Many Namibians of German descent still speak German and prefer classification as Namibian Germans not as Afrikaners. A group of 74 Germans, mainly vine-dressers and wine-makers selected by the Cape Emigration Commissioner, Mr Field, were among other emigrants who sailed to South Africa on the ship Aurifera. [30] German, Afrikaans and several indigenous languages became "national languages" by law, identifying them as cultural heritages of the nation and ensuring the state to acknowledge and support their presence in the country. Between 1843 and 1910, more than 5 million Germans emigrated overseas,[64] mostly to the United States. Germany Area and Population Density. [citation needed], Hutterite German is an Upper German dialect of the Austro-Bavarian variety of the German language, which is spoken by Hutterite communities in Canada and the United States. Germans settled quite extensively in South Africa, with many … Explore similarities and differences. Country comparison Germany vs South Africa 2020 Country comparison, you can compare any two countries and see the data side by side. The Goethe-Institut in Windhoek lobbies on behalf of the German community. Sum of Standard German, Swiss German, and all German dialects not listed under "Standard German" at. The population of all South African urban areas with more than 15,000 inhabitants by census years. Population Pyramids: South Africa - 2020. South Africa’s youthful population is gradually aging, as the country’s total fertility rate (TFR) has declined dramatically from about 6 children per woman in the 1960s to roughly 2.2 in 2014. German Namibians retain a fully-fledged culture in German within Namibia, with German-medium schools, churches, and broadcasting. Population data by Eurostat, using the source year. The percentage of the population of Namibia formed by Germans has declined recently, spurring speculation that the overall number of German Namibians is decreasing. Many of these people settled in Antioquia, and el Eje Cafetero. South Sudan. The Allgemeine Zeitung is also one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. German Australians are today overwhelmingly English speaking, with the German language as a home language in heavy decline. German Namibians tend to emigrate instead to South Africa. [33] Since 2014, the King of Belgium and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg have also been taking part.[34]. The German language is spoken in a number of countries and territories in Europe, where it is used both as an official language and as a minority language in various countries. From 1805 the Albrecht brothers, followed by a number of other missionaries, settled in Southwest Africa. [5], As per the 2011 census, 0.9% of all Namibian households used German as a home language (4,359 households), as compared to 10.4% using Afrikaans (48,238) and 3.4% using English (15,912). The decline in the percentage of German Namibians is mainly due to their low birth rates and the fact that other Namibian ethnic groups have higher birth rates and bigger families. Mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries, an estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa. The governance of Southwest Africa was transferred to South Africa by the League of Nations. This version of German there has changed over 180 years of contact with Portuguese as well as the languages of other immigrant communities. Nowadays, at least one million German speakers live in Latin America. [4] Unlike other southern African white groups, emigration to Europe, Australia or North America is not common. [48] Texas German is a dialect spoken in the areas of Texas settled by the Adelsverein, such as New Braunfels and Fredericksburg. To cover this language area, they are often referred to as the German-speaking countries, the German-speaking area (Deutscher Sprachraum), or equivalently German-speaking Europe (non-European German-speaking communities are not commonly included in the concept). [30] German, along with English and Afrikaans used to be a co-official language of Namibia from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. [2] Today[update] many Germans in Namibia are small and medium entrepreneurs.[3]. From the start of the 20th century until 1946 80% of Jews lived in Europe but by the end of World War II this was reduced to 25%, however after the war over 50% of Jews now lived in the Americas. For more details, see an in-depth quality of life comparison of South Africa vs. Germany using our country comparison tool. [35], DACH is also the name of an Interreg IIIA project, which focuses on crossborder cooperation in planning. In Mexico there are also large populations of German ancestry, mainly in the cities of: Mexico City,[59] Puebla, Mazatlán, Tapachula, Ecatepec de Morelos, and larger populations scattered in the states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Zacatecas.[60][61]. 