}
|-
|[[Russian language|Russian]]
|1,895,000
|{{percentage bar|2.26}}
|-
|[[Serbian language|Serbian]]
|294,000
|{{percentage bar|0.35}}
|-
|[[Spanish language|Spanish]]
|336,000
|{{percentage bar|0.40}}
|-
|[[Turkish language|Turkish]]
|2,128,000
|{{percentage bar|2.54}}
|-
|[[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]
|217,000
|{{percentage bar|0.26}}
|-
|[[Urdu language|Urdu]]
|97,000
|{{percentage bar|0.11}}
|-
|[[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]
|604,000
|{{percentage bar|0.72}}
|-
|[[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]
|160,000
|{{percentage bar|0.19}}
|-
|Another European language
|259,000
|{{percentage bar|0.31}}
|-
|Another African language
|281,000
|{{percentage bar|0.34}}
|-
|Another Asian language
|464,000
|{{percentage bar|0.55}}
|-
|Another language
|350,000
|{{percentage bar|0.42}}
|}

===Minority languages===
[[File:Róžant – znački.jpg|thumb|Bilingual German–Sorbian city limit signs]]
[[Danish language|Danish]], [[Low German]], [[Low Rhenish]], the [[Sorbian languages]] ([[Lower Sorbian language|Lower Sorbian]] and [[Upper Sorbian language|Upper Sorbian]]), and the two [[Frisian languages]], [[Saterland Frisian language|Saterfrisian]] and [[North Frisian language|North Frisian]], are officially recognized and protected as minority languages by the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]] in their respective regions. With speakers of [[Romani language|Romany]] 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, and agreed on implementing concrete measures to support Romany speakers.

Germany is a strong supporter of the Charter, as evidenced by things like the 2022 report from the Secretary General of the Council of Europe specifically naming Germany as an example of how to incorporate minority languages in State media.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (2021–2022): Report by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to the Parliamentary Assembly |url=https://pace.coe.int/en/files/31704/html |access-date=November 14, 2023 |website=Parliamentary Assembly |place=3.2.20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=German Bundestag celebrates 25 years of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages |url=https://fuen.org/en/article/German-Bundestag-celebrates-25-years-of-the-European-Charter-for-Regional-or-Minority-Languages |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=Fuen.org/ |language=en}}</ref> Still, Germany—like many other signatories of the Charter—has room for improvement in its implementation of the Charter.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Recommendation CM/RecChL(2022)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages by Germany |url=https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectId=0900001680a91fdf |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=search.coe.int}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0.5em auto; font-size:95%;"
|- style="text-align: center;"
|+ Protected Minority Languages in Germany
|-
! Language !! States
|-
|[[Danish language|Danish]] || [[Schleswig-Holstein]]
|-
|[[North Frisian language|North Frisian]] || [[Schleswig-Holstein]]
|-
|[[Saterland Frisian language|Saterland Frisian]] || [[Lower Saxony]]
|-
|[[Low German]] || [[Brandenburg]], [[Bremen (state)|Bremen]], [[Hamburg]], [[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern]], [[Lower Saxony]], [[Saxony-Anhalt]], [[Schleswig-Holstein]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]]
|-
|[[Low Rhenish]] || [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] 
|-
|[[Upper Sorbian language|Upper Sorbian]] || [[Free State of Saxony|Saxony]]
|-
|[[Lower Sorbian language|Lower Sorbian]] || [[Brandenburg]]
|-
|[[Romani language|Romany]] || [[Hesse]] ''de facto'', ''de jure'' in all states (see text)
|}

===High German dialects===
[[File:Ortsschild Emlichheim - Emmelkamp.jpg|thumb|right|City limits sign; this city is called ''Emlichheim'' in [[High German]] and ''Emmelkamp'' in [[Low German]].]]

