View source for German diaspora

{{short description|Group of ethnic germans}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Germans and German diaspora in the World
| native_name      = 
| native_name_lang = de
| image            = Map of the German Diaspora in the World.svg
| population       = '''{{circa|142.5 million}}'''
(Germany: '''71,347,057'''<ref>{{cite web | website=Statistisches Bundesamt | url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Bevoelkerung/Bevoelkerungsstand/Tabellen/zensus-geschlecht-staatsangehoerigkeit-2023-basis-2022.html | title=Bevölkerung nach Nationalität und Geschlecht | access-date=November 11, 2025 }}</ref>)
| popplace         = [[German Americans|United States]], [[German Brazilians|Brazil]], [[German Argentines|Argentina]], [[Germans in France|France]], [[German Colombian|Colombia]], [[German Canadians|Canada]], [[German Mexicans|Mexico]], [[German Uruguayans|Uruguay]], [[German Australians|Australia]], [[German Venezuelans|Venezuela]], [[Germans|Germany]], [[German immigration to Switzerland|Switzerland]], [[Germans in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|Belgium]], [[German Chileans|Chile]] and [[German Paraguayans|Paraguay]], [[Austria]]
}}

The '''German diaspora''' ({{langx|de|Deutschstämmige}}, {{IPA|de|ˈdɔɪ̯t͡ʃˌʃtɛmɪɡə|pron|audio=De-deutschstämmige.ogg}}) consists of [[Germans|German people]] and their descendants living outside of [[Germany]]. The term is used in particular to refer to the aspects of migration of [[German language|German]] speakers from [[Central Europe]] to different countries around the world. This definition describes ''German'' as a [[sociolinguistics|sociolinguistic]] group as opposed to the [[nation]]al one since the emigrant groups came from different regions with diverse cultural practices and different varieties of German. For instance, the [[Alsatians (people)|Alsatians]] and [[Hessen|Hessians]] were often simply called "Germans" once they set foot in their new homelands.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

==Terminology==
{{See also|German as a minority language}}
''[[Volksdeutsche]]'' ("ethnic Germans") is a historical term which arose in the early 20th century and was used by the [[Nazism|Nazis]] to describe [[Ethnicity|ethnic]] Germans, without German citizenship, living outside of [[Nazi Germany]], although many had been in other areas for centuries.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wolf|first=Gerhard|date=2017|title=Negotiating Germanness: National Socialist Germanization policy in the Wartheland'|url=http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/67415/1/Wolf%202017%20-%20Negotiating%20Germanness.%20National%20Socialist%20Germanization%20policy%20in%20the%20Wartheland.pdf|journal=Journal of Genocide Research|volume=19|issue=2|pages=215|doi=10.1080/14623528.2017.1313519|s2cid=152244621}}</ref> During [[World War II]], [[Hitler]] forbade the use of the term because it was being used in a derogatory way against the many ethnic Germans in the [[SS]]. It is used by many historians who either deliberately or innocently are unaware of its [[Nazi]] history.

''[[Auslandsdeutsche]]'' ([[Adjective|adj.]] ''auslandsdeutsch'') is a concept that connotes German citizens, regardless of which ethnicity, living abroad, or alternatively ethnic Germans entering Germany from abroad. Today, this means a [[citizen]] of Germany living more or less permanently in another country (including [[expatriate]]s such as long-term academic exchange lecturers and the like), who are [[suffrage|allowed to vote]] in the Republic's elections,<ref>{{cite web|website=[[Federal Returning Officer|The Federal Returning Officer]]|title=Germans abroad|url=https://www.bundeswahlleiterin.de/en/bundestagswahlen/2025/informationen-waehler/deutsche-im-ausland.html|access-date=November 10, 2025}}</ref> but who usually do not pay taxes to Germany but in their resident states. In a looser but still valid sense, and in general discourse, the word is frequently used in lieu of the ideologically tainted term ''[[Volksdeutsche]]'', denoting persons living abroad without German citizenship but defining themselves as Germans (culturally or ethnically speaking).

== Distribution ==
Ethnic Germans are a minority group in many countries. The following sections briefly detail the historical and present distribution of ethnic Germans by region, but generally exclude modern [[expatriate]]s, who have a presence in the United States, [[Scandinavia]] and major urban areas worldwide. People of partial German ancestry form an important minority group in several countries, including [[Demographics of Canada|Canada]] (roughly 10% of the population), Brazil (roughly 10 % of the population),<ref>{{cite web|last1=Levy|first1=Maria Stella Ferreira|title=O Papel Da Migração Internacional Na Evolução Da População Brasileira (1872 a 1972)|url=http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rsp/v8s0/03.pdf|page=57|date=1974}}</ref> [[Demographics of Australia|Australia]] (roughly 4.5% of the population),<ref name="ABS">{{cite web|url=http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013 |title=Reflecting a Nation: Stories from the 2011 Census, 2012–2013 |publisher=[[Australian Bureau of Statistics]] |work=2011 Census|date=21 June 2012 |access-date=2013-03-19}}</ref>
Argentina (roughly 4% of the population),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.embajada-alemana.org.ar/culturas/becas1.htm |title=Embajada Alemana en Argentina |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213071340/http://www.embajada-alemana.org.ar/culturas/becas1.htm |archive-date=2010-02-13 |access-date=2025-02-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/revista-lugares/alemanes-del-volga-dejaron-rusia-y-en-entre-rios-fundaron-varias-aldeas-donde-celebran-sus-nid12122021|website=Lanacion.com.ar|title=Alemanes del Volga. Dejaron Rusia y en Entre Ríos fundaron varias aldeas donde celebran sus tradiciones|date=December 12, 2021|language=Spanish}}</ref>
[[Chile]] (roughly 4% of the population), 
[[Demographics of Namibia|Namibia]] and in [[Central Europe|central]] and eastern Europe—([[Demographics of Poland|Poland]], [[Demographics of Hungary|Hungary]], [[Demographics of Romania|Romania]],<ref name="MLE">{{cite book|title=Minority Languages in Europe|chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/9780230502994_6?pdf=chapter%20toc|chapter=Ethnic Germans as a Language Minority in Central and Eastern Europe: Legislative and Policy Frameworks in Poland, Hungary and Romania|editor1=Stefan Wolff|editor2=Karl Cordell|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|year=2003| pages=99–119 | doi=10.1057/9780230502994_6 | isbn=978-0-230-21703-4 |access-date=November 10, 2025}}</ref> and [[Demographics of Russia|Russia]]).

Distribution of German citizens and people claiming German ancestry (figures are only estimates and actual population could be higher, because of misleadingly formulated questions in censuses in countries like Poland,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lubczasopismo.salon24.pl/niemcy/post/414105,ilu-niemcow-w-slazakach |language=pl |title=Number of Germans in Silesia (difficulties with the latest census) |date=3 May 2012 |publisher=Lubczasopismo.salon24.pl |access-date=2013-01-07}}</ref> and other different factors, f.e. related to participant in a census):

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:right"
|-
! scope="col" | Country
! scope="col" data-sort-type="number" |[[Ethnic Germans|German ancestry]]
! scope="col" data-sort-type="number" |[[Germans Abroad|German citizens]]
! scope="col" | Comments
|-

|-
! scope="row" | United States
| 46,882,727 (2012)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_12_1YR_B04003&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150128195215/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_12_1YR_B04003&prodType=table|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-01-28|title=American FactFinder - Results|publisher=United States Census Bureau|website=factfinder2.census.gov}}</ref><ref group="note">This is an [[American Community Survey]] estimate, not a [[United States census]] number.</ref>
|132,000 (2019)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://auswandern-info.com/usa|title=Auswandern in die USA 2024 – Infos zur Einwanderung|website=Auswandern Info|accessdate=2024-08-15}}</ref>
| See [[German American]], the largest German population outside Germany.
|-
! scope="row" | Brazil
| 5,000,000<small>(2011)</small> to 12,000,000<small>(2000)</small><ref name="Deutsche-Welle-quote">{{cite web|url=http://www.passeiweb.com/na_ponta_lingua/sala_de_aula/geografia/geografia_do_brasil/demografia_imigracoes/brasil_imigracoes_alemanha|publisher=passeiweb.com|work=Deustche Welle|title=Demografia – Imigrações: A imigração alemã|trans-title=Demographics – Immigration: German immigration|language=pt|access-date=2016-02-12|quote=Germans represent approximately 5% of immigrants seeking a new homeland in Brazil. Over a period of more than a hundred years, approximately 250,000 Germans have arrived in Brazil. Currently, it is estimated German descendants number at five million on Brazilian soil.|archive-date=15 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715050625/http://www.passeiweb.com/na_ponta_lingua/sala_de_aula/geografia/geografia_do_brasil/demografia_imigracoes/brasil_imigracoes_alemanha|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/3/a-little-piece-ofgermanyintheheartofbrazil.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160226114236/http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/3/a-little-piece-ofgermanyintheheartofbrazil.html | archive-date=26 February 2016 | title=Ich bin ein brasileiro: Finding a little piece of Germany in Brazil }}</ref>
| 40,980 
| See [[German Brazilian]], the second largest German population outside Germany.
|-
! scope="row" | Canada
| 3,322,405 (2016)<ref>[https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=110528&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=120&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF= 2016 Canadian Census], see [[List of Canadians by ethnicity]].</ref>
|146,000
| See [[German Canadian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Argentina
| 2,500,000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cacw.com.ar/sitio/notas_detalle.php?id=NTk= |title=Centro Argentino Cultural Wolgadeutsche |access-date=2011-05-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006142933/http://www.cacw.com.ar/sitio/notas_detalle.php?id=NTk%3D |archive-date=6 October 2011}}</ref><ref name="GermanArgentine">{{cite web|url=http://www.embajada-alemana.org.ar/culturas/becas1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213071340/http://www.embajada-alemana.org.ar/culturas/becas1.htm |archive-date=13 February 2010 |date=13 February 2010 |access-date=2 August 2012|title=Argentina - Embajada de Alemania en Argentina }}</ref><ref name="Buenosaires.gob.ar">{{cite web|url=http://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/areas/secretaria_gral/colectividades/?col=1 |title=Obsevatorio de Colectividades&nbsp;– Comunidad Alemana |publisher=Buenosaires.gob.ar |access-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128203016/http://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/areas/secretaria_gral/colectividades/?col=1 |archive-date=28 November 2011 }}</ref>{{efn|Includes Volga Germans, German Swiss, Mennonites, and Baltic Germans.}}
| 9,000<ref name="GermanArgentine" />
| See [[German Argentine]].