1. During the subsequent 'south-africanisation' of Southwest Africa, around half of the remaining 15 000 German residents were deported with their farms being handed over to South Africans. The 300,000 German speakers are estimated to be immigrants and not actually born in Argentina, and because of this they still speak their home language while their descendants who were born in Argentina speak primarily Spanish. The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. miles). These included groups such as land-hungry peasants, political refugees known as Forty-Eighters, and religious minorities such as Russian Mennonites fleeing religious persecution at home. Australia has an estimated population of around 75,600 German speakers. Starting in 1818, when King D. João VI brought the first German and Swiss immigrants to Brazil, German immigration continued a constant flow with an average of 25 to 30 thousand immigrants per decade entering the country since 1818. German immigrants played a significant role in settling the states of South Australia and Queensland. The 2011 South African census was the most recent held and the next will be in 2021. [6], Namibia used to be a colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1919. Many German-speakers live in the capital, Windhoek (German: Windhuk), and in smaller towns such as Swakopmund, Lüderitz and Otjiwarongo, where German architecture, too, is highly visible. artist EES). Other European countries and regions with a German-speaking majority include Liechtenstein (30,000), the Italian autonomous region of South Tyrol (0.5 million), and the German-speaking Community of Belgium with around 70,000 native speakers. Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Paraguay show some clear demographic differences that affect the minority situation of the German language: Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina are massive countries and offer large amounts of land for immigrants to settle. Among them are small groups (such as those in Namibia) and many very large groups (such as the almost 1 million non-evacuated Germans in Russia and Kazakhstan or the near 500,000 Germans in Brazil (see Riograndenser Hunsrückisch German)), groups that have been greatly "folklorised" and almost completely linguistically assimilated (such as most people of German descent in the US, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Brazil), and others, such as the true linguistic minorities (like the still German-speaking minorities in the US, Argentina and Brazil, in western Siberia or in Romania and Hungary); other groups, which are classified as religio-cultural groups rather than ethnic minorities, (such as the Eastern-Low German-speaking Mennonites in Paraguay, Mexico, Belize or in the Altay region of Siberia) and the groups who maintain their status thanks to strong identification with their ethnicity and their religious sentiment (such as the groups in Upper Silesia, Poland or in South Jutland in Denmark). The main variety of German in Brazil is Riograndenser Hunsrückisch which is to be found in the southern states. [37], Today German, together with French, is a common second foreign language in the western world, with English well established as a first foreign language. the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule Windhoek), literature (German-Namibian authors include Giselher W. Hoffmann), radio (the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation produces radio programs in German), and music (e.g. Southern Africa. When East Germany and West Germany were reunited in 1990, the population of East Germany was around 16.1 million people. Spain. Looking back, in the year of 1960, South Africa had a population of 17.5 million people. Later traders arrived and after the landing of the ship Tilly in Lüderitz Bay in 1883, a rising number of German officials, settles, workman and soldiers. In the first half of the 20th century, over a million German-Canadians made the language Canada's third most spoken after French and English. The cities of Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, and Nelson Mandela Bay also have populations exceeding one million. The dialects of German which are or were primarily spoken in colonies or communities founded by German-speaking people resemble the dialects of the regions the founders came from. This so-called 'degermanistion' policy only changed after the London Agreement of 23 October 1923, according to which the remaining Germans were afforded British citizenship. In the 2018 report on migration for structural transformation in Africa, the UN’s Conference on Trade and Development presents a breakdown of the immigrant population in South Africa in 2017. Deutsche Höhere Privatschule Windhoek, a German international school, is in the country's capital, Windhoek. However, virtually all German Namibians are fluent in Afrikaans and are either familiar with English or can speak it fluently. Costa Rica has a population of 4.9 million, and a German speaker population of 8,000 people. Inter- und übernationale Beziehungen", "Deutsch als Fremdsprache weltweit. French Protestants, German mercenaries, and other Europeans joined the Dutch in South Africa. [citation needed]. The majority of German emigrants to Latin America went especially to Brazil but also to: Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. This was during the era of assisted emigration to the Cape between 1857 and 1862. Despite these obstacles and lack of documentation