German (Deutsch) is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. It is spoken by approximately 95 million native speakers and another 20 million non-native speakers. It is the second most spoken native language in Europe after Russian, above French (66.5 million speakers in 2004) and English (64.2 million speakers in 2004). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, German is the fourth most commonly spoken language in U.S. homes. It is one of the official languages of the European Union, and one of the three working languages of the European Commission, along with English and French.

German is spoken primarily in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, in two-thirds of Switzerland, in the South Tirol province of Italy), certain areas of Belgium, and in some border villages in Denmark.

In the United States, the largest concentrations of German speakers are in Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Dutch — a West Central German variety and Hutterite German), Texas, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Louisiana. (To request a copy of our proprietary report, "Foreign Speaker Demographics in the U.S. - Top 10 Languages in Every State," please contact us.)

Tourism in Germany
Germany's large, affluent population accounts for 19.5 percent of European disposable income. Germany's position at the heart of the European Union makes it a central tourist destination, as well as an ideal jumping-off point for travel within Europe. With 30 airports and thousands of miles of rail tracks and highways, it offers multiple convenient connections to and within Germany. According to a 2006 report from the Datamonitor Group, 125.2 million tourists passed through Germany in 2006, logging 351.2 million overnight stays.

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For information about translating materials or localizing your website for German language speakers, contact us.

Sources:
U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. State Department
European Union, Multilingualism