List of countries and territories where German is an official language explained

The following is a list of the countries and territories where German is an official language (also known as the Germanosphere). It includes countries that have German as (one of) their nationwide official language(s), as well as dependent territories with German as a co-official language.

All countries and territories where German has some officiality are located in Europe.

German as an official language

German is the official language of six countries, all of which lie in central and western Europe. These countries (with the addition of South Tyrol of Italy) also form the Council for German Orthography and are referred to as the German Sprachraum (German language area). Since 2004, Meetings of German-speaking countries have been held annually with six participants: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Switzerland:[1]

CountryPopulation
[2]
Speakers<-- TheRealFoodie - I have updated the "Population" numbers but have not updated the "Speakers" numbers because the sources are 10 years old. We may need new sources. -->Notes
data-sort-type="number" width="100px" Native[3] [4] [5] data-sort-type="number" width="100px" Second
84,607,016 75,101,421 (91.8%) 5,600,000 (6.9%) De facto sole nationwide official language
11,810,018 73,000 (0.6%) 2,472,746 (22%) Co-official language, as well as the sole official language in the German speaking community
9,154,514 8,040,960 (93%) 516,000 (6%) De jure sole nationwide official language
8,931,306 5,329,393 (64.6%) 395,000 (5%) Co-official language at federal level; de jure sole official language in 17, co-official in 4 cantons (out of 26)
672,050 11,000 (2%) 380,000 (67.5%) De facto nationwide co-official language
39,724 32,075 (85.8%) 5,200 (13.9%) De jure sole nationwide official language
Total 115,203,387 87,875,432 9,368,946 Total speakers: 97,244,378

Subdivisions of countries

While not official at the national level, German is a co-official language in subdivisions of the countries listed below. In each of these regions, German is an official language on the administrative level.

RegionCountryPopulation
2006/2011
Native
speakers
Notes
511,750 354,643 (69.3%)[6] Co-official language on province level; equal to Italian
Opole Voivodeship (28 communes)
Silesian Voivodeship (3 communes)
Poland250,000 ~50,000 (~20%)[7] Auxiliary language in 31 communes
[8]
also national minority language

Other legal statuses

See also: Geographical distribution of German speakers. There are other political entities (countries as well as dependent entities) which acknowledge other legal statuses for the German language or one of its dialects. While these may cover minority rights, support of certain language facilities (schools, media, etc.), and the promotion of cultural protection/heritage, they do not encompass the establishment of German as an "official" language, i.e., being required in public offices or administrative texts.

These countries include:

Although in France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as "regional languages" according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998, the French government has not yet ratified the treaty, and therefore those varieties have no official legal status.[20]

Due to the German diaspora, many other countries with sizable populations of (mostly bilingual) German L1 speakers include Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Paraguay, as well as the United States.[21] However, in none of these countries does German or a German variety have any legal status.

International institutions

German is an official language of the following international institutions:

OrganisationNumber of official languages Headquarters
3 (English, French)Munich, Germany
Unified Patent Court3 (English, French)Paris, France
3 (English, French)Paris, France
24Brussels, Belgium
European Commission3 (English, French)Brussels, Belgium
6 (English, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish)Vienna, Austria
International Union of Railways3 (English, French)Paris, France
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts3 (English, French)Reading, UK
International Trade Union Confederation4 (English, French, Spanish)Brussels, Belgium
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers4 (English, French, Spanish)Frankfurt, Germany
Danube Commission3 (French, Russian)Budapest, Hungary
European Investment Bank3 (English, French)Kirchberg, Luxembourg
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development4 (English, French, Russian)London, UK

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. http://www.land.lu/page/article/379/9379/DEU/index.html d’Lëtzebuerger Land – Beim Deutschen Bund in Eupen (02. September 2016)
  2. See: List of countries and dependencies by population
  3. http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_anx_en.pdf Eurobarometer 2012 – Annex
  4. Web site: German, Standard. Ethnologue.
  5. Book: Die Stellung der deutschen Sprache in der Welt . Ammon, Ulrich . de . 1st . November 2014 . de Gruyter . Berlin, Germany . 978-3-11-019298-8 . 2015-07-24.
  6. http://www.provinz.bz.it/astat/de/volkszaehlung/aktuelles.asp?aktuelles_action=300&aktuelles_image_id=616929 Census of South Tyrol 2011
  7. http://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/LUD_ludnosc_stan_str_dem_spo_NSP2011.pdf Polish census 2011
  8. Web site: Map on page of Polish Commission on Standardization of Geographical Names . 20 June 2015.
  9. Web site: IPOL realizará formação de recenseadores para o censo linguístico do município de Antônio Carlos-SC. e-ipol.org.
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20190330024221/http://www.al.rs.gov.br/legis/M010/M0100099.ASP?Hid_Tipo=TEXTO&Hid_TodasNormas=58094&hTexto=&Hid_IDNorma=58094 Lei N.º 14.061, de 23 de julho de 2012
  11. http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=1&DF=&CL=ENG&VL=1 Council of Europe - List of ratifications of the Charter for regional/minority languages
  12. http://www.gencat.cat/llengua/noves/noves/hm04tardor/docs/zwilling.pdf Carolin Zwilling (European Academy Bolzano-Bozen, 2004) - Minority Protection and Language Policy in the Czech Republic
  13. Web site: European Centre for Minority Issues - Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations. ecmi.de. 2015-06-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20161014224352/http://www.ecmi.de/about/history/german-danish-border-region/bonn-copenhagen-declarations/. 2016-10-14. dead.
  14. http://www.nordschleswig.dk/sprache Die deutsche Minderheit in Dänemark - Sprache – Identität und Schlüssel
  15. Web site: Deutsche Botschaft Budapest - Die deutsche Minderheit in Ungarn. 3 May 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150505041026/http://www.budapest.diplo.de/Vertretung/budapest/de/04_20Pol/Deutsche_20Minderheit/0-Ungarndeutsche.html. 5 May 2015. dead.
  16. http://www.mfa.gov.hu/NR/rdonlyres/9F2D180E-538E-4363-AA5E-3D103B522E3B/0/etniang.pdf Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Budapest - The national and ethnic minorities in Hungary
  17. Web site: Deutsch in Namibia. Supplement of the Allgemeine Zeitung. 18 August 2007. 23 June 2008. de. https://web.archive.org/web/20080624233949/http://www.az.com.na/fileadmin/pdf/2007/deutsch_in_namibia_2007_07_18.pdf. 24 June 2008. dead.
  18. Book: Die deutsche Sprache in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. google.de. 9783110147537. Ammon. Ulrich. 1995. Walter de Gruyter .
  19. Web site: УСТАВ АЗОВСКОГО РАЙОННОГО СОВЕТА ОТ 21.05.2002 N 5-09 УСТАВ МУНИЦИПАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ "АЗОВСКИЙ НЕМЕЦКИЙ НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫЙ РАЙОН ОМСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ (ПРИНЯТ РЕШЕНИЕМ АЗОВСКОГО РАЙОННОГО СОВЕТА ОТ 21.05.2002 N 5-09, ЗАРЕГИСТРИРОВАН ПОСТАНОВЛЕНИЕМ ЗС ОТ 25.06.2002 N 106). bestpravo.com. 2016-04-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20160808205416/http://russia.bestpravo.com/omsk/data04/tex17941.htm. 2016-08-08. dead.
  20. Web site: Charte européenne des langues régionales : Hollande nourrit la guerre contre le français. Le Figaro. 5 June 2015 .
  21. [Template:German L1 speakers outside Europe|German L1 speakers outside Europe]