however, over 200,000 Prussian/German nationals have been registered entering the country between 1860 and 1960. Although living standards have improved dramatically in the East over the past 20 years, it still lags behind in economic development, and as a result, many people head west in search of better job opportunities. [67][citation needed] A significant group of German Pietists in Iowa formed the Amana Colonies and continue to practice speaking their heritage language. [65] German remained an important language in churches, schools, newspapers, and even the administration of the United States Brewers' Association[66] through the early 20th century, but was severely repressed during World War I. Of special interest is the settlement Villa Carlota: that was the name under which two German farming settlements, in the villages of Santa Elena and Pustunich in Yucatán, were founded during the Second Mexican Empire (1864–1867). [38] This number has remained relatively stable since 2005 (± 1 million) and roughly 75–100 million people able to communicate in German as a foreign language can be inferred, assuming an average course duration of three years and other estimated parameters. Change currency (USD) The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. Many place names in Namibia carry names of German origin. Welcome to this outpost of sunny South Africa ! German South West Africa was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Mostly depending on the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties with a disputed status as separate languages (e.g., Low German/Plautdietsch[1]), it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language,[2][3][4] 10–25 million as a second language,[2][3] and 75–100 million as a foreign language. This makes Argentina one of the countries with the largest number of German speakers and is second only in Latin America to Brazil. Another version is DACHS (with Dachs meaning "Badger" in German) with the inclusion of the German-speaking region of South Tyrol in Italy. Neue Ergebnisse zur Migrationsforschung während des Zweiten mexikanischen Kaiserreiches. German immigration as well as the spread of the German language were also expressively encouraged. There are about 500,000 German speakers and around 320,000 Volga-Germans alone, of which 200,000 hold German citizenship. German-speaking communities are particularly found in British Columbia (118,035) and Ontario (230,330). At this point, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols for Apartheid and colonialism, and decided for English to be the sole official language, claiming that it was a "neutral" language as virtually no English native speakers existed in Namibia at that time. This is despite the fact that in most areas and in Windhoek, the broader lingua franca is Afrikaans while English is now often the sole language used in many other spheres such as government or on public signs and product packaging. However, the German language was actively suppressed by Australian governments during World War I and World War II, resulting in a sharp decline in the use of German in Australia. The aggregation to "reasonable" urban areas was done by »City Population«. Furthermore, German was often a language taught as a foreign language in White South African schools during the Apartheid years (1948–1994). Mailing List - See more. The total population in South Africa was estimated at 58.8 million people in 2019, according to the latest census figures. [44], Self-reported German language skills of European Union citizens, Bar chart – Knowledge of German as a foreign language in the EU (+Turkey). As of 2012, about 20,000 Germans nationals resided in Mexico. Since around 1980, an increase in tourism has led to a rise in ownership of holiday and retirement homes by Germans. The population density of the Southern Cone countries is relatively low (Brazil has 17 inhabitants/km2, Chile has 15/km2, Argentina and Paraguay both have 10/km2, data from 1993), but there are major differences in the areas settled by Germans: Buenos Aires Province, which was settled by Germans, has a far higher population density than that of the Chaco in northern Paraguay (with 1 inhabitant/km2). South Africa. [47]The second wave was during Porfirio Diaz’s open settlement policy in the Yucatan Peninsula that favored and attracted many Europeans. Datenerhebung 2015 – Worldwide survey of people learning German; conducted by the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Goethe Institute", "Foreign language learning statistics – Statistics Explained", "Foreign Language Enrollments in K–12 Public Schools", Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2013, http://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/volltexte/2008/1320/pdf/Duran_Merk_Selected_German_Migration.pdf, "Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe", "O alemão lusitano do Sul do Brasil – Cultura – DW – 20.04.2004", Plenário aprova em segundo turno a PEC do patrimônio, "Los que llegaron - Alemanes (11/04/2012)", Handwörterbuch des politischen Systems der Bundesrepublik, "Table 5. This migration flow reached its high point during the first Lüderitz diamond discoveries. Within