[[German dialects]] &ndash; some quite distinct from the standard language &ndash; are used in everyday speech, especially in rural regions. Many dialects, for example the [[Upper German]] varieties, are to some degree cultivated as symbols of regional identity and have their own literature, theaters and some TV programming. While speaking a dialect outside its native region might be frowned upon, in their native regions some dialects can be spoken by all social classes.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}} Nevertheless, partly due to the prevalence of Standard German in media, the use of dialects has declined over the past century, especially in the younger population.

The social status of different German dialects can vary greatly. The Alemannic and Bavarian dialects of the south are positively valued by their speakers and can be used in almost all social circumstances. The Saxonian and Thuringian dialects have less prestige and are subject to derision. While Bavarian and Alemannic have kept much of their distinctiveness, the Middle German dialects, which are closer to Standard German, have lost some of their distinctive lexical and grammatical features and tend to be only pronunciation variants of Standard German.

===Low Saxon dialects===

Although [[Low German|Low Saxon]] is officially recognized as a language on its own, little official action has been taken to foster the language. Historically one third of Germany's territory and population was Low Saxon speaking. No data has ever been collected on the actual number of speakers, but today the number of speakers is around 5 million.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} Despite this relatively high number of speakers there is very little coverage in the media (mostly on [[Norddeutscher Rundfunk|NDR]] TV, no regular programming) and very little education in or on the language. The language is not fixed as part of the school curriculum, and Low Saxon is used as a medium of instruction in only one school in the whole of Germany (as a "model project" in primary school alongside education in Standard German). As a consequence{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} the younger generation refused to adopt the native language of their parents. Language prevalence dropped from more than 90% (depending on the exact region) in the 1930s to less than 5% today. This accounts for a massive intergenerational gap in language use. Older people regularly use the language and take private initiatives to maintain the language, but the lack of innovative potential{{clarify|date=December 2024}} of the younger generation hinders language maintenance. The language also has its own literature (around 150 published books every year) and there are many theatres (mostly amateur dramatics, but some professional ones, such as [[Ohnsorg-Theater]]).

Use of Low Saxon is mainly restricted to use among acquaintances, such as family members, neighbours and friends. A meeting of a village council can be held almost completely in Low Saxon if all participants know each other (as long as written protocols are written in Standard German), but a single foreigner can make the whole meeting switch to Standard German.

The Low Saxon dialects differ in their status too. There is a north–south gradient in language maintenance. The southern dialects of Westfalian, Eastfalian and Brandenburgish have had much stronger speaker losses than the northern coastal dialects of Northern Low Saxon. While Eastfalian has lost speakers to Standard German, Westfalian has lost speakers both to Standard German and to the Standard German-based [[regiolect]] of the Rhine-Ruhr area. Brandenburgish speakers mostly switched to the Standard German-based regiolect of Berlin. Brandenburgish has been almost completely replaced by the Berlin regiolect. Northern Low Saxon speakers switched mostly to pure Standard German.

===Foreign languages===
English is the most common foreign language and is almost universally taught at the secondary level; it is also taught at elementary level in some states. Other commonly-taught languages are French, [[Italian language|Italian]], Spanish and [[Russian language|Russian]]. [[Dutch language|Dutch]] is taught in states bordering the [[Netherlands]], and [[Polish language|Polish]] in the eastern states bordering [[Poland]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/04/09/most-european-students-learn-english-in-school/ | title=Most European students learn English in school | date=9 April 2020 }}</ref> [[Latin]] and [[Ancient Greek]] are part of the [[Classics|classical education]] syllabus offered in many secondary schools.

According to a 2004 survey, two-thirds of Germany's citizens have at least basic knowledge of English.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} About 20% consider themselves to be competent speakers of French, followed by speakers of Russian (7%), Italian (6.1%), and Spanish (5.6%). The relatively high number of Russian speakers is a result of immigration from the former Soviet Union to Germany for almost 10 consecutive years, plus its having been learned in school by many older former East Germans as compulsory first foreign language.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}