The German diaspora (, ) consists of German people and their descendants living outside of Central Europe. The term is used in particular to refer to the aspects of migration of German speakers from Central Europe to different countries around the world. This definition describes German as a sociolinguistic group as opposed to the national one since the emigrant groups came from different regions with diverse cultural practices and different varieties of German. For instance, the Alsatians and Hessians were often simply called "Germans" once they set foot in their new homelands.
Terminology
Volksdeutsche ("ethnic Germans") is a historical term which arose in the early 20th century and was used by the Nazis to describe ethnic Germans, without German citizenship, living outside of Nazi Germany, although many had been in other areas for centuries. 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 (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 expatriates such as long-term academic exchange lecturers and the like), who are allowed to vote in the Republic's elections, 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 expatriates, 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 the United States (roughly 11.8% of the population), Canada (roughly 10% of the population), Brazil (roughly 10 % of the population), Australia (roughly 4.5% of the population), Argentina (roughly 4.46% of the population), Chile (roughly 4% of the population), South Africa (roughly 2% of the population), Namibia and in central and eastern Europe—(Poland, Hungary, Romania, and 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, and other different factors, f.e. related to participant in a census):
CountryGerman ancestryGerman citizens Comments United States 46,882,727 (2012)This is an American Community Survey estimate, not a United States census number.132,000 (2019) See German American, the largest German population outside Germany. Brazil 15,000,000 (2011) to 20,000,000 (2000) 44,000 See German Brazilian, the second largest German population outside Germany. Canada 3,322,405 (2016)2016 Canadian Census, see List of Canadians by ethnicity.146,000 See German Canadian. Argentina 2,500,000 9,000 See German Argentine. Colombia 1,500,0009,688See German Colombians South Africa 1,200,000 (2009)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 heritage. How 'Pure' was the Average Afrikaner? Afrikaners are predominantly of Dutch, but also of German and English ancestries.17,000 See Afrikaners and German South African. Australia 1,026,138 (2021) 107,940 See German Australian. France 1,000,000 (2010)This number represents native Alsatian speakers. 130,000France and Germany. Ministère de l'Europe et des affaires étrangères. See German French Alsace and Lorraine.
. Chile 500,0008,515 See German Chilean. Paraguay 450,000 (2005)30,000See German Paraguayan. Switzerland see noteDepends on definition; see Swiss people.450,000 See German Swiss and Swiss people. Russia 394,138 (2010)142,000 See German Russian (e.g. Volga Germans, Caucasus Germans, Black Sea Germans and Crimea Germans). Bolivia 375,000 (2014) See German Bolivian. Netherlands 372,720 (2013) 79,470Niederlande. Auswandern Info. Italy 314,604 (2011)This number counts only Germans in South Tyrol.35,000Italien. Auswandern Info. United Kingdom 273,654 (2011)German born only; Britain's German-born population prefers life under the radarThis figure includes children born to British Military personnel serving on British Military bases in Germany 92,0002008, 0.15% of UK population. statistics.gov.uk See German Briton. Uruguay250,000 (2014)6,000See German Uruguayan. Peru 240,000 See German Peruvian. Kazakhstan 178,409 (2009) See German Kazakhstani. Hungary 131,951 (2011)178,000 see German Hungarian. Austria Depends on definition; see Austrians. 170,475 Poland 148,000 (2011)Przynależność narodowo-etniczna ludności – wyniki spisu ludności i mieszkań 2011. GUS. Materiał na konferencję prasową w dniu 29. 01. 2013. p. 3. 120,000 See German Pole. Spain 138,917 (2014)112,000Germany and Spain: Bilateral relations (2024-03-01). Auswärtiges Amt. Turkey115,958 (2024) Sweden115,550 (2013)20,000 Israel 100,000 See Sarona (colony), German Colony, Haifa and German Colony, Jerusalem. Mexico 75,000 (2010)See German Mexican. Belgium 73,000 (2008)Approximately 73,000 people constitute the German-speaking Community of Belgium.29,324Immer mehr deutschsprachige Ausländer in Belgien (2019-04-02). BelgienInfo. See German Belgian. Romania 22,900 (as per the 2021 Romanian census) 34,071 (according to Eurostat) See German Romanian (e.g. Transylvanian Saxons, Banat Swabians, Sathmar Swabians, Bukovina Germans, or Zipser Germans). Ukraine33,302 (2001)See Germans in Ukraine, Black Sea Germans and Crimea Germans. Namibia30,000 (2013)See German Namibian. Dominican Republic25,0001,792 (2012) Norway 25,000 (2012)Personer med innvandringsbakgrunn, etter innvandringskategori, landbakgrunn og kjønn. 1. januar 2012 Statistics Norway, retrieved 11 January 201310,000 See German Norwegian. Czech Republic 18,772 (2011)21,267 See German Czech and Sudeten Germans. PortugalUnknown20,500 (2022)In addition, around 400 Germans have acquired Portuguese citizenship since 2008. Greece 15,498 See German Greek. Guyana 13,00015,000See German Guyanese. Denmark 15,00015,000See North Schleswig Germans. New Zealand 12,810 (2013) See German New Zealander. Cuba 12,387 See German Cuban. India~11,000See German Indian. LuxembourgDepends on definition; see Luxembourgers.12,000 Ireland10,000 (2006)11,305 Belize10,865 (2010)See Mennonites in Belize. Costa Rica 10,000See German Costa Rican. Guatemala 500,000 7,000–10,000 (2010) See German Guatemalan. Slovakia5,000–10,000See Carpathian Germans and Zipser Germans. Finland8,894 (2019)4,102 (2018)See German Finn. Kyrgyzstan8,563 (2014)See German Kyrgyzstani. South Korea10,763 (2024)See German South Korean. Philippines6,400 (2000)See German Filipino. Latvia4,975 (2014)See German Latvian. Serbia4,064 (2011)850 (2016)See German Serbian. Uzbekistan3,945See German Uzbekistani. Croatia2,965 (2011)See German Croatian. Lithuania2,418 (2011)See German Lithuanian. Estonia1,544 (2011)See German Estonian. Iceland 842 (2013)See German Icelander. Montenegro131752See German Montenegrin. Jamaica Unknown300 See German Jamaican. Liechtenstein Depends on definition; see Liechtensteiners. Nicaragua Unknown See German Nicaraguan. Venezuela See German Venezuelan.
Europe
Alpine nations
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.
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, 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. 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.
Baltic states
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 and Luxembourgish.
Bulgaria
Czech Republic and Slovakia
Before World War II, some 30% of the population in Czechia were ethnic Germans, and in the border regions and certain other areas they were in the majority. 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). 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 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.
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 They speak mainly Standard German and South Jutlandic. A few speak Schleswigsch, a Northern Low Saxon dialect.
France There are over 100,000 German nationals residing in France. 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
Prior to World War II, approximately 1.5 million Danube Swabians lived in Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia. 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.
Italy
There are smaller, unique populations of Germans who arrived so long ago that their dialect retains many archaic features heard nowhere else: the 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 Walsers, who originated in the Swiss Wallis, live in the provinces of Aostatal, Vercelli, and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola; the Mòchenos live in the Fersina Valley. Smaller German-speaking communities also exist in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region: the Carinthians in the Canale Valley (municipalities of Tarvisio, Malborghetto Valbruna and Pontebba) and the Zahren and Timau Germans in Carnia.