the EU, and not counting countries where it is a (co-)official language, German as a foreign language is most widely taught in Central and Northern Europe, namely the Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Poland. Initially, in the eighteenth century, only isolated or small groups of German emigrants left for Latin America; however, at the start of the last century, this pattern was reversed as a tidal wave of German emigration totaling some 200,000 people began. Learn more about our data sources. [55] Included in the ethnic German immigration to Mexico are from Austria, Switzerland and the French region of Alsace which was part of France since the end of WWI, as well those from Bavaria and High German regions of Germany. Of the 40 million only 5,000 people of German descent speak the language. The first wave of Germans immigrated from northern Prussia under the reign of Princess Carlota during the 2nd French Mexican empire. The first Germans in Namibia were missionaries, initially sent through the London Missionary Society and then later also the Rheinish Missionary Society. Many German Namibians are prominent in business, farming, and tourism or as governmental officials. The original 58 German communities of the early 19th century Brazil, grew today to over 250 towns where Germans are a majority, and German-speaking is encouraged. The semiarid territory was more than twice as large as Germany, yet it had only a fraction of the population—approximately 250,000 people. Southern Europe. For example, the first post-independence mayor of Windhoek, Björn von Finckenstein, is a German Namibian. Regional concentrations can be found in the provinces of Entre Ríos and Buenos Aires (with around 500,000 to 600,000) as well as Misiones and in the general area of the Chaco and the Pampas. Many of these people are immigrants or native German speakers from Germany or Switzerland and 18th, 19th and 20th centuries massive immigration descendants. [2] According to a 2012 survey, ca. German South West Africa, German Deutsch-Südwestafrika, a former German colony (1884–1919) that is now the nation of Namibia, in southwestern Africa.In 1883 Franz Adolf Lüderitz, a merchant from Bremen, Germany, established a trading post in southwest Africa at Angra Pequena, which he renamed Lüderitzbucht.He also acquired the adjacent coastal area, which he named Lüderitzland. Apartheid was soon reestablished in South Africa, remained key to the country’s public policies throughout most of the 20th century, and was abolished in the 1990s only after global censure. Alma Durán-Merk (2007). In some South American countries the war period and immediately afterwards was a time of massive assimilation to the local culture (for example during the Getúlio Vargas period in Brazil). Migration stagnated after the end of World War I, when Germany lost all sovereignty over its colonies in the Treaty of Versailles. [39] In terms of student numbers across all levels of education, German ranks third in the EU (after English and French)[40] as well as in the United States (after Spanish and French). Although Riograndenser Hunsrückisch has long been the most widely spoken German dialect in southern Brazil, like all other minority languages in the region, it is experiencing very strong decline – especially in the last three or four decades. German rule over this territory was punctuated … The Handbuch des Deutschtums im Ausland (The Germans Abroad Handbook) from 1906 puts a figure of 11 million people in North and South America with a knowledge of the German language, of which 9 million were in the US. [5][38] German ranks second (after English) among the best known foreign languages in the EU (on a par with French)[5] as well as in Russian. There are an additional 80 million people of German ancestry mainly in the United States, Brazil (mainly in the South Region of the country), Argentina, Canada, South Africa, the post-Soviet states (mainly in Russia and Kazakhstan ), and France, each accounting for at least 1 million. Meanwhile, the population of Germany is ~80.2 million people (23.7 million fewer people live in South Africa). Which country has the largest population in Africa? Small numbers of Germans subsequently immigrated there, many coming as soldiers (German: Schutztruppe), traders, diamond miners, or colonial officials. In 1883, the German trader Adolf Lüderitz bought what would become the southern coast of Namibia from Josef Frederiks II, a chief of the local Oorlam people, and founded the city of Lüderitz. South America. This page provides - South Africa Population - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. In 1939 those in Southwest Africa of German origin were put under house or farm arrest and then in 1940 transferred to South Africa to be interned in camps, where they would remain until 1946. According to the 2001 Census, only 1.1% of all Namibian households use German as a home language (3,654 households), which is much less than that for Afrikaans (39,481 or 11.4%) or English (6,522 or 1.9%). The interests of the community are frequently voiced through Africa's only German-speaking daily, Die Allgemeine Zeitung. 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