|-
! scope="row" | South Africa
| 1,200,000 <small>(2009)</small><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/meadows/7589/intro_en.html |title=Germans in South Africa |publisher=Webcitation.org |access-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009211626/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/meadows/7589/intro_en.html |archive-date=9 October 2009}}</ref><ref>Professor JA Heese in his book Die Herkoms van die Afrikaner (''The Origins of Afrikaners'') claims the modern [[Afrikaner]]s (who total around 3.5&nbsp;million) have 34.4% German heritage. [http://africanhistory.about.com/od/southafrica/p/AfrikanerGene.htm How 'Pure' was the Average Afrikaner?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013012659/http://africanhistory.about.com/od/southafrica/p/AfrikanerGene.htm |date=13 October 2012 }}</ref><ref group="note">Afrikaners are predominantly of Dutch, but also of German and English ancestries.</ref>
|17,000<ref name="migrationpolicy">{{Cite web|url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/immigrant-and-emigrant-populations-country-origin-and-destination|title=Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination|date=10 February 2014|website=migrationpolicy.org}}</ref>
| See [[Afrikaners]] and [[Germans in South Africa|German South African]].
|-
! scope="row" | Australia
| 1,026,138 (2021)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/AUS | title=2021 Australia, Census All persons QuickStats|website=Australian Bureau of Statistics|accessdate=27 July 2022}}</ref>
| 107,940
| See [[German Australian]].
|-
! scope="row" | France
| 1,000,000 (2010)<ref>{{cite web|author=Vladimir Geroimenko |url=http://www.ling.gu.se/projekt/sprakfrageladan/english/varldskarta/eng-fra.html |title=France |publisher=Ling.gu.se |access-date=28 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.everyculture.com/Europe/Alsatians.html |title=Alsatians |publisher=Everyculture.com |date=16 January 2010 |access-date=28 September 2011}}</ref><ref group="note">This number represents native [[Alsatian language|Alsatian]] speakers.</ref>
| 130,000<ref>[https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/germany/france-and-germany/ France and Germany]. ''Ministère de l'Europe et des affaires étrangères''.</ref>
| See [[Germans in France|German French]]
[[Alsace]] and [[Lorraine]].
{{See also|Germans in France}}
{{See also|France-Germany relations}}.
|-
! scope="row" | Chile
| 500,000<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alemanes en Chile: entre el pasado colono y el presente empresarial – DW – 31/03/2011 |url=https://www.dw.com/es/alemanes-en-chile-entre-el-pasado-colono-y-el-presente-empresarial/a-14958983 |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=dw.com |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/es/alemanes-en-chile-entre-el-pasado-colono-y-el-presente-empresarial/a-14958983-1|title=Alemanes en Chile: entre el pasado colono y el presente empresarial - DW - 31.03.2011|website=DW.COM}}</ref>
|8,515
| See [[German Chilean]].
{{See also|German colonization of Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue}}
|-
! scope="row" | Switzerland
| see note<ref group="note">Depends on definition; see [[Swiss people]].</ref>
|450,000
| See [[German immigration to Switzerland|German Swiss]] and [[Swiss people]].
|-
! scope="row" | Russia
| 394,138 (2010){{efn|The majority of German Russians came from former [[Prussia]].}}
|142,000<ref name="migrationpolicy"/>
| See [[History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union|German Russian]] (e.g. [[Volga Germans]], [[Caucasus Germans]], [[Black Sea Germans]] and [[Crimea Germans]]).
|-
! scope="row" | Bolivia
| 375,000 (2014)<ref name="WorldStatesMen-Bo">{{cite web|title=Bolivia|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Bolivia.html|publisher=WorldStatesMen|access-date=16 June 2013|quote=white 10% (of which German 3%) (2001)}}</ref>
|
| See [[Ethnic Germans in Bolivia|German Bolivian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Netherlands
| 372,720 (2013)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/CCD504EA-9D41-40C2-AE28-BFB0A51C2045/0/2005k3b15p096art.pdf|title=Demografie van de allochtonen in Nederland|publisher=[[Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek]]|author=Garssen, Joop, Han Nicolaas and Arno Sprangers|year=2005|language=nl|access-date=2 July 2011|archive-date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009222941/https://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/CCD504EA-9D41-40C2-AE28-BFB0A51C2045/0/2005k3b15p096art.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="cbs.nl">{{cite web|url=http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?DM=SLEN&PA=37325eng&D1=0&D2=0&D3=0&D4=0&D5=0-1,84,102,139,145,210,225&D6=a&LA=EN&HDR=G2,G3,G4,T&STB=G1,G5&VW=T|title=CBS StatLine - Population; sex, age, migration background and generation, 1 January|website=statline.cbs.nl}}</ref>
| 79,470<ref>[https://auswandern-info.com/niederlande Niederlande]. ''Auswandern Info''.</ref>
|See [[Germany–Netherlands relations|German Dutch]].
|-
! scope="row" | Italy
| 314,604 (2011)<ref>{{cite web|title=astat info Nr. 38 |work=Table 1&nbsp;— Declarations of which language group belong to/affiliated to&nbsp;— Population Census 2011 |url=http://www.provinz.bz.it/astat/de/service/256.asp?news_action=300&news_image_id=562996|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812062733/http://www.statisticsbelize.org.bz/dms20uc/dynamicdata/docs/20110505004542_2.pdf |archive-date=12 August 2011 }}</ref><ref group="note">This number counts only Germans in South Tyrol.</ref>
|35,000<ref>[https://auswandern-info.com/italien Italien]. ''Auswandern Info''.</ref>
| See [[German-Italian relations|German Italian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Paraguay
| 290,000 (2000)<ref name="WorldStatesMen-Py" />
|
|See [[German Paraguayan]].
|-
! scope="row" | United Kingdom
| 273,654 (2011)<ref>German born only; [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/dec/14/german-born-population-uk-census Britain's German-born population prefers life under the radar]</ref><ref group="note">This figure includes children born to British Military personnel serving on British Military bases in Germany</ref>
| 92,000<ref>2008, 0.15% of UK population. [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/Pop_country_of_birth_and_nationality_Apr07_Mar08.zip statistics.gov.uk] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628204328/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/Pop_country_of_birth_and_nationality_Apr07_Mar08.zip |date=28 June 2011 }}</ref>
| See [[German migration to the United Kingdom|German Briton]].
|-
! scope="row" | Uruguay
|250,000 (2014)<ref>{{cite web |last=Amt |first=Auswärtiges |title=Federal Foreign Office - Federal Foreign Office |url=http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Aussenpolitik/Laender/Laenderinfos/01-Nodes/Uruguay_node.html |website=Auswärtiges Amt DE}}</ref>
|6,000<ref>{{cite web |title=There are 6,000 Germans living in Uruguay today and 40,000 descendants of Germans |url=http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/es/Laenderinformationen/01-Laender/Uruguay.html |access-date=28 September 2011 |publisher=Auswaertiges-amt.de |language=de}}</ref>
|See [[German Uruguayan]].
|-
! scope="row" | Peru
| 240,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.peru-spiegel.de/Peruanische-Bevoelkerung/Deutsche-Einwanderung-in-Peru.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015005717/http://www.peru-spiegel.de/Peruanische-Bevoelkerung/Deutsche-Einwanderung-in-Peru.htm|url-status=dead|title=Deutsche Einwanderung in Peru|archivedate=15 October 2017|website=www.peru-spiegel.de}}</ref>
|
| See [[German Peruvian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Kazakhstan
| 178,409 (2009)<ref name="Перепись населения Казахстана (2009)">{{Cite web|url=http://www.stat.kz/p_perepis/Documents/%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%9F%D0%9D2009_161110%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81.doc|title=stat.kz|website=www.stat.kz}}</ref>
|
| See [[Germans of Kazakhstan|German Kazakhstani]].
|-
! scope="row" | Hungary
| 131,951 (2011)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ksh.hu/docs/hun/xftp/idoszaki/nepsz2011/nepsz_03_00_2011.pdf|title=Hungarian census 2011 - final data and methodology}}</ref>
|[[Germans of Hungary|178,000]]
| see [[Germans of Hungary|German Hungarian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Austria
| Depends on definition; see [[Austrians]].
| 170,475<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/menschen_und_gesellschaft/bevoelkerung/bevoelkerungsstruktur/bevoelkerung_nach_staatsangehoerigkeit_geburtsland/index.html|title=Bevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeit und Geburtsland|first=STATISTIK|last=AUSTRIA|website=www.statistik.at}}</ref>
| See [[Austrians|German Austrian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Poland
| 148,000 (2011)<ref>''[http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/Przynaleznosc_narodowo-etniczna_w_2011_NSP.pdf Przynależność narodowo-etniczna ludności&nbsp;– wyniki spisu ludności i mieszkań 2011]''. GUS. Materiał na konferencję prasową w dniu 29. 01. 2013. p. 3. {{Retrieved|access-date=2013-03-06}}</ref>
|120,000
| See [[German minority in Poland|German Pole]].
|-
! scope="row" | Spain
| 138,917 (2014)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/10781350/End-to-Mediterranean-dream-for-90000-Britons-who-left-Spain-last-year.html|title=End to Mediterranean dream for 90,000 Britons who left Spain last year|first=Fiona|last=Govan|date=22 April 2014|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>
|112,000<ref>[https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/spain/227984 Germany and Spain: Bilateral relations] (2024-03-01). ''Auswärtiges Amt''.</ref>
| See [[Germany-Spain relations|German Spaniard]].
|-
! scope="row" | Turkey
|
|115,958 (2024)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nip.tuik.gov.tr/?value=TabiiyetYabanciNufus |title=Tabiiyete Göre Yabancı Nüfus |language=tr |trans-title=Foreign Population by Nationality |publisher=[[Turkish Statistical Institute]] |access-date=12 October 2025}}</ref>
|
|-
! scope="row" | Sweden
|115,550 (2013)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Statistikmyndigheten SCB - Meddelande om underhåll, Statistics Sweden - Notice of maintenance |url=https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/statistik-efter-amne/befolkning/befolkningens-sammansattning/befolkningsstatistik/pong/tabell-och-diagram/helarsstatistik--riket/befolkning-efter-fodelseland-och-ursprungsland/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031100742/https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/statistik-efter-amne/befolkning/befolkningens-sammansattning/befolkningsstatistik/pong/tabell-och-diagram/helarsstatistik--riket/befolkning-efter-fodelseland-och-ursprungsland/ |archive-date=31 October 2020 |access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref>
|20,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wohin-auswandern.de/auswandern-nach-schweden|title=Auswandern nach Schweden. Teil 1|date=27 December 2007|website=Wohin-Auswandern.de}}</ref>
|See [[Germany–Sweden relations|German Swede]].
|-
! scope="row" | Israel
|
| 100,000<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4076384,00.html |title=Money overcomes ideology as Israelis hunt down German passports&#124; Yediot Ahronot &#124; 31.05.2011 |work=Ynetnews |date=20 June 1995 |access-date=28 September 2011|last1=Brot |first1=Tzvika }}</ref>
| See [[Sarona (colony)]], [[German Colony, Haifa]] and [[German Colony, Jerusalem]].
|-
! scope="row" | Mexico
| 75,000 (2010)<ref>Burchard, Gretha (abril de 2010) "The German Population in Mexico: Maintenance of German culture and integration into Mexican society".(PDF)http://theses.cz/id/81fufh/104485-521182131.pdf</ref>
|
|See [[German Mexican]].
|-
! scope="row" | Belgium
| 73,000 (2008)<ref group="note">Approximately 73,000 people constitute the [[German-speaking Community of Belgium]].</ref>
|29,324<ref>[https://www.belgieninfo.net/immer-mehr-deutschsprachige-auslaender-in-belgien/ Immer mehr deutschsprachige Ausländer in Belgien] (2019-04-02). ''BelgienInfo''.</ref>
| See [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German Belgian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Romania
| {{circa}} 22,900 (as per the [[2021 Romanian census]])<ref>{{cite web|language=ro|url=https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/recensamant-2022-romania-are-19-053-815-locuitori-tara-noastra-a-pierdut-peste-un-milion-de-locuitori-fata-de-acum-10-ani-2199695|title=Recensământ 2022. România are 19.053.815 locuitori. Țara noastră a pierdut peste un milion de locuitori față de acum 10 ani|author=Bogdan Păcurar|work=Digi24.ro|date=30 December 2022|accessdate=30 December 2022}}</ref>
| 34,071 (according to [[Eurostat]])<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/-/migr_pop3ctb |title=Population on 1 January by age group, sex and country of birth |work=Eurostat}}</ref>
| See [[Germans of Romania|German Romanian]] (e.g. [[Transylvanian Saxons]], [[Banat Swabians]], [[Sathmar Swabians]], [[Bukovina Germans]], or [[Zipser Germans]]).
|-
! scope="row" | Ukraine
|33,302 (2001)
|
|See [[Black Sea Germans]] and [[Crimea Germans]].
|-
! scope="row" | Namibia
|30,000 (2013)<ref>{{cite web |date=14 August 2013 |title=Namibia Restores An African Name To Historic Caprivi Strip |url=http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2013/aug/14/namibia-restores-african-name-historic-caprivi-str/}}</ref>
|
|See [[German Namibian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Dominican Republic
|25,000<ref>{{cite web |title=Dominican Republic |url=http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Laender/DominikanischeRepublik.html |access-date=28 September 2011 |publisher=Auswaertiges-amt.de |language=de}}</ref>
|1,792 (2012)<ref name="German-expats_DO">{{cite news |last=Martínez |first=Darlenny |date=2 May 2013 |title=Estudio: en RD viven 534,632 extranjeros |language=es |newspaper=El Caribe |url=http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2013/05/02/estudio-viven-534632-extranjeros |access-date=29 May 2014 |quote=Según la Primera Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes de la República Dominicana (ENI-2012), (...) Después de Haití, explica la investigación, las 10 naciones de donde proceden más inmigrantes son Estados Unidos, con 13,524; España, con 6,720, y Puerto Rico, con 4,416. Además Italia, con 4,040; China, con 3,643; Francia, con 3,599; Venezuela, con 3,434; Cuba con 3,145 inmigrantes; Colombia con 2,738 y Alemania con 1,792.}}</ref>
|
|-
! scope="row" | Norway
| 25,000 (2012)<ref>[http://www.ssb.no/emner/02/01/10/innvbef/tab-2012-04-26-04.html Personer med innvandringsbakgrunn, etter innvandringskategori, landbakgrunn og kjønn. 1. januar 2012] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918155443/http://www.ssb.no/emner/02/01/10/innvbef/tab-2012-04-26-04.html |date=18 September 2012 }} [[Statistics Norway]], retrieved 11 January 2013</ref>
|10,000 <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Birgit Muth |first=Bayerischer Rundfunk |date=2017-12-09 |title=Norwegen: Sehnsucht nach dem Norden |url=https://www.br.de/br-fernsehen/sendungen/euroblick/euroblick-norwegen-deutsche-100.html |language=de}}</ref>
| See [[Germany-Norway relations|German Norwegian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Czech Republic
| 18,772 (2011)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radio.cz/en/article/27184 |title=Ethnic German Minorities in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia |date=23 April 2002 |publisher=Radio.cz |access-date=28 September 2011}}</ref>
|21,267
| See [[Germans in the Czech Republic|German Czech]] and [[Sudeten Germans]].
|-
! scope="row" | Portugal
|Unknown
|20,500 (2022)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sef.pt/pt/Documents/RIFA2022%20vF2a.pdf|title=SEFSTAT}}</ref>
|In addition, around 400 Germans have acquired [[Portuguese nationality law|Portuguese citizenship]] since 2008.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Portal do INE |url=https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_indicadores&indOcorrCod=0008370&contexto=bd&selTab=tab2&xlang=pt |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=www.ine.pt}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" | Greece
|
| 15,498<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/A1604/Other/A1604_SAP03_TB_DC_00_2001_09_F_GR.pdf |title=Greeks Census 2001 |access-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114090629/http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/A1604/Other/A1604_SAP03_TB_DC_00_2001_09_F_GR.pdf |archive-date=14 November 2010}}</ref>
| See [[Greece-Germany relations|German Greek]].
|-
! scope="row" | Guyana
| 13,000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cacw.com.ar/sitio/notas_detalle.php?id=NTk= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006142933/http://www.cacw.com.ar/sitio/notas_detalle.php?id=NTk%3D |archive-date=6 October 2011| title=CACW - Centro Argentino Cultural "WOLGADEUTSCHE" }}</ref><ref name="GermanArgentine" /><ref name="Buenosaires.gob.ar" />
|15,000<ref name="GermanArgentine" />
|See [[Germany–Guyana relations|German Guyanese]].
|-
! scope="row" | Denmark
| 15,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bdn.dk/SEEEMS/4.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316100649/http://www.bdn.dk/SEEEMS/4.asp|url-status=dead|title=Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger|archivedate=16 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.nordschleswig.dk/SEEEMS/417.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326122618/http://www.nordschleswig.dk/SEEEMS/417.asp |archive-date=26 March 2013 |access-date=2014-05-27}}</ref>
|15,000<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20130326122618/http://www.nordschleswig.dk/SEEEMS/417.asp {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>
|See [[North Schleswig Germans]].
|-
! scope="row" | New Zealand
| 12,810 (2013)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taonga |first=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu |title=Germans |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/germans/page-6 |access-date=2022-04-09 |website=teara.govt.nz |language=en}}</ref>
|
| See [[German New Zealander]].
|-
! scope="row" | Cuba
| 12,387
|
| See [[German Cuban]].
|-
! scope="row" | India
|~11,000
|
|See [[Germans in India|German Indian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Luxembourg
|Depends on definition; see [[Luxembourgers]].
|12,000
|See [[Luxembourgers|German Luxembourger]].
|-
! scope="row" | Ireland
|10,000 (2006)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cso.ie/statistics/placebirthagegroup.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812062733/http://www.cso.ie/statistics/placebirthagegroup.htm|url-status=dead|title=CSO Ireland - ''Persons usually resident and present in the State on Census Night (2006), classified by place of birth and age group''|archivedate=12 August 2011}}</ref>
|11,305<ref name="CSO Emigration">{{cite web |title=CSO Emigration |url=http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/census/documents/census2011profile6/Profile%206%20Migration%20and%20Diversity%20Commentary.pdf |access-date=29 January 2013 |publisher=Census Office Ireland}}</ref>
|See [[Germany–Ireland relations|German Irish]].
|-
! scope="row" | Belize
|10,865 (2010)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.statisticsbelize.org.bz/dms20uc/dynamicdata/docs/20110505004542_2.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611211131/http://www.statisticsbelize.org.bz/dms20uc/dynamicdata/docs/20110505004542_2.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Belize's top Country Markets Analysis &#124; Statistical Institute of Belize|archivedate=11 June 2012}}</ref>
|
|See [[Mennonites in Belize]].
|-
! scope="row" | Costa Rica
| 10,000
|
|See [[Immigration to Costa Rica|German Costa Rican]].
|-
! scope="row" | Guatemala
| 500,000<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cobanav.net/folk_select.php?key=7|title=Spend Relaxingly|website=www.cobanav.net|access-date=11 May 2015|archive-date=20 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120100008/http://cobanav.net/folk_select.php?key=7|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
| 7,000–10,000 (2010)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.guatemala.diplo.de/Vertretung/guatemala/de/Startseite.html |title=Deutsche Botschaft Guatemala - Startseite |access-date=7 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114074457/http://www.guatemala.diplo.de/Vertretung/guatemala/de/Startseite.html |archive-date=14 January 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| See [[German Guatemalan]].
|-
! scope="row" | Slovakia
|5,000–10,000<ref>{{cite web |title=Slovakia |url=http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Laenderinformationen/01-Laender/Slowakei.html |access-date=28 September 2011 |publisher=Auswaertiges-amt.de |language=de}}</ref>
|
|See [[Carpathian Germans]] and [[Zipser Germans]].
|-
! scope="row" | Finland
|8,894 (2019)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimates19.asp|title=United Nations Population Division &#124; Department of Economic and Social Affairs}}</ref>
|4,102 (2018)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Väestö 31.12. Muuttujina Alue, Kansalaisuus, Sukupuoli, Vuosi ja Tiedot |url=http://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/fi/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rh.px/ |access-date=28 November 2019 |archive-date=28 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128203613/http://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/fi/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rh.px/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|See [[Germans in Finland|German Finn]].
|-
! scope="row" | Kyrgyzstan
|8,563 (2014)
|
|See [[Kyrgyzstan Germans|German Kyrgyzstani]].
|-
! scope="row" | South Korea
|
|10,763 (2024)
|See [[Germans in Korea|German South Korean]].
|-
! scope="row" | Philippines
|6,400 (2000)
|
|See [[German settlement in the Philippines|German Filipino]].
|-
! scope="row" | Latvia
|4,975 (2014)
|
|See [[Baltic Germans|German Latvian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Serbia
|4,064 (2011)
|850 (2016)<ref>{{cite web |title=Migration profile 2016 |url=http://www.kirs.gov.rs/docs/migracije/migracioni%20profil%202016.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708074431/http://www.kirs.gov.rs/docs/migracije/migracioni%20profil%202016.pdf |archive-date=8 July 2018 |access-date=8 July 2018}}</ref>
|See [[Germans of Serbia|German Serbian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Uzbekistan
|3,945<ref>{{Cite web |title=Permanent population by national and / or ethnic group, urban / rural place of residence |url=https://data.egov.uz/data/6117a05996188a0f14ac917b |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=data.egov.uz |language=ru}}</ref>
|
|See [[Demographics of Uzbekistan|German Uzbekistani]].
|-
! scope="row" | Croatia
|2,965 (2011)<ref>{{cite web |title=Central Bureau of Statistics |url=http://www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/census2011/results/htm/E01_01_12/E01_01_12.html |website=www.dzs.hr |access-date=27 May 2014 |archive-date=14 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014094207/https://www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/census2011/results/htm/E01_01_12/E01_01_12.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|
|See [[Germans of Croatia|German Croatian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Lithuania
|2,418 (2011)
|
|See [[Baltic Germans|German Lithuanian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Estonia
|1,544 (2011)
|
|See [[Baltic Germans|German Estonian]].
|-
! scope="row" | Iceland
| 842 (2013)
|
|See [[Germany–Iceland relations|German Icelander]].
|-
! scope="row" | Montenegro
|131<ref>{{Cite book |last=MONSTAT |url=http://www.monstat.org/userfiles/file/popis2011/saopstenje/saopstenje(1).pdf |title=Population of Montenegro by sex, type of settlement, etnicity, religion and mother tongue, per municipalities |publisher=Montenegro Statistical Office (MONSTAT) |year=2011 |location=Podgorica |language=cnr}}</ref>
|752<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vukićević |first=Jasna |date=2023-02-21 |title=Doseljenicima iz Njemačke prija crnogorsko 'polako, polako' |language=sh |work=Radio Slobodna Evropa |url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/crna-gora-njemacka-selidbe/32281527.html |access-date=2023-08-25}}</ref> 
|See [[Germany–Montenegro relations|German Montenegrin]].
|-
! scope="row" | Jamaica
| Unknown
|300
| See [[Germans in Jamaica|German Jamaican]].
|-
! scope="row" | Liechtenstein
| Depends on definition; see [[Liechtensteiners]].
|
| See [[Liechtensteiners|German Liechtensteiner]].
|-
! scope="row" | Nicaragua
| Unknown
|
| See [[German Nicaraguan]].
|-
! scope="row" | Venezuela
|
|
| See [[German Venezuelan]].
|-
|}

===Europe===
{{Main|German-speaking Europe|Ostsiedlung|History of German settlement in Central and Eastern Europe|Organised persecution of ethnic Germans|Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)}}

====Alpine nations====
{{Further| German immigration to Switzerland}}
[[File:Ethnic Germans in Hungary and parts of adjacent Austrian territories.JPG|thumb|left|Ethnic Germans in Hungary and parts of adjacent Austrian territories, census 1890]]

Austria, Switzerland, and [[Liechtenstein]] each have a German-speaking majority, though the vast majority of the population do not identify themselves as German anymore. [[Austrians]] historically were identified as and considered themselves Germans until after the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of [[World War II]]. Post-1945 a broader Austrian national identity began to emerge, and over 90% of the Austrians now see themselves as an independent nation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gratzfeld.twoday.net/topics/Austrian+Identity/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100718120834/http://gratzfeld.twoday.net/topics/Austrian+Identity/|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 July 2010|date=18 July 2010|title=INFOpoint: Austrian Identity }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| author= derStandard.at| url= http://derstandard.at/3261105 | title= Österreicher fühlen sich heute als Nation - 1938 - derStandard.at " Wissenschaft| publisher= Derstandard.at| access-date= 2012-08-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| author= H. Lohninger | url= http://www.photoglobe.info/ebooks/austria/cstudies_austria_0070.html| title= Austrian National Identity| publisher= Photoglobe.info| date= 6 December 2010 | access-date= 2012-08-25}}</ref>

==== East-Central Europe ====
Aside from the Germans who migrated to other parts of Europe, the German diaspora also covered the Eastern and Central European states such as Romania, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic,<ref name="MLE" /> and Slovakia, along with several [[post-Soviet states]]. There has been a continued historical presence of Germans in these regions due to the interrelated processes of conquest and colonization as well as migration and border changes.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Diaspora and Citizenship|last1=Sutherland|first1=Claire|last2=Barabantseva|first2=Elena|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=9780415594127|location=Oxon|pages=97}}</ref> During the periods of colonization, for instance, there was an influx of Germans who came to [[Bohemia]] and parts of Romania as colonizers. Settlements due to border changes were largely 20th century developments caused by the new political order after the two world wars.<ref name=":1" />

====Baltic states====
{{Main|Baltic Germans}}
{{Further|Nazi–Soviet population transfers}}

====Belgium====
:{{main|German-speaking Community of Belgium}}
In Belgium, there is an ethnic German minority. It is the majority in its region of 71,000 inhabitants. [[Ethnologue]] puts the national total of German speakers at 150,000, not including [[Limburgish language|Limburgish]] and [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]].

====Bulgaria====
{{Main|Germans in Bulgaria}}

====Czech Republic and Slovakia====
{{Main|Germans in Czechoslovakia (1918–1938)|Germans in the Czech Republic|Germans from Slovakia}}
{{Further|Sudeten Germans|Carpathian Germans|Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia}}

Before [[World War II]], some 30% of the population in [[Czech Republic|Czechia]] were ethnic Germans, and in the border regions and certain other areas they were in the majority.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingprague.com/history4.htm |title=Liberation – Post War Changes |publisher=Livingprague.com |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref> There are about 21,000 Germans in the Czech Republic (number of [[Czechs]] who have at least partly German ancestry probably runs into the hundreds of thousands).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radio.cz/en/article/27184 |title=Ethnic German Minorities in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia |date=23 April 2002 |publisher=Radio.cz |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref> Their number has been consistently decreasing since World War II. According to the 2011 census, there remain 11 municipalities and settlements in Czech Republic with more than 6% Germans.

The situation in [[Slovakia]] was different from that in Czech Republic, in that the number of Germans was considerably lower and that the [[Carpathian Germans|Germans from Slovakia]] were almost completely evacuated to German states as the Soviet army was moving west through Slovakia, and only a fraction of those who returned to Slovakia after the end of the war were deported with the Germans from the Czech lands.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

====Denmark====
In Denmark, the part of [[Schleswig]] that is now [[South Jutland County]] (or [[Northern Schleswig]]) is inhabited by about 12,000–20,000 ethnic Germans<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uoc.es/euromosaic/web/document/alemany/an/i2/i2.html |title=Universitat Oberta de Catalunya |publisher=Uoc.es |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref> They speak mainly Standard German and [[South Jutlandic]]. A few speak [[Schleswigsch]], a [[Northern Low Saxon]] dialect.

====France====
In France, over 100,000 German nationals residing in the French country. The exact number is not known; some statistics indicate more than 300,000 Germans in France, but they are not officially sanctioned. There, the Germans live mainly in the northeastern area of France, i.e., in regions close to the Franco-German border (i.e. [[Alsace]]), and the island of [[Corsica]].

