The people
Some 82.6 million people live in Germany . Some 7.3 million of these citizens do not have their origins in Germany . This corresponds to 8.9 percent of the total population. And this means diversity, a diversity which is contributed to by the migrants living in Germany , the ethnic minorities, the regions and the different states with their traditions and dialects.
Population
The population in Germany is very unevenly distributed. Approx. one third of inhabitants, around 25 million people, live in 82 large towns. Some 50.5 million people live in communities and towns with between 2,000 and 100,000 inhabitants, around 6.4 million have their homes in villages with up to 2,000 inhabitants. Having experienced rapid growth since German unification, the catchment area in and around Berlin currently boasts more than 4.3 million inhabitants. The industrialized region on the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers, where the towns merge into one another without clear boundaries, is home to more than 11 million people. i.e., some 1,100 per square kilometer.
These densely populated regions contrast with very thinly populated areas such as large sections of the March of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
With a population density of 230 persons per square kilometer, Germany is overall one of the most densely populated countries in Europe , although there are great differences between former West Germany and what was once the GDR. In the new federal states and east Berlin the population density stands at 140 persons per square kilometer and in the old west at 267.
With nine births per 1,000 inhabitants per year, Germany has one of the world's lowest birthrates. Too few children are being born too late. Most women are not having their first child until they are in their early thirties, and on average each woman only has 1.3 children. However, over the past years Germany 's population has remained at a stable level. The deficit in births was compensated for by the immigration of some three million migrants. However, this low birthrate is coupled with an increasing life expectancy currently 74.4 for a new-born boy and 80.6 for a new-born girl which affects the age distