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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).
Jun 12, 2018 · In 17 of the cantons of Switzerland (like provinces), German is the only official language. The German spoken in this country is typically referred to as Swiss German, considered an Alemannic dialect. In the Samnaun municipality, however, the German is considered a Bavarian dialect.
- Amber Pariona
- Germany. Germany has the most significant number of German speakers of any country worldwide. German is the country’s official language, and it is spoken as the native tongue and first language by more than 95 percent of the population.
- Austria. Outside Germany, Austria is the most widely known country that features German as its official national language-speaking country. Austrians speak German as their official language and are the most widely known in Central and Western Europe besides Germany.
- Switzerland. Among the main German-speaking countries in Europe is Switzerland. The nation is recognized as the main player in the predominantly German-speaking parts of Europe.
- Belgium. You will likely hear German spoken by the locals in Belgium when touring the country, in addition to the country’s other two official languages.
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- Austria
- Switzerland
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Belgium
- South Tyrol, Italy
- Other German-speakers
- A Closer Look at 3 German-Speaking Countries
- Pronunciation Key
Austria ( Österreich) should quickly come to mind. Germany's neighbor to the south has a population of about 8.5 million. Most Austrians speak German, as that is the official language. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "I'll-be-back" accent is Austrian German. Austria's beautiful, mostly mountainous landscape is contained in a space about the size of the U.S...
Most of the 8 million citizens of Switzerland (die Schweiz) speak German. The rest speak French, Italian or Romansh. Switzerland's largest city is Zurich, but the capital is Bern, with the federal courts headquartered in French-speaking Lausanne. Switzerland has displayed its penchant for independence and neutrality by remaining the only major Germ...
Then there's the "postage stamp" countryof Liechtenstein, tucked in between Austria and Switzerland. Its nickname comes from both its diminutive size (62 square miles) and its philatelic activities. Vaduz, the capital, and largest city counts fewer than 5,000 inhabitants and doesn't have its own airport (Flughafen). But it does have the German-lang...
Most people forget Luxembourg (Luxemburg, without the o, in German), situated on Germany's western border. Although French is used for street and place names and for official business, most of Luxembourg's citizens speak a dialect of German called Lëtztebuergeschin daily life, and Luxembourg is considered a German-speaking country. Many of Luxembou...
Although the official language of Belgium (Belgien) is Dutch, residents also speak French and German. Of the three, German is the least common. It's mostly used among the Belgians who live on or near the German and Luxembourg borders. Estimates put Belgium's German-speaking population around 1 percent. Belgium is sometimes called "Europe in miniatu...
It may come as a surprise that German is a common language in the South Tyrol (also known as Alto Adige) providence of Italy. The population of this area is about half a million, and census data shows about 62 percent of the residents speak German. Second, comes Italian. The remainder speaks Ladin or another language.
Most of the other German-speakers in Europe are scattered across eastern Europe in former Germanic areas of countries such as Poland, Romania, and Russia. (Johnny Weissmuller, of the 1930s-'40s "Tarzan" movies and Olympic fame, was born to German-speaking parents in what is now Romania.) A few other German-speaking regions are in Germany's former c...
Now let's concentrate on Austria, Germany, and Switzerland — and have a short German lesson in the process. Austria is the Latin (and English) term for Österreich, literally the "eastern realm." (We'll talk about those two dots over the O, called umlauts, later.) Vienna is the capital city. In German: Wien ist die Hauptstadt.(See the pronunciation ...
The German Umlaut, the two dots sometimes placed over the German vowels a, o and u (as in Österreich), is a critical element in German spelling. The umlauted vowels ä, ö, and ü (and their capitalized equivalents Ä, Ö, Ü) are actually a shortened form for ae, oe and ue, respectively. At one time, the e was placed above the vowel, but as time went on...
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The European countries with German-speaking majorities are Germany (95%, 78.3 million), Austria (89%, 8.9 million), and Switzerland (65%, 4.6 million), also known as the "D-A-CH" countries, an acronym for Deutschland (Germany), Austria, and Confoederatio Helvetica (the Swiss Confederation).
The six countries that have German as their official language, in alphabetical order, are: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Over 78% of the world’s total German speakers live in Germany.
Feb 14, 2020 · Around 130 million people worldwide speak German as their mother tongue. German is the most widely spoken mother language and an official language in four countries in the European Union: Germany, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg. German is also an official language in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