==== Hungary ====

{{Main|Germans of Hungary}}

Prior to World War II, approximately 1.5 million Danube Swabians lived in Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://feefhs.org/BANAT/BHISTORY.HTML |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970204103909/http://www.feefhs.org/banat/bhistory.html |archive-date= 4 February 1997 |title="History of German Settlements in Southern Hungary" by Sue Clarkson |publisher=Feefhs.org |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref> Today, the German minority in Hungary have minority rights, organisations, schools and local councils, but spontaneous assimilation is well under way. Many of the deportees visited their old homes after the fall of the [[Iron Curtain]] in 1990. Around 178,000 Germans live in Hungary.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

{{Further|Danube Swabians}}

====Italy====

[[File:Austria hungary 1911.jpg|thumb|287px|right|Map of [[Austria-Hungary]] in 1911, showing areas inhabited by ethnic Germans in pink]]

There are smaller, unique populations of Germans who arrived so long ago that their dialect retains many archaic features heard nowhere else: the [[Cimbrian language|Cimbrians]] are concentrated in various communities in the [[Carnic Alps]], north of [[Verona]], and especially in the [[Sugana Valley]] on the high plateau northwest of [[Vicenza]] in the [[Veneto]] region; the [[Walser]]s, who originated in the Swiss [[Valais|Wallis]], live in the provinces of [[Aostatal]], [[Vercelli]], and [[Verbano-Cusio-Ossola]]; the [[Mòcheno language|Mòchenos]] live in the [[Valle dei Mòcheni|Fersina Valley]]. Smaller German-speaking communities also exist in the [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]] region: the [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthians]] in the [[Canale Valley]] (municipalities of [[Tarvisio]], [[Malborghetto Valbruna]] and [[Pontebba]]) and the [[Sauris|Zahren]] and [[Timavo|Timau]] Germans in [[Carnia]].{{cn|date=July 2025}}

Contrarily to the before-mentioned minorities, the German-speaking population of the province of [[South Tyrol]] cannot be categorized as "ethnic German" according to the definition of this article, but as Austrian minority. However, as Austrians saw themselves as ethnic Germans until the end of World War II, they can technically also be called Germans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://diepresse.com/home/politik/aussenpolitik/590170/index.do?from=rss |title=Südtirol: Neue Initiative für Doppel-Staatsbürgerschaft|date=26 August 2010 |publisher=Diepresse.com |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref> The province was part of the Austrian County of Tyrol before the 1919 dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.<ref>{{cite book|author= Georg Grote, Hannes Obermair|title=A Land on the Threshold. South Tyrolean Transformations, 1915–2015|year=2017|publisher=[[Peter Lang (publisher)|Peter Lang]]|location=Oxford, Bern, New York|isbn=978-3-0343-2240-9}}</ref> South Tyroleans were part of the over 3 million German speaking Austrians who in 1918 found themselves living outside of the newborn Austrian Republic as minorities in the newly formed or enlarged respective states of Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Italy. Their dialect is Austro-Bavarian German. Both standard German and dialect are used in schooling and media. German enjoys co-official status with the national language of Italian throughout this region.

Germans have been present in the Iglesiente mining region in the south west of [[Sardinia]] since the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PVtE1FnphtYC&q=tedeschi&pg=PA200|title = Sardegna|isbn = 9788836500239|last1 = Italiano|first1 = Touring Club|year = 1984| publisher=Touring Editore }}</ref> Successively since 1850 groups of specialised workers from [[Styria]], Austria, followed by German miners from [[Freiburg]] settled in the same area. Some Germans influenced building and toponym is still visible in this area.<ref>Stefano Musso, op. cit., p. 314</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sardegnaminiere.it/il_progresso_sociale.htm|title=www.sardegnaminiere.it|first=martino|last=atzori|website=www.sardegnaminiere.it|access-date=21 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404005016/http://www.sardegnaminiere.it/il_progresso_sociale.htm|archive-date=4 April 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Norway ====

In Norway, there are 27,770 Germans making them the ninth largest ethnic minority in the country, thus constituting 0.52% of Norway's total population, and 2.94% of all [[Immigration to Norway|foreign residents]] in Norway.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kommuneprofilen.no/Profil/Befolkning/DinRegion/bef_innvandrere_land_region.aspx|title=KommuneProfilen. Statistikk og nøkkeltall om antall og andel innvandrere etter land og landbakgrunn i kommuner og fylker - basert på statistikk fra SSB|website=www.kommuneprofilen.no}}</ref> Immigration from Germany to Norway has occurred since the [[Middle Ages]]. There have been many Germans who migrated to [[Bergen]] during the Middle Ages and also during [[Denmark–Norway|Norway's union with Denmark]]. During the Union with Denmark, a lot of German miners migrated to the town of [[Kongsberg]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.arkivverket.no/utforsk-arkivene/eldre-historie--1814/innvandring-til-norge-er-ikke-noe-nytt.folk-har-kommet-hit-i-1000-%C3%A5r-%E2%80%93-og-mer-enn-det|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129221402/https://www.arkivverket.no/utforsk-arkivene/eldre-historie--1814/innvandring-til-norge-er-ikke-noe-nytt.folk-har-kommet-hit-i-1000-%C3%A5r-%E2%80%93-og-mer-enn-det|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 November 2020|title=Innvandring til Norge er ikke noe nytt. Folk har kommet hit i 1000 år – og mer enn det - Arkivverket }}</ref> As of 2020, there are 1,446 Germans in the city of Bergen, making up 0.51% of the total population, and in the town of Kongsberg there are 114 Germans, making up 0.41% of the total population respectively. The city with the biggest population of Germans is [[Oslo]]. 3,743 Germans live in the city, thereby making up 0.55% of the total population.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kommuneprofilen.no/Profil/Befolkning/Bench/bef_innvandrere_land_bench.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025221112/https://kommuneprofilen.no/Profil/Befolkning/Bench/bef_innvandrere_land_bench.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 October 2020|title=KommuneProfilen. Statistikk og nøkkeltall om antall og andel innvandrere etter land og landbakgrunn i kommuner og fylker - basert på statistikk fra SSB }}</ref> Germany is also the country that sends the most [[Student exchange program|foreign exchange students]] to Norway, in 2016, 1,570 exchange students came to Norway from Germany.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://forskning.no/senter-for-internasjonalisering-av-utdanning-skole-og-utdanning-partner/derfor-velger-europeiske-studenter-norge/351205|title=Derfor velger europeiske studenter Norge|date=25 April 2017}}</ref>

==== Poland ====

[[File:Deutsche Siedlungsgebiete in Osteuropa 1925.jpg|thumb|260px|German minority in Poland, 1925]]

{{Main|German minority in Poland|Walddeutsche}}

The remaining German minority in Poland (109,000 people were registered in the 2011 census<ref name="GUS">{{cite web|url=http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/PUBL_lu_nps2011_wyniki_nsp2011_22032012.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616192742/http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/PUBL_lu_nps2011_wyniki_nsp2011_22032012.pdf |archive-date=16 June 2012|title=Results of the National Census of 2011, GUS, p. 18|language=pl|publisher=Stat.gov.pl|access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref>) enjoys minority rights according to Polish minority law. There are German speakers throughout Poland, and most of the Germans live in the [[Opole Voivodeship]] in [[Silesia]]. Bilingual signs are posted in some towns of the region. In addition, there are bilingual schools and German can be used instead of Polish in dealings with officials in several towns.

{{Further|Bilingual communes in Poland|Former eastern territories of Germany|Olędrzy|Vistula Germans|Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II}}

====Portugal====
As of December 2022, there are 20,500 German nationals residing in Portugal.<ref name=":0" /> This number only include foreign nationals and thus excludes German citizens who have acquired [[Portuguese passport|Portuguese citizenship]] (around 400 people since 2008), as well as Portuguese people of German descent.<ref name=":3" /> 
[[File:Lisboa-Cemitério Alemão-Graves1.jpg|left|thumb|German cemetery in [[Campo de Ourique]]]]
Around 6,000 Germans live in the municipalities of [[Lisbon]], [[Oeiras, Portugal|Oeiras]], [[Sintra]] or [[Cascais]], in the [[Portuguese Riviera]].<ref name="SEFSTAT – Portal de Estatística">{{Cite web |title=SEFSTAT – Portal de Estatística |url=https://sefstat.sef.pt/forms/distritos.aspx |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=sefstat.sef.pt}}</ref> On the other hand, around 5,000 Germans live in the southern region of [[Algarve]].<ref name="SEFSTAT – Portal de Estatística"/> The German community is especially noticeable in Lisbon and [[Porto]]. Each city hosts a [[German Evangelical Church]], a [[Education in Germany|German school]] and offers German libraries. There is also a German church as well as a German school in Algarve while [[Madeira]] hosts a German Evangelical Church.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Amt |first=Auswärtiges |title=Escolas Alemãs em Portugal |url=https://lissabon.diplo.de/pt-pt/themen/deutschlernen/s-auslandsschulen/1745172 |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=lissabon.diplo.de |language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bücherstube – Livraria Alemã – Shop in Porto |url=https://shopinporto.porto.pt/loja/bucherstube-livraria-alema/ |access-date=2023-10-14 |language=pt-pt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Igreja Evangélica Alemã em Portugal |url=http://www.dekl.org/portugu%C3%AAs/igreja-evang%C3%A9lica-em-portugal/ |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=Deutsche Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Lissabon |language=de-DE}}</ref> Lisbon also hosts a Catholic German Church and a German cemetery since 1821.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Diretório da Cidade |url=https://informacoeseservicos.lisboa.pt/contactos/diretorio-da-cidade |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=informacoeseservicos.lisboa.pt |language=pt-PT}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=O Cemitério protestante alemão de Lisboa |url=http://www.dekl.org/portugu%C3%AAs/cemit%C3%A9rio-alem%C3%A3o/ |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=Deutsche Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Lissabon |language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Deutscher Evangelischer Friedhof Lissabon |url=http://www.dekl.org/deutsche-ev-kirchengemeinde-lissabon/deutscher-friedhof/ |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=Deutsche Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Lissabon |language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Monumentos |url=http://monumentos.pt/Site/APP_PagesUser/SIPA.aspx?id=23354 |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=monumentos.pt}}</ref> Many Luso-Germans have acquired fame throughout the years. Individuals of the community include [[Alfredo Keil]] (1850–1907), composer of ''[[A Portuguesa]]'', the Portuguese [[national anthem]], archaeologist [[Virgínia Rau]] (1907–1973), banker and industrialist [[António Champalimaud]] (1918–2004), architect [[Francisco Keil do Amaral]] (1910–1975) and former prime minister [[Ernesto Hintze Ribeiro]] (1849–1907). Contemporary figures of German descent include football player [[Diego Moreira]], [[Eurovision Song Contest|Eurovision song contest]] winner [[Salvador Sobral]], surfer [[Nic von Rupp]], actresses [[Catarina Wallenstein]] and [[Vera Kolodzig]], and tennis player [[Maria João Koehler]]. Amongst the most notable Luso-Germans there is undoubtedly [[João Frederico Ludovice]], who was commissioned the project for the [[Mafra National Palace]] in 1711.

==== Romania ====

{{Main|Germans of Romania}}

{{Further|Transylvanian Saxons|Transylvanian Landler|Banat Swabians|Sathmar Swabians|Bukovina Germans|Zipser Germans|Regat Germans|Dobrujan Germans|Bessarabia Germans|Deportation of Germans from Romania after World War II}}

As of 2022, according to the [[2021 Romanian census|Romanian Census]], there were circa 22,900 ethnic Germans recorded in Romania.

Since the [[High Middle Ages]], the territory of present-day Romania has been continuously inhabited by German-speaking groups, firstly by Transylvanian Saxons then, gradually, by other immigrant groups of ethnic German origin. They are all politically represented by the [[Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania]] (FDGR/DFDR).

====Spain====

There are 138,917 residents of German descent living in Spain in 2014, and
112,000 German citizens. Settlement of German-speaking settlers began during Middle Ages, an example is the Preysler family, with ancestors moved to Spain from Austria and was involved in the trading of Austrian bred horses being brought to Spain in the mid-19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/preyslerphil/FamilyTree.pdf|title=Preysler Family|publisher=www.geocities.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327010919/http://www.geocities.com/preyslerphil/FamilyTree.pdf|archive-date=March 27, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Before World War II broke out, [[sudeten Germans|Sudeten German]] Prince Maximilian Eugene of Hohenlohe-Langenburg decided to take refuge in Spain. Similarly, after the war, all of his assets were confiscated through the Beneš Decrees. However, the fortune of his wife's family prevented him from falling out of favor. In Spain, one of his sons, [[Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg|Prince Alfonso]], founded the [[Marbella Club Hotel]], thus beginning the Marbella Golden Mile, which he catapulted as a destination for international luxury tourism, which since then has generated great wealth for Spain.

====Sweden====
{{Main|Germans in Sweden}}
During the 11th century, Sweden was visited by missionaries from Germany. During the Middle Ages, Hanseatic merchants had a great influence on Swedish trade and also the Swedish language. According to a survey, the proportion of German loanwords in Swedish is 24–30 percent (slightly depending on how you calculate). During the period of great power, a number of German congregations were formed in Sweden. Including Karlskrona German parish, which then became part of Karlskrona Admiralty parish. Today, there are two more active German congregations in Sweden. They are part of the parishes of the Church of Sweden, the German Christinae parish and the German St. Gertrude's parish consists of German citizens or Swedes of German origin.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

In connection with the two world wars, several German children of war came to Sweden. Between the late 1940s and early 1990s, many East German refugees also came to Sweden. On 31 December 2014, there were 49,359 people in Sweden who were born in Germany, of whom 23,195 were men (47.0%) and 26,164 women (53.0%).{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} The corresponding figure for 31 December 2000 was 38,155, of which 16,965 men (44.5%) and 21,190 women (55.5%). There were 28,172 people in Sweden with German citizenship. In 2019, according to Statistics Sweden, German immigrants together with the Chinese were the most highly educated who migrate to Sweden, with a proportion of 70 per cent who are highly educated, which is well above the average for Sweden's population which is 30 per cent.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} Around 29,505 German Citizens living in [https://www.wohin-auswandern.de/auswandern-nach-schweden Sweden in 2020].

====United Kingdom====
{{Main|Germans in the United Kingdom}}
In the United Kingdom, a German-Briton ethnic group of around 300,000 exists. Some are descended from 19th-century immigrants. Others are 20th-century immigrants and their descendants, and others are [[World War II]] [[prisoners of war]] held in Great Britain who decided to stay there. Others arrived as spouses of English soldiers from post-war marriages in Germany, when the British were occupying forces. Many of the more recent immigrants have settled in the [[London]] and southeast part of England, in particular, [[London Borough of Richmond upon Thames|Richmond]] (South West London).

The [[British royal family]] are partially descended from German monarchs.

Due to [[Brexit]], the number of Germans in the UK has declined significantly. In 2021, there were only 135,000 Germans in the UK.<ref>{{Cite web|title=German nationals population UK 2021|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1061601/german-population-in-united-kingdom/|access-date=2022-02-15|website=Statista|language=en}}</ref>

===Africa===
[[File:NamibiaDeutscheSprache.jpg|thumb|Examples of German language signage in Namibia]]
During the long decline of the Roman Empire and the ensuing great migrations Germanic tribes such as the [[Vandals]] (who sacked Rome) migrated into [[North Africa]] and settled mainly in the lands corresponding to modern [[Tunisia]] and northeastern [[Algeria]]. While it is likely that some of the people living there at present are descended from these Germanic peoples, they did not leave visible cultural traces.

====Cameroon====
The first German trading post in the Duala area on the Kamerun River delta was established in 1868 by the Hamburg trading company [[:de:Carl Woermann|C. Woermann]]. The firm's agent in Gabon, Johannes Thormählen, expanded activities to the Kamerun River delta. In 1874, together with the Woermann agent in Liberia, Wilhelm Jantzen, the two merchants founded their own company, Jantzen & Thormählen there. At the outbreak of World War I, French, Belgian and British troops invaded the German colony in 1914 and fully occupied it during the Kamerun campaign. The last German fort to surrender was the one at Mora in the north of the colony in 1916. Following Germany's defeat, the Treaty of Versailles divided the territory into two League of Nations mandates (Class B) under the administration of Great Britain and France. French Cameroun and part of British Cameroons reunified in 1961 as Cameroon, though some Germans still remain in Cameroon.

====Namibia====
{{main|German Namibians}}
Germany was not as involved in colonizing Africa as other major European powers of the 20th century, and lost its overseas colonies, including [[German East Africa]] and [[German South West Africa]], after World War I. Similarly to those in Latin America, the Germans in Africa tended to isolate themselves and were more self-sufficient than other Europeans. In [[Namibia]] there are 30,000 ethnic Germans, though it is estimated that only a third of those retain the language. Most German-speakers live in the capital, [[Windhoek]], and in smaller towns such as [[Swakopmund]] and [[Lüderitz]], where German architecture is highly visible.

====South Africa====
{{main|Germans in South Africa}}
In South Africa, a number of [[Afrikaners]] and [[Boers]] are of partial German ancestry, being the descendants of German immigrants who intermarried with Dutch settlers and adopted [[Afrikaans]] as their mother tongue. Professor JA Heese in his book ''Die Herkoms van die Afrikaner'' (''The Origins of Afrikaners'') claims the modern Afrikaners (who total around 3.5 million) have 34.4% German ancestry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://africanhistory.about.com/od/southafrica/p/AfrikanerGene.htm |title=How 'Pure' was the Average Afrikaner? |publisher=Africanhistory.about.com |date=13 April 2012 |access-date=2012-08-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013012659/http://africanhistory.about.com/od/southafrica/p/AfrikanerGene.htm |archive-date=13 October 2012}}</ref>

Germans also emigrated to South Africa during the 1850s and 1860s, and settled in the [[Eastern Cape]] area around [[Stutterheim]], and in [[Kwazulu-Natal]] in the [[Wartburg, KwaZulu-Natal|Wartburg]] area, where there is still a large German-speaking community.<ref>Deutsche Wanderung nach Südafrika im 19. Jahrhundert by Werner Schmidt-Pretoria.</ref> Mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries, an estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in [[South Africa]].<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Template:German L1 speakers outside Europe|German L1 speakers outside Europe]]</ref> Germans settled quite extensively in South Africa, with many [[Calvinist]]s immigrating from Northern Europe. Later on, more Germans settled in the [[KwaZulu-Natal]] and elsewhere. Here, one of the largest communities are the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of [[Low German]], who are concentrated in and around [[Wartburg, KwaZulu-Natal|Wartburg]]. German is slowly disappearing elsewhere, but a number of communities still have a large number of speakers and some even have German language schools. Around 17,000 German Nationals lived in South Africa in 2020.

====Tanzania====
{{main|White Africans of European ancestry#Tanzania}}

When mainland [[Tanzania]], [[Rwanda]], and [[Burundi]] were under German control, they were named [[German East Africa]]; they received some migration from German communities. After [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]] and [[Ruanda-Urundi]] became British and Belgian [[League of Nations mandate|mandates]] following Germany's defeat in World War I, some of these communities remained. {{citation needed span|There is a small community of Germans remaining in [[Tanzania]].|date=November 2020}}

=== North America ===
{{see|German Americans|German Canadians|German Mexicans}}
{{multiple image
| footer    = 
| align     = center
| caption_align = center
| image1    = Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.svg
| width1    = 265
| alt1      = Map of the USA
| caption1  = Counties where German ancestry (light blue) is the plurality in the United States, 2000
| image2    = Canada ethnic origin map 2021.png
| width2    = 252
| alt2      = Map of Canada
| caption2  = People who have self-identified as having German ancestors are the plurality in many parts of the [[Canadian Prairies|Prairie provinces]] (areas coloured in grey).
}}In the United States are ca. 160,000 German Citizens Registered.
* [[Belize]]: 5,763 [[Mennonite]] Low-German speakers.
* Canada (3.3 million, 9,6% of the population), see also [[German Canadian]]s.
* Mexico: See [[German immigration to Mexico]], 22% of Mennonites also speak Low German which is not Standard German but derived from Old Saxon, 30% speak Spanish, 5% speak English and 5% speak Russian as a second language.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sl_dDVctycgC&dq=Menno+colony+in+Mexico&pg=RA1-PA94 International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: 4-Volume Set, Volumen 1] Page 94</ref> Sources estimate that there are around 15,000 German citizens and Mexicans of German-citizen origin account for about 75,000 today.<ref name=Kopp>Horst Kopp [https://books.google.com/books?id=GJadNj49S-wC&dq=Mexico+german&pg=PA318 Area Studies, Business and Culture: Results of the Bavarian Research Network Forarea] (2003)</ref> Also of note, the 'Colegio Alemán Alexander von Humboldt', or Alexander von Humboldt school in Mexico City is the largest German school outside Germany.
* In the United States, [[German American|"German"]] has been the largest self-identified ancestry group since 1990. There are around 50 million [[German American|Americans of at least partial German ancestry]] in the United States, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group.<ref>From [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-reg=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201:535;ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201PR:535;ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201T:535;ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201TPR:535&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-TABLE_NAMEX=&-ci_type=A&-redoLog=true&-charIterations=047&-geo_id=01000US&-geo_id=NBSP&-format=&-_lang=en Census Bureau, "S0201. Selected Population Profile in the United States" 2006-2008 data]  {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20200210231621/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-reg=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201:535;ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201PR:535;ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201T:535;ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201TPR:535&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-TABLE_NAMEX=&-ci_type=A&-redoLog=true&-charIterations=047&-geo_id=01000US&-geo_id=NBSP&-format=&-_lang=en |date=10 February 2020 }}</ref> including various groups such as the [[Pennsylvania Dutch]]. Of these, 23 million are of German ancestry alone ("single ancestry"), and another 27 million are of partial German ancestry, making them the largest group in the United States, followed by the Irish. Of those who claim partial ancestry, 22 million identify their primary ancestry ("first ancestry") as German. The 22 million Americans of primarily German ancestry are by far the largest part of the German diaspora, a figure equal to over a quarter of the population of Germany itself. Germans form just under half the population in the [[Upper Midwest]].<ref>[http://home.earthlink.net/~tricentennialfoundation/census.html Who's Counting? The 1990 Census of German-Americans] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041009202528/http://home.earthlink.net/~tricentennialfoundation/census.html |date=9 October 2004 }}. On the site of The Tricentennial Foundation German American Community Service. Accessed 12 February 2006.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19990902203620/http://www.census.gov/statab/USA98/dd-an.txt Contents of ANCESTRY Table] on the site of the [[United States Census Bureau]]. Accessed 12 February 2006.</ref>
* [[Central America]]: In 1940, there were 16,000 Germans living in Central America; half of them in [[Guatemala]], and most of the remainder were established in [[Costa Rica]] and a few in Nicaragua.<ref name=Schoonover>{{cite book |title=Hitler's Man in Havana: Heinz Luning and Nazi Espionage in Latin America |date=2008 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=United States of America |isbn=978-0-8131-2501-5 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CojTWMNxso4C&q=Paraguay%20Chile%20Argentina%20German%20migration%20South%20America&pg=PA35 |author=Thomas Schoonover |access-date=27 May 2014}}</ref>

===South America===
{{see| German Brazilians|German Argentines|German Chileans|German Uruguayans|Germans in Paraguay|German Bolivians|German Peruvians|German Venezuelans}}

[[File:Oktoberfest VGBelgrano.jpg|thumb|right|[[German Argentine]]s celebrate [[Oktoberfest]] in [[Villa General Belgrano]].]]
[[File:Maps of German colonies in southern Brazil.jpg|thumb|right|German population in Southern Brazil:
{{legend|#FFFEC3|Less than 1% of population ([[Uruguay]])}}
{{legend|#FFF92F|Between 1 – 5% of population ([[State of São Paulo]])}}
{{legend|#FE8E5E|Between 5 – 10% of population ([[State of Paraná]])}}
{{legend|#D0B0B1|Between 10 – 25% of population (State of [[Rio Grande do Sul]])}}
{{legend|#DDA13F|Around 35% of population (State of [[Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina]])}}
]]
[[File:1951 settler families.JPG|thumb|upright|300 px|German settlers in [[Aysén Region]], Chile in 1951.]]
[[File:San Ignacio.jpg|thumb|right|Mennonites in [[San Ignacio, Paraguay|San Ignacio]], Paraguay]]

* Argentina: Those of German ancestry constitute about 8% of the Argentine population&nbsp;— over 3 million&nbsp;— most of them [[Volga Germans]] alone&nbsp;— about 2 million.<ref name="cacw.com.ar">{{cite web|url=http://cacw.com.ar/sitio/notas_detalle.php?id=NTk=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207114850/http://cacw.com.ar/sitio/notas_detalle.php?id=NTk%3D|title=CACW – Centro Argentino Cultural "WOLGADEUTSCHE"|archive-date=7 February 2009|access-date=5 March 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> There are more than 400,000 of other German ancestries including [[Mennonites]] and [[German-speaking Switzerland|German Swiss]]. These two groups are more common in Southern Argentina, and also in Santa Fe, Entre Rios and Cordoba provinces. A notable example is the town of [[Villa General Belgrano]], founded by Germans in the 1930s. In the 1960s it became the site of the Fiesta Nacional de la Cerveza, or Oktoberfest, which has become a major attraction in Argentina.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elsitiodelavilla.com/oktoberfest/historia.htm |title=Fiesta de La Cerveza – Oktoberfest Argentina – Vill |publisher=Elsitiodelavilla.com |access-date=2012-08-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702124049/https://www.elsitiodelavilla.com/oktoberfest/historia.htm |archive-date=2 July 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> By 1940, there were 250,000 people of German descent living in the country.<ref name=Schoonover/> The German embassy in Argentina estimates that 660,000 Argentines, or 1.5% of the total population, are descendants of Germans who emigrated directly from Germany (It means that it doesn't include other ethnic Germans who emigrated from Austria, Switzerland, Russia/USSR, etc.).<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.embajada-alemana.org.ar/culturas/becas1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213071340/http://www.embajada-alemana.org.ar/culturas/becas1.htm |archive-date=13 February 2010 |title=FUNCIONES DEL DEPARTAMENTO CULTURAL|date=13 February 2010 |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/areas/secretaria_gral/colectividades/?col=1 |title=Obsevatorio de Colectividades – Comunidad Alemana |publisher=Buenosaires.gob.ar |access-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128203016/http://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/areas/secretaria_gral/colectividades/?col=1 |archive-date=28 November 2011 }}</ref> 50,000 German citizens live in Argentina.<ref name=GermanArgentine/>

:Nazi Minister [[Walther Darré]] was born in Argentina. After the Second World War, almost a thousand prominent Nazi leaders and politicians fled to Argentina. [[Adolf Eichmann]] and [[Josef Mengele]] were among them. [[Kurt Tank]], who developed some of the greatest World War II aircraft fighters, also entered Argentina in the late 1940s.<ref>{{cite news|author=NATHANIEL C. NASH|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/14/world/argentine-files-show-huge-effort-to-harbor-nazis.html |title=Argentine Files Show Huge Effort to Harbor Nazis |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=14 December 1993 |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref>

:There are about 500,000 German-speakers in Argentina,<ref name="Handwörterbuch">[http://www.bpb.de/wissen/08937231579775312662617270950640,1,0,Auslandsdeutsche.html#art1 Handwörterbuch des politischen Systems der Bundesrepublik] (in German). Source lists "German expatriate citizens" only for Namibia and South Africa!</ref> slightly over 1% of population.

:Furthermore, a wave of Ashkenazi immigrants came after the rise of Nazism in 1933, followed by as many as 19,000 German Jews. From 1939 until the end of World War II, immigration was put to a halt by anti-immigrant feelings in the country and restrictions on immigration from Germany.

* [[Bolivia]]: There are two different German groups: the descendants of those who emigrated from Germany and Brazil (estimated in about 160,000, 2% of Bolivian population)<ref name="Lizcano-CR"/> and the descendants of [[Mennonites]] that emigrated from Canada and Mexico (at least 85,000 of them live in agrarian communities).<ref name=NYT/><ref>[http://mexico.cnn.com/videos/2012/06/07/los-menonitas-en-bolivia Los Menonitas en Bolivia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203073427/http://mexico.cnn.com/videos/2012/06/07/los-menonitas-en-bolivia |date=3 December 2013 }} '''CNN en Español'''</ref> Germans are 237,000 or 2,5% of Bolivian population.<ref name="237.000 alemanes en Bolivia">[https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/11871/BL German in Bolivia]. Joshua Project. Retrieved 27 July 2020.</ref>

:There are over 20,000 Standard German-speakers,<ref name="Lizcano-CR"/> plus 85,000 [[Plautdietsch language|Mennonite Low German]]-speakers.<ref name=NYT>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/world/americas/21bolivia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Bolivian Reforms Raise Anxiety on Mennonite Frontier], New York Times{{Subscription required}}</ref>

* Brazil: Mostly living in [[Southern Brazil]]. Brazil received 250,000 Germans between the 19th and 20th centuries. According to Born and Dickgiesser (1989, p.&nbsp;55) the number of Brazilians of German descent in 1986 was 3.6&nbsp;million. According to a 1999 survey by [[Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics|IBGE]] researcher [[Simon Schwartzman]], in a representative sample of the Brazilian population 3,6% said they had German ancestry, a percentage that in a population of about 200 million amount to 7.2 million descendants.<ref name=Alemao>Many authors. Os Alemães no Sul do Brasil, Editora Ulbra, 2004 (2004).</ref> In 2004, [[Deutsche Welle]] cited the number of 5 million Brazilians of German descent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/pt-br/as-diferentes-fases-da-imigra%C3%A7%C3%A3o-alem%C3%A3-no-brasil/a-1195367-0|title=As Diferentes Fases da Imigração Alemã no Brasil|website=[[Deutsche Welle]]|access-date=2021-01-21|archive-date=28 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128113857/https://www.dw.com/pt-br/as-diferentes-fases-da-imigra%C3%A7%C3%A3o-alem%C3%A3-no-brasil/a-1195367-0|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Hunsrückisch]] and [[East Pomeranian dialect|East Pomeranian]] are some of the most prominent groups.<ref name="Deutsche-Welle">{{cite web |url= http://www.passeiweb.com/na_ponta_lingua/sala_de_aula/geografia/geografia_do_brasil/demografia_imigracoes/brasil_imigracoes_alemanha |publisher= Deustche Welle |title= A Imigração Alemã no Brasil |language= pt |date= 25 July 2004 |access-date= 7 October 2012 |archive-date= 15 July 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110715050625/http://www.passeiweb.com/na_ponta_lingua/sala_de_aula/geografia/geografia_do_brasil/demografia_imigracoes/brasil_imigracoes_alemanha |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lerncafe.de/aus-der-welt-1142/articles/pommern-in-brasilien.html|title=Pommern in Brasilien - LernCafe – Online-Journal zur allgemeinen Weiterbildung|website=www.lerncafe.de|access-date=7 November 2017|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010211638/http://www.lerncafe.de/aus-der-welt-1142/articles/pommern-in-brasilien.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
:By 1940, the German diaspora in Brazil amounted about a million.<ref name=Schoonover/>
:Around 14,000 German Citizens Registered in Brazil.
:There are 3 million German-speakers in Brazil,<ref name="Handwörterbuch" /> slightly over 1.5% of population.

* [[Chile]]: The German-Chilean Chamber of Commerce estimated at 500,000 the descendants of Germans, about 3% of the total population of Chile estimated at 16 million (in the same source),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.de/alemanes-en-chile-entre-el-pasado-colono-y-el-presente-empresarial/a-14958983-1| publisher=Deustche-Welle|date=31 March 2011|access-date=11 November 2012 |author=Luna Bolivar Manaut |title=Alemanes en Chile: entre el pasado colono y el presente empresarial |language=es}}</ref> mostly living in [[zona Sur|South Chile]]. Most of German settlers migrated from [[southern Germany|south Germany]], particularly from traditionally Catholic [[Bavaria]], [[Baden]] and the [[Rhineland]]; another group is Sudeten Germans from present-day [[Czech Republic]]; even included were [[Alsatian dialect|Alsatians]] and [[Poles (people)|Poles]] thru [[Partitions of Poland]]. German Chileans speak a local dialect called [[german dialects#Chilean German|Lagunen-Deutsch]]. There are 40,000 Standard German-speakers.<ref name=autogenerated2>[http://www.bpb.de/nachschlagen/lexika/handwoerterbuch-politisches-system/40236/auslandsdeutsche?p=1 Handwörterbuch des politischen Systems der Bundesrepublik] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405003410/http://www.bpb.de/nachschlagen/lexika/handwoerterbuch-politisches-system/40236/auslandsdeutsche?p=1 |date=5 April 2013 }} (in German).</ref>
* [[Ecuador]]: Ecuador has only few people of German descent. Notable is a small German population on the Island of [[Floreana]] ([[Galapagos]]): Between 1929 and circa 1950, roughly half a dozen [[Simple living|''Aussteiger'']]s were living on the Island. In 1934 three of them died under unclear circumstances, these events caused international media attention called ''Galapagos-affair''. Today, the descendants of the Floreana-Germans have been assimilated into the local Ecuadorian population or re-immigrated to Germany.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/kriminalitaet/mord-auf-den-galapagos-hoelle-paradies-13018689.html|title=Mord auf den Galápagos: Hölle Paradies|date=5 July 2014|website=FAZ.NET}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://calnative.com/stories/n_ghosts.htm|title=Galapagos Tours: Ghosts of the Galapagos|website=calnative.com}}</ref>
* [[Paraguay]] : 166,000 Standard German-speakers (including 18,000 Mennonites, who don't speak ''Plattdeutsch'' or ''Mennonite Low German''), most Germans in Paraguay are of Brazilian descent and Portuguese speakers;<ref name="Lizcano-CR">{{cite web|url=http://convergencia.uaemex.mx/rev38/38pdf/LIZCANO.pdf |title=Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI |language=es |page=188 |access-date=12 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130626010236/http://convergencia.uaemex.mx/rev38/38pdf/LIZCANO.pdf |archive-date=26 June 2013}}</ref> plus 20,000 [[Plautdietsch language|Mennonite Low German]], spoken by Mennonites who live in [[Chaco Department|Chaco]] and Eastern Paraguay<ref name="Lizcano-CR"/> The [[Mennonites in Paraguay|Mennonites emigrated to Paraguay]] from [[Chihuahua State]] (in Mexico), the [[Soviet Union]], Canada, and Bolivia.<ref name=Mennonite>{{cite web|url=http://www.hshs.mb.ca/mennonite_old_colony_vision.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040716070837/http://www.hshs.mb.ca/mennonite_old_colony_vision.pdf|archive-date=2004-07-16|title=The Mennonite Old Colony Vision: ''Under siege in Mexico and the Canadian Connection''|access-date=2007-05-30}}</ref><ref name=Kuxi>{{cite web|url=http://www.kuwi.europa-uni.de/de/lehrstuhl/sw/sw1/mitarbeiter/rosenberg/lateinam.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102170531/http://www.kuwi.europa-uni.de/de/lehrstuhl/sw/sw1/mitarbeiter/rosenberg/lateinam.pdf |archive-date=2 November 2012|title=Deutsche Minderheiten in Lateinamerika |first=Peter |last=Rosenberg |access-date=2012-11-11}}</ref> Non-Mennonites German emigrated to Paraguay mainly from Brazil, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the German Empire.<ref name=Kuxi/>

:Those of German ancestry are 290,000, or 4.4% of Paraguayan population.<ref name=WorldStatesMen-Py>{{cite web|title=Paraguay|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Paraguay.html|publisher=WorldStatesMen|access-date=16 June 2013|quote=Ethnic groups: mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian) 85.6%, white 9.3% (of which German 4.4%, Latin American 3.4%), Amerindian 1.8%, black 1%, other 2.3% (2000)}}</ref>

* [[Peru]]: The communities of [[Oxapampa]], [[Pozuzo District|Pozuzo]], and [[Villa Rica District|Villa Rica]] in the high jungles of the Peruvian Amazon basin were settled in the middle of the 19th century by Austrian and Prussian immigrants. Many of its present-day inhabitants speak German<ref>{{cite web|author=Erwin Dopf |url=http://www.espejodelperu.com.pe/ca/per-ale/index.htm |title=Peruano-alemán |publisher=Espejodelperu.com.pe |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref> In the 18th century, German immigrants settled the areas of [[Tingo Maria]], [[Tarapoto]], [[Moyobamba]], and the [[Amazonas (Peruvian department)|Amazonas Department]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://riie.com.pe/?a=37129 |title=POZUZO. Historia – caractersiticas generales – Antecedentes Caminos y vias :: antecedentes historicos clima flora y fauna posuso pozuso posuzo |publisher=Riie.com.pe |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref> German immigrants largely settled in [[Lima]], and to a lesser extent [[Arequipa]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://espejodelperu.com.pe/ca/per-ale/Huellas/Monumento.htm|title=Monumento|first=Erwin|last=Dopf|website=espejodelperu.com.pe}}</ref>
* [[Uruguay]]: By 1940, there were 50,000 Germans living in the country.<ref name=Schoonover/>
* [[Venezuela]]:

{{Main|Colonia Tovar}}

===Asia===
{{further|German colonial empire|List of former German colonies}}

In Japan, during the [[Meiji period]] (1868–1912), many Germans came to work in Japan as advisors to the new government. Despite Japan's isolationism and geographic distance, there have been a few [[:Category:German expatriates in Japan|Germans in Japan]], since Germany's and Japan's fairly parallel modernization made Germans ideal ''[[Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan|O-yatoi gaikokujin]]''. (See also [[Germany–Japan relations]]) In South Korea, there are [[Germans in Korea]]. In China, the German trading colony of [[Jiaozhou Bay]] in what is now [[Qingdao]] existed until 1914, and did not leave much more than breweries, including [[Tsingtao Brewery]].{{citation needed span|text=Smaller numbers of ethnic Germans immigrated in the former Southeast Asian territories of [[Malaysia]] (British), [[Indonesia]] (Dutch) and the [[Philippines]] (American) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.|date=June 2009}}
In Indonesia, some of them became well-known figures in history, such as [[C.G.C. Reinwardt]] (founder and first director of [[Bogor Botanical Garden]]), [[Walter Spies]] (German of Russian origin, who became the artist that made [[Bali]] known to the world), and [[Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn]] (owner of a big plantation in the south of [[Bandung]] and dubbed "the [[Alexander von Humboldt|Humboldt]] of the East" because of his ethno-geographical notes).{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

Members of the German religious group known as [[Templers (religious believers)|Templers]] settled in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] in the late 19th century and lived there for several generations, but were expelled by the British from [[Mandatory Palestine]] during [[World War II]], due to pro-Nazi sympathies expressed by many of them. Communist [[East Germany]] had relations with [[Vietnam]] and [[Uganda]] in Africa, but in these cases population movement went mostly to, not from, Germany. After the [[German reunification]], a large percentage of "guest workers" from Communist nations sent to East Germany returned to their home countries.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

===Oceania===
[[File:Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Australia by SLA - BCP field 1096 German Total Responses.svg|thumb|right|250px|People with German ancestry as a percentage of the population in Australia divided geographically by statistical local area, as of the 2011 census]]

* Australia has received a significant number of ethnic-German immigrants from Germany and elsewhere. Numbers vary depending on who is counted, but moderate criteria give an estimate of 750,000 (4% of the population). The first wave of German immigration to Australia began in 1838, with the arrival of Prussian [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] settlers in [[South Australia]] (see ''[[German settlement in Australia]]''). After the Second World War, Australia received a large influx of displaced ethnic Germans. In the 1950s and 1960s, German immigration continued as part of a large post-war wave of European immigration to Australia.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

There have been ethnic Germans in Australia since the founding of the New South Wales colony in 1788, Governor [[Arthur Phillip]] (the first [[Governor of New South Wales]]) had a German father. But, the first significant wave of German immigration was in 1838. These Germans, mostly Prussian immigrants (but also winegrowers from the [[Hesse-Nassau]] state and the [[Rheingau]]). From there after, thousands of Germans emigrated to Australia until [[World War I]]. Also, [[German Australian]] was the most identified ethnicity behind English and Irish in Australia until World War I. After [[World War II]], large numbers of Germans emigrated to Australia to escape war-torn Europe. Manu German Australians speak a dialect developed in Australia called [[Barossa German]], a German dialect developed in [[Barossa Valley]].{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

* New Zealand has received modest, but steady, ethnic German immigration from the mid-19th century. Today the number of New Zealanders with German ancestry is estimated to be approximately 200,000 (5% of the population). Many [[German New Zealander]]s anglicized their names during the 20th century due to the negative perception of Germans fostered by World War I and World War II. New Zealanders of German descent include the late former [[Prime Minister of New Zealand|Prime Minister]] [[David Lange]]. The vast majority of Germans in New Zealand settled in the North Island, with a couple settling in the Christchurch area. Cities such as Tauranga, [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] and, to a lesser extent, Auckland have been somewhat influenced by German culture and values.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

== History ==

[[File:Bevölkerung Mitteleuropas um 895.jpg|thumb|320px|German eastward expansion 895—1400]]
[[File:Lange diercke sachsen deutschtum erde.jpg|thumb|Map depicting the distribution of the German diaspora during the early 20th century]]

From [[Celts|Celtic]] times, the early [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] settled from the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] all the way to the [[Black Sea]] until the great migrations of the 4-6th century AD.

Medieval Germans migrated eastwards during the medieval period [[Ostsiedlung]] until the [[expulsion of Germans after World War II|flight, evacuation and expulsion of Germans after World War II]]; many areas in [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]] had an ethnic German population.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.igipz.pan.pl/en/zpz/Political_migrations.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626151411/http://www.igipz.pan.pl/en/zpz/Political_migrations.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-06-26|title=Political Migrations in Poland 1939-1948. 8. Evacuation and flight of the German population to the Potsdam Germany|last=Eberhardt|first=Piotr|publisher=Didactica|year=2006|isbn=9781536110357|location=Warsaw}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=http://rcin.org.pl/Content/15652/WA51_13607_r2011-nr12_Monografie.pdf|title=Political Migrations On Polish Territories (1939-1950)|last=Eberhardt|first=Piotr|publisher=Polish Academy of Sciences|year=2011|isbn=978-83-61590-46-0|location=Warsaw}}</ref> In the [[Middle Ages]], Germans were invited to migrate to Poland and the central and eastern regions of the German [[Holy Roman Empire]] and also the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] following the [[Mongols|Mongol]] invasions of the 12th century, and then once again during the late 17th century after the Austrian-Ottoman wars to set up farms and repopulate the eastern regions of the [[Austrian Empire]] and [[Balkans]].

The Nazi government termed such ethnic Germans ''[[Volksdeutsche]]'', regardless of how long they had been residents of other countries. (Now they would be considered ''[[Auslandsdeutsche]]''). During World War II, Nazi Germany classified ethnic Germans as [[Übermensch#The Übermensch and the Nazis|Übermenschen]], while [[Jews]], [[Romani people|Gypsies]], [[Slavic peoples]], mainly [[Polish people|ethnic Poles]] and [[Serbs]], along with [[black people|Black]] and [[Multiracial|mixed-race people]] were called [[Untermensch]]en. After the war, Central European nations such as Poland, the [[Czechoslovakia]], Hungary, as well as the [[Soviet Union]] in Eastern Europe, and [[Yugoslavia]] in the Balkan region of Southern Europe, expelled most of the ethnic Germans living in their territories.

There were significant ethnic German populations in such areas as Romania, [[Moldova]], and Ukraine at one time. As recently as 1990, there were one million standard German speakers and 100,000 Plautdietsch speakers in [[Kazakhstan]] alone{{Citation needed|date=September 2007}}, and 38,000, 40,000 and 101,057 standard German speakers in Ukraine, [[Uzbekistan]], and [[Kyrgyzstan]], respectively.{{Citation needed|date=September 2007}}

There were reportedly 500,000 ethnic Germans in Poland in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=poland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011006082523/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Poland |archive-date= 6 October 2001 |title=Ethnologue report for Poland |publisher=Ethnologue.com |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref> Recent official figures show 147,000 (as of 2002).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mswia.gov.pl/index.php?dzial=61&id=37#niemcy |title=Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych |publisher=Mswia.gov.pl |access-date=2012-08-25 |archive-date=26 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926222814/http://www.mswia.gov.pl/index.php?dzial=61&id=37#niemcy |url-status=dead }}</ref> Of the 745,421 [[Germans in Romania]] in 1930,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/minor/min02.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817040031/http://www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/minor/min02.htm|url-status=dead|title=German Population of Romania, 1930-1948|archivedate=17 August 2007}}</ref> only about 60,000 remain.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Laenderinformationen/01-Laender/Rumaenien.html |title=German minority |language=de |publisher=Auswaertiges-amt.de |access-date=2012-08-25 |archive-date=17 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917200535/http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Laenderinformationen/01-Laender/Rumaenien.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In Hungary the situation is quite similar, with only about 220,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/languages/langmin/euromosaic/hu2_en.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919160038/http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/languages/langmin/euromosaic/hu2_en.html|title=EUROPA – Education and Training – Regional and minority languages – Euromosaïc study|archive-date=19 September 2006|access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref> There are up to one million Germans in the [[Commonwealth of Independent States|former Soviet Union]], mostly in a band from southwestern Russia and the [[Volga]] valley, through [[Omsk]] and [[Altai Krai]] (597,212 [[History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union|Germans in Russia]], [[Demographics of Russia|2002 Russian census]]) to Kazakhstan (353,441 [[Germans of Kazakhstan|Germans in Kazakhstan]], [[Demographics of Kazakhstan|1999 Kazakhstan census]]). Germany admitted approximately 1.63 million ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union between 1990 and 1999.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cjms/2000/00000026/00000004/art00003 |title=German and Jewish migration from the former Soviet Union to Germany |journal=Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies |publisher=Ingentaconnect.com |date=1 October 2000 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=635–652 |access-date=2012-08-25|last1=Dietz |first1=Barbara |doi=10.1080/713680499 |s2cid=146462430 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

These ''[[Auslandsdeutsche]]'', as they are now generally known, have been streaming out of the former [[Eastern Bloc]] since the early 1990s. For example, many ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union have taken advantage of the German ''[[Aussiedler|Law of Return]]'', a policy which grants citizenship to all those who can prove to be a refugee or expellee of German ethnic origin or the spouse or descendant of such a person. This exodus has occurred despite the fact that many of the ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union were highly assimilated and spoke little or no German.

===Historical countries===

====Former Soviet Union====
{{Main|History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union}}
{{Further|Black Sea Germans|Bessarabia Germans|Bukovina Germans|Crimea Germans|Germans of Kazakhstan|Caucasus Germans|Russian Mennonite|Volga Germans}}

====Former Yugoslavia====
{{Main|Germans of Yugoslavia}}

According to the 1921 census, the German community was the largest minority group in the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]] (505,790 inhabitants or 4.22%).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/nationalreports/europethecis/serbia/Serbia_nhdr_2005.pdf |title=UNDP Human Development Report for Serbia 2005 |access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref>

==Groupings==
[[File:Keetmanshoop 1926.jpg|thumb|300px|[[German Namibians]] in [[Keetmanshoop]], 1926]]
Note that many of these groups have since migrated elsewhere. This list simply gives the region with which they are associated, and does not include people from countries with German as an official national language. In general, it also omits some collective terms in common use defined by political border changes where this is antithetical to the current structure.{{clarify|date=May 2017}} Such terms include:
*''[[Ungarndeutsche]]'' / [[Germans of Hungary]] (of the [[Austria-Hungary]] empire, 1867–1918).
*''Serbiendeutsche'' / [[Germans of Serbia]] (former [[Yugoslavia]]).
*''[[Rumäniendeutsche]]'' / [[Germans of Romania]] (one of Many Eastern European German settlements extending from [[Belarus]] to [[Slovakia]] to Ukraine).

Roughly grouped:

*[[Sudeten Germans|Germans of Bohemia and Moravia]], often known as [[Sudetenland|Sudeten Germans]] (now the [[Czech Republic]]).
*[[Silesians|Germans of Silesia]] (now Poland).
*Germans of [[East Prussia]] (the largest group), including
**[[Germans of Poland]]; see also:
***the [[Polonization|Polonized]] [[Bambrzy]] (notice that Bambrzy are not part of German minority).
**those from [[Lithuania]]: [[Prussian-Lithuanians]] and [[Baltic Germans]].
**[[Baltic Germans]] of [[Latvia]] and [[Estonia]], [[Prussian-Polonians]], [[Prussian Latvians]], and ethnic Germans in [[Belarus]].
*The [[German-Briton]] group of the United Kingdom (sometimes called [[British Germans]]), and German Poles living in the UK since the end of World War II.
*[[Schleswigsch]] Germans in [[South Jutland County]], Denmark, see [[North Schleswig Germans]].
*German-speaking citizens of the Netherlands (386,200 - 2.37% of the population), including [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburger]] Germans.
*German-speaking [[Demographics of Belgium|Belgians]], mostly in the [[German-speaking Community of Belgium]] (''DGB'' - ''Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens''), and about 1 to 3 percent of Belgians speak German.
*[[Cimbrians]] in Italy.
*[[Mócheno]]s in Italy.
*Germans in [[Slovenia]]: in the [[Gottschee|Gottschee County]], in the [[Lower Styria]]n towns of [[Maribor]], [[Celje]] and [[Ptuj]], and in the [[Apače]] area.
*the original [[Hutterite]]s.
* [[Russian Mennonites]] in Ukraine, including the [[Mennonite Brethren]].
*[[Transylvanian Saxons]] in Romania.
*[[Transylvanian Landler]] Protestants in Romania.
*[[Bukovina Germans]] from [[Bukovina]], Romania.
*[[Carpathian Germans]] in Romania, as well as nearby Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine.
**[[Zipser]], from [[Spiš]] (Carpathian German heartland) to northern Romania.
*[[Regat Germans]] in southern and eastern Romania.
*[[Danube Swabians]], including:
** those in the [[Bačka]].
** [[Banat Swabians]] in the Serbian and Romanian [[Banat]], as well as [[Germans in Bulgaria|a handful in Bulgaria]].
** [[Satu Mare Swabians]] in Romania, a much smaller colony as a result of the two world wars and the Communist era.
** most [[Germans of Hungary]] (especially [[Swabian Turkey]]).
** in [[Croatia]] (where it is a recognized minority language).
** and [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], though are now minuscule in number since World War II.
*[[Black Sea Germans]] in southern Ukraine, Moldova, [[Germans of Romania|Romania]] and [[Germans in Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] including:
**[[Germans of the Crimea]].
**[[Dobrujan Germans]] of Romania and Bulgaria.
**[[Bessarabia Germans]] roughly from what is now [[Moldova]].
*Germans of [[Volhynia]] ([[German Volhynian]]s).
*[[Galiziendeutsche]] in [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]].
*[[Caucasus Germans|German Russians]], estimated at 5 million throughout Russia, and [[German Ukrainians]], included in Ukraine.
*[[Caucasus Germans]] (also Swabians) in the northern [[Caucasus]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], and [[Azerbaijan]].
*the rest of the [[German minority in Russia and Soviet Union|Germans in the former USSR]], including:
**[[Volga Germans]].
**[[Russian Mennonite]]s.
**[[Germans of Kazakhstan]].
*[[Bosporus Germans]], originally craftsmen in and around [[Istanbul]], Turkey.
*[[Cyprus]] has a German expatriate community.

In the Americas, one can divide the groups by current nation of residence:
*[[German Canadian]]s and [[German-American]]s, the largest ethno-ancestral group in the USA documented by the [[2000 United States census]].
**[[Texas German]]s (see also the [[List of German Texans]]).
**[[Hutterite]]s who speak [[Hutterite German]].
*[[German Mexican]]s, including [[Mennonites in Mexico]] as well as many notable figures, see German-, Austrian-, Hungarian-, and Polish- subcategories of European Mexicans, esp. in the Northern states.
*[[Deutschbrasilianer]] in Brazil, whose various languages comprise [[Brazilian German]].
*[[German Argentines]] with prominent personalities and a notable German impact on Argentine culture.
**Uruguay, known for a German community.
*[[Germans of Paraguay]].
*Germans, mostly from outside the borders of Germany, in the rest of Latin America, especially:
**[[German immigration to Puerto Rico|German-Puerto Ricans]] (and a similar community in the [[Virgin Islands]]).
**Heavy concentration of German, Austrian and Swiss descendants in Southern Chile. ([[German Chileans]]).
**Peru, not many are German speakers, see [[German Peruvian]].
**[[German Venezuelans]], for example [[Colonia Tovar]] where settlers came from Baden, and [[Colonia Agrícola de Turén]] where settlers were Germans of the Bukovina Region and some Germans of Poland, in Colonia Tovar the dialect [[Colonia Tovar dialect|Alemán Coloniero]] is dramatically disappearing and losing popularity being replaced mainly by Spanish, meanwhile in [[Colonia Agrícola de Turén]] some German is still spoken.
**[[Colombia]] ([[German Colombians]]), Cuba and the [[Dominican Republic]].
**[[Central America]].

...or by ethnic or religious criteria:
* [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] - in the Northeastern US.
* [[Amish]] found in the US, notably [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Indiana]] and [[New York (state)|New York]].
*[[Volga Germans]] and [[Plautdietsch]]-speaking [[Russian Mennonite]]s.
**in Canada, (e.g. [[Chortitzer Mennonite Conference]]).
**in the United States, for instance in [[Kansas]], New York, and [[Chicago, Illinois]] where millions of residents self-claim to be German (American).
**throughout [[Latin America]], most notably in Mexico.
*[[Hutterite]]s who speak [[Hutterite German]].
*"Germania" - from the mid 19th century to after World Wars I or II, a large ethnic and cultural German presence in many towns in the Midwestern US.

In Africa, Oceania, and East/Southeast Asia
*[[Germans of Namibia]], [[Togo]], [[Cameroon]], [[Tanzania]] and South Africa, which was never a pre-WWI German colony.
*[[German Angolans]]
*[[German Australian]]s and [[German New Zealander]]s.
*Germans in the colony of [[Jiaozhou Bay]], China, who founded (among others) the [[Tsingtao Brewery]] in today's [[Qingdao]].
*Small numbers of German expatriates in [[East Asia]] and [[Southeast Asia]] (Burma, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam).
*German cultural traits remain in [[Papua New Guinea]].

==German-language media worldwide==
[[File:Legal statuses of German in the world.svg|right|300px|thumb|Distribution of native German speakers in the world today{{When|date=March 2024}}]]
A visible sign of the geographical extension of the [[German language]] is the German-language media outside the German-speaking countries.
German is the second most commonly used scientific language<ref name="goethe1">{{cite web |title=Why Learn German? |url=https://www.goethe.de/en/spr/wdl.html |publisher=Goethe Institute |access-date=28 September 2014 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=January 2024}} as well as the third most widely used language on websites after English and Russian.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_language/all |title=Usage of content languages for websites|access-date=18 February 2019|publisher= W3Techs: Web Technology Surveys}}</ref> [[Deutsche Welle]] (German pronunciation: [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈvɛlə]; "''German Wave''" in German), or '''DW,''' is Germany's public international broadcaster. The service is available in 30 languages. DW's satellite television service consists of channels in German, English, Spanish, and Arabic.<ref>{{cite news|work=DW Akademie|title=Which languages are considered DW program languages?|url=https://akademie.dw.com/en/which-languages-are-considered-dw-program-languages/a-55375791|access-date=November 13, 2025}}</ref>

German-speakers can visit the websites of German-language newspapers and TV- and radio stations. The free software [[MediathekView]] allows the downloading of videos from the websites of some public German, Austrian, and Swiss TV stations and of the public Franco-German TV network [[Arte|ARTE]]. With the webpage "''onlinetvrecorder.com,''" it is possible to record programs of many German and some international TV stations. Note that some material is region-restricted for legal reasons and cannot be accessed from everywhere in the world. Some websites have a [[paywall]] or limit the access for free/unregistered users.

See also:

* [[List of newspapers in Germany]] and [[List of German-language newspapers published in the United States]]
* [[List of magazines in Germany]] 
* [[List of television stations in Germany]] and [[List of German-language television channels]]
* [[List of radio stations in Germany]] and [[List of German-language radio stations]]
* [[Goethe-Institut]] [ˈɡøːtə ʔɪnstiˌtuːt] (a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and relations.)

==Germany's policy on dual citizenship==

Since June 27, 2024, unrestricted dual citizenship has been possible.

Prior to that date, [[German nationality law]] allowed [[dual citizenship]] only with other EU countries and Switzerland; with other countries, in some cases:

# With special permission ("''Beibehaltungsgenehmigung''"), for which German citizens must apply ''before'' taking the other citizenship (otherwise, German citizenship is ''automatically lost''). Non-EU and non-Swiss citizens wanting to be naturalized in Germany must usually renounce their old citizenship, but may keep it if their country does not allow the renunciation of citizenship, or if the renunciation process is too difficult/humiliating/expensive, or, rarely, in individual cases if the renunciation of the old citizenship means enormous disadvantages for the concerned person.
# If dual citizenship was obtained at birth. Some countries do not accept the "dual-citizenship-by-birth principle," so the concerned person must later choose one citizenship and renounce the other.
# Under Article 116 par. 2 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), former German citizens who between 30 January 1933, and 8 May 1945, were deprived of their German citizenship on political, racial, or religious grounds may re-invoke their citizenship and the same applies to their descendants, and are permitted to hold dual (or multiple) citizenship.<ref>{{cite web |last1=German Mission to the United States |title=Information on the Naturalization Claim under Article 116 (2) of the German Basic Law |url=https://www.germany.info/blob/2150888/8ad386029606c531f03512c25ead84b4/information-on-naturalization-claim-art--116-data.pdf |website=www.germany.info |publisher=Government of Germany |access-date=18 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019001541/https://www.germany.info/blob/2150888/8ad386029606c531f03512c25ead84b4/information-on-naturalization-claim-art--116-data.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A law adopted in June 2019 allows the revocation of the German citizenship of dual citizens who have joined or supported a terror militia such as the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]] and are at least 18 years old.

Naturalized Germans can lose their German citizenship if it is found out that they got it by willful deceit / bribery / menacing / giving intentionally false or incomplete information that had been important for the naturalization process. In June 2019, it was decided to prolong the deadline from 5 to 10 years after naturalization.

==Visa requirements==
{{Main|Visa requirements for German citizens}}

[[File:Visa requirements for German citizens.svg|400px|thumb|right|[[Visa requirements for German citizens]]:
{{legend|#002377|[[w:Germany|Germany]]}}
{{legend|#1191E5|[[w:Free Movement Directive|Freedom of movement]]}}
{{legend|#22B14C|Visa not required / [[w:Electronic Travel Authorization|ETA]]{{refn|group=Note|ETA required for [[w:Visa policy of Australia#Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) (subclass 601)|Australia]], [[w:Visa policy of Canada#Electronic Travel Authorization|Canada if arriving by air]], Cape Verde,<ref name="EASE">{{cite web | url=https://www.ease.gov.cv/ | title=EASE | website=www.ease.gov.cv}}</ref> [[w:Visa policy of Kenya#Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA)|Kenya]], [[w:Visa policy of New Zealand#New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority|New Zealand]], [[w:K-ETA|South Korea]] and the [[w:Electronic System for Travel Authorization|United States]].}}{{refn|group=Note|Including [[w:Visa policy of Australia#eVisitor (subclass 651)|Australian eVisitor]].}}}}
{{legend|#B5E61D|[[w:Travel visa#On-arrival visas|Visa on arrival]]{{refn|group=Note|Including [[w:Visa policy of Cuba#Tourist card required|tourist card required in advance for Cuba]].}}}}
{{legend|#61C7A1|[[w:electronic visa|eVisa]]{{refn|group=Note|Including [[w:Visa policy of Pakistan#Business visa on arrival|visa on arrival with ETA for Pakistan]].}}}}
{{legend|#79D343|Visa available both [[w:Travel visa#On-arrival visas|on arrival]]{{refn|group=Note|Including [[w:Visa policy of Sri Lanka#Electronic travel authorization|visa on arrival with ETA for Sri Lanka]].}} or [[w:Electronic visas|online]]{{refn|group=Note|Including [[w:Visa policy of Indonesia#e-VOA / Visa on arrival|Indonesian e-VOA]].}}}}
{{legend|#C0C0C0|Visa required prior to arrival}}
]]
[[Image:Diplomatic missions of Germany.png|thumb|right|400px|Diplomatic missions '''of''' Germany]]
[[File:Diplomatic missions in Germany.png|thumb|right|400px|Diplomatic missions '''in''' Germany]]

As of 10 September 2025, German citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 188 countries and territories. Ranking the [[German passport]] 4th in terms of travel freedom, tied with the greatest access of all [[European Union#Member states|European Union]] member states along with Italy, Luxembourg and Spain, according to the [[Henley Passport Index]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index/ranking| title=Henley Passport Index Global Ranking | website=Henley & Partners}}</ref>

===Freedom of movement within other EU countries and the EFTA countries===

As [[European Union|EU]] citizens, Germans can live and work indefinitely in other EU countries and the [[EFTA]] countries; however, the right to vote and work in certain sensitive fields (such as government, police, military) might in some cases be restricted to the local citizens only. The EU/EFTA countries can exclude immigrants from getting welfare for a certain time period to avoid "welfare tourism," and they can refuse welfare completely if the immigrants do not have a job after a certain period of time and do not try to get one. Immigrants convicted of welfare fraud can be deported and be refused the re-entry of the country.

===Right to consular protection in non-EU countries===
When in a non-EU country where there is no German embassy, Germans as EU citizens have the right to get consular protection from the embassy of any other EU country present in that country. See [[List of diplomatic missions of Germany]] and [[List of diplomatic missions in Germany]].

German citizens can be extradited only to other EU countries or to international courts of justice, and only if a law allows this (German Basic Law, Art. 16). Before the introduction of the [[European Arrest Warrant]], the extradition of German citizens was generally prohibited by the German Basic Law.

Germany regularly publishes travel warnings on the website of the [[Auswärtiges Amt]] (Federal Foreign Office) to its citizens. The Office allows German citizens to register online in a special list, the Krisenvorsorgeliste ("Crisis-Prevention List") before they travel abroad (''Elektronische Erfassung von Deutschen im Ausland [ELEFAND]'' Electronic Registration of Germans Being Abroad). With a password, the registered persons can change or update their data. The registration is voluntary and free of charge. It can be used for longer stays (longer than 6 months), but also for a vacation of only two weeks. The earliest date of registration is 10 days before the planned trip.

==See also==
{{Portal|Germany}}

* [[Geographical distribution of German speakers]]
* [[German question]]
* [[Germanic peoples]]
* [[Pan-Germanism]]
* [[Unification of Germany]]
* [[Völkisch movement]]

==References and notes==

===References===
Most numbers are from the www.ethnologue.com, apart from a few from German language and [[Germans]], as well as the following:
{{reflist}}

===Notes===
{{Reflist|30em|group="Note"}}
{{notelist}}
{{reflist|group=note}}
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

<!--
German-language Wikipedia entries:
*[[:de:Deutschsprachiger Raum|Deutschsprachiger Raum]] ("German-speaking area")
*[[:de:Deutschsprachige Minderheiten|Deutschsprachige Minderheiten]] ("German-speaking minorities")
*[[:de:Deutsche Siedlungsräume|Deutsche Siedlungsräume]] ("German areas of settlement")
*[[:de:Geschichte der Russlanddeutschen|Geschichte der Russlanddeutschen]] ("History of the Germans of Russia")
*[[:de:Fünfte Schweiz|Fünfte Schweiz]] ("Fifth Switzerland")
*[[:de:Deutschstämmige|Deutschstämmige]] ("German origins" or "tribally German")
*[[:de:Deutsche#Länder und Regionen mit deutschsprachiger Bevölkerung|Deutsche{{ndash}} Länder und Regionen mit deutschsprachiger Bevölkerung]] ("Germans{{ndash}} countries and regions with German-speaking populations") -->

==External links==
*[http://namesorts.com/2014/03/05/hispanic-french-german-names-in-the-united-states A global map of the German digital Diaspora]
*[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=deu Standard German]
*[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pdt Plautdietsch]
*[http://www.gahfusa.org German-American Heritage Foundation of the USA in Washington, DC]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180610/http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Collections/Onlineresources/RWWC/themes/1295/1279 Reassessing what we collect website&nbsp;– German London]
*[http://www.vgb.com.ar Sitio Internacional de Villa General Belgrano - Colonia Alemana Argentina]

{{European diasporas}}
{{German people}}

[[Category:German diaspora| ]]