Editing German language (section)

=== Europe ===
[[File:Legal status of German in Europe.svg|thumb|right|
The German language in Europe:
<small>{{legend|#ffcc00|'''German ''[[Sprachraum]]''''': German is the official language (''de jure'' or ''de facto'') and first language of the majority of the population}}
{{legend|#d98575|German is a co-official language but not the first language of the majority of the population}}
{{legend|#7373d9|German (or a German dialect) is a legally recognized minority language (squares: geographic distribution too dispersed/small for map scale)}}
{{legend|#30efe3|German (or a variety of German) is spoken by a sizeable minority but has no legal recognition}}</small>]]
[[File:Languages Austria.svg|thumb|{{legend|#FFD700|Most of [[Austria]] lies in the [[Bavarian dialects|Bavarian]] dialect area; only the very west of the country is}}{{legend|#FF4500|[[Alemannic dialects|Alemannic]]-speaking.}}''Map shows Austria and [[South Tyrol]], Italy.'']]
[[File:Karte Schweizer Sprachgebiete 2017.png|thumb|{{legend|#F7C7B5|([[Swiss German|Swiss]]) German is one of the four national languages of [[Switzerland]].}}]]
[[File:Moselfrankisch.png|thumb|{{legend|#9999FF|[[Luxembourg]] lies in the [[Moselle Franconian]] dialect area.}}]]
[[File:BelgieGemeenschappenkaart.svg|thumb|{{legend|#0000FF|In [[Belgium]], German is spoken in the country's [[German-speaking Community]], in the very east of the country.}}]]

{{as of|2012}}, about 90{{nbsp}}million people, or 16% of the [[European Union]]'s population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language.<ref name=eurobarometer />

====German Sprachraum====
The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language is called the "German ''[[German Sprachraum|Sprachraum]]''". German is the official language of the following countries:
* [[Germany]] 
* [[Austria]] 
* [[German-speaking Switzerland|17 cantons]] of [[Switzerland]]
* [[Liechtenstein]]

As a result of implemenation of the [[Oder–Neisse line]] and ensuing expusion and ethnic cleansing in post-war Poland, the German Sprachraum significantly shrank, as well as by dissolution of the large German-speaking areas in Bohemia and Moravia. Former German-speaking exclaves of [[East Prussia]], the [[Free City of Danzig]] an the [[Memelland]] ceased to exist, while [[Francization]] in Alsace and Lorraine removed use of German in these areas.    

German is a co-official language of the following countries:
* [[Belgium]] (as majority language only in the [[German-speaking Community]], which represents 0.7% of the Belgian population)
* [[Luxembourg]], along with French and Luxembourgish
* Switzerland, co-official at the federal level with French, Italian, and Romansh, and at the local level in four [[List of cantons of Switzerland|cantons]]: [[Canton of Bern|Bern]] (with French), [[Canton of Fribourg|Fribourg]] (with French), [[Canton of Grisons|Grisons]] (with Italian and Romansh) and [[Canton of Valais|Valais]] (with French)
* Italy, (as majority language only in the [[Autonomous Province of South Tyrol]], which represents 0.6% of the Italian population)

====Outside the German Sprachraum====
Although [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)|expulsions]] and [[Persecution of Germans|(forced) assimilation]] after the two [[World war]]s greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum.

Within Europe, German is a recognized minority language in the following countries:<ref name="charter-ratifications">{{cite web |author=Bureau des Traités |url=http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=1&DF=&CL=ENG&VL=1 |title=Recherches sur les traités |website=Conventions.coe.int |access-date=18 July 2016 |archive-date=18 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918164438/http://www.conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=1&DF=&CL=ENG&VL=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Czech Republic]] (see also: [[Germans in the Czech Republic]])
* [[Denmark]] (see also: [[North Schleswig Germans]])
* [[Hungary]] (see also: [[Germans of Hungary]])
* [[Poland]] (see also [[German minority in Poland]]; German is an [[Bilingual communes in Poland|auxiliary and co-official language in 31 communes]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ksng.gugik.gov.pl/english/files/list_of_minority_names.pdf |title=Map on page of Polish Commission on Standardization of Geographical Names |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-date=1 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501024600/http://ksng.gugik.gov.pl/english/files/list_of_minority_names.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Romania]] (see also: [[Germans of Romania]])
* [[Russia]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://russia.bestpravo.com/omsk/data04/tex17941.htm |script-title=ru:Устав азовского районного совета от 21 May 2002 N 5-09 устав муниципального |trans-title=Charter of the Azov District Council of 05.21.2002 N 5-09 Charter of the municipal |website=russia.bestpravo.com |language=ru |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808205416/http://russia.bestpravo.com/omsk/data04/tex17941.htm |archive-date=8 August 2016 |access-date=18 July 2016}}</ref> (see also: [[History of Germans in Russia, Ukraine and the Soviet Union|Germans in Russia]])
* [[Slovakia]] (see also: [[Carpathian Germans]])

In France, the [[High German]] varieties of [[Alsatian dialect|Alsatian]] and [[Moselle Franconian]] are identified as "[[regional language]]s", but the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]] of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/societe/2015/06/05/31003-20150605ARTFIG00157-charte-europeenne-des-langues-regionales-hollande-nourrit-la-guerre-contre-le-francais.php |title=Charte européenne des langues régionales : Hollande nourrit la guerre contre le français |trans-title=European Charter for Regional Languages: Hollande fuels the war against French |website=lefigaro.fr |date=5 June 2015 |access-date=18 July 2016 |archive-date=9 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109035907/http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/societe/2015/06/05/31003-20150605ARTFIG00157-charte-europeenne-des-langues-regionales-hollande-nourrit-la-guerre-contre-le-francais.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the [[Baltic states]] of [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], and [[Lithuania]], there are still around 8,000 members of the German minority ([[Baltic Germans]], East Prussians, and [[Russian Germans]]) who speak Standard German and, to some extent, Low German. For Estonia, the number is estimated quite precisely at under 2,000 (in 2000: 1,870), for Latvia at just over 3,000 (in 2004: 3,311), and also for Lithuania at just over 3,000.<ref>gemäß {{Webarchive |url=http://www.stat.gov.lt/en/pages/view/?id=1763&PHPSESSID=756a5976f2c9cff73b1a04144e501d58 |text=stat.gov.lt |archive-is=20120924}} – zur regionalen Verteilung 2001.</ref>

In 2010, 394,000 Germans lived in [[Russia]], some of whom spoke German. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Russian Germans immigrated to Germany.