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Mostly depending on the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties with a disputed status as separate languages or which were later acknowledged as separate languages (e.g., Low German/Plautdietsch [1]), it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language, [2] [3] [4] 10–25 million as a second language ...
German is also widely taught as a foreign language, especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, [ 11 ] and the third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 ...
Due to the German diaspora, many other countries with sizable populations of (mostly bilingual) German L1 speakers include Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, as well as the United States. [21] However, in none of these countries does German or a German variety have any legal status.
Around the world, German has approximately 100 million native speakers and also about 80 million non-native speakers. [5] German is the main language of about 90 million people (18%) in the EU. 67% of German citizens claim to be able to communicate in at least one foreign language, 27% in at least two languages other than their first. [1]
[7] [17] German and Low German are West Germanic languages closely related to Dutch, Frisian languages (in particular North Frisian and Saterland Frisian), Luxembourgish, and English. [7] Modern Standard German is based on High German and Central German , and is the first or second language of most Germans, but notably not the Volga Germans .
The German diaspora (German: Deutschstämmige, pronounced [ˈdɔɪ̯t͡ʃˌʃtɛmɪɡə] ⓘ) consists of German people and their descendants who live outside of Germany. The term is used in particular to refer to the aspects of migration of German speakers from Central Europe to different countries around the world.
In linguistics, a sprachraum (/ ˈ s p r ɑː k r aʊ m /; German: [ˈʃpʁaːxˌʁaʊm], "language area", plural sprachräume, German: [ˈʃpʁaχˌʁɔʏmə]) is a geographical region where a common first language (mother tongue), with dialect varieties, or group of languages is spoken.
Cologne Cathedral is a World Heritage Site.. Christianity is the largest religion in Germany.It was introduced to the area of modern Germany by 300 AD, while parts of that area belonged to the Roman Empire, and later, when Franks and other Germanic tribes converted to Christianity from the fifth century onwards.