DE
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany
Summary:
Germany is a country in Europe that is home to 84,220,000 people. It is also home to 20 living indigenous languages. One of these,Standard German, is the official language of the country. Germany was also home to 1 indigenous language that is now extinct. In addition, 8 living non-indigenous languages are established within the country. In formal education, 2 indigenous languages are used as languages of instruction.
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84,220,000
people
20
living indigenous languages
99%literateIndigenous Language Vitality Count
Indigenous Language Vitality CountBar chart showing vitality levels of indigenous languages.Details
This graph shows a profile of languages indigenous to Germany with respect to their level of language vitality.
- Institutional — The language has been developed to the point that it is used and sustained by institutions beyond the home and community.
- Stable — The language is not being sustained by formal institutions, but it is still the norm in the home and community that all children learn and use the language.
- Endangered — It is no longer the norm that children learn and use this language.
- Extinct - The language is no longer used and no one retains a sense of ethnic identity associated with the language.
These four summary levels have been derived by grouping levels in the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS), which is the more fine-grained scale that Ethnologue uses to assess the status of every language in terms of development versus endangerment; seeLanguage Status for a description of the levels of that scale. See also the pages onDevelopment andEndangerment for more discussion.
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View SubscriptionsEthnologue Country Digests
Explore all28languages used in Germany withEthnologue: Languages of Germany—a downloadable PDF document that provides detailed analysis presented in formats not available in the online version of Ethnologue. It includes:
- Comprehensive country overview.
- Statistical summaries by language status, size, and family.
- Alphabetical listing of languages in the country, with in-depth descriptions.
- Full-color language map(s) for visual reference.
- Listings by population, status, family, and region.
- Indexes of ISO 639 codes and alternate language names.
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Indigenous Languages
Families
The indigenous languages of Germany belong to the following families.
Indo-European (19) Mixed language (1) Sign language (1)
Language Policy Conventions
Germany has adopted the following international conventions which speak to indigenous language rights.