"German Sprachraum": German is (co-)official language and first language of the majority of the population
German is a co-official language, but not the first language of the majority of the population
German (or a German dialect) is a legally recognized minority language (Squares: Geographic distribution too dispersed/small for map scale)
German (or a variety of German) is spoken by a sizable minority, but has no legal recognition
Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide:
Germany (78.3%)
Austria (8.4%)
Switzerland (5.6%)
Brazil (3.2%)
Italy (0.4%)
Others (4.1%)
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 is the official language of six countries, all of which lie in central and western Europe. These countries (with the addition of South TyrolofItaly) 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]
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.
Legal statuses of German in the world (see preceding image for color descriptions)
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:
Brazil (German is a statewide cultural language in Espírito Santo and Rio Grande do Sul; Standard German official in 2 municipalities and non-standard German dialects official in 16 others)[10][11]
^While several specific laws, e.g., §23 VwVfG or $184 GVG, specify German as the administrative language in Germany, the Grundgesetz does not specifically mention it as federal official language.
^"Deutsch in Namibia"(PDF) (in German). Supplement of the Allgemeine Zeitung. 18 August 2007. Archived from the original(PDF) on 24 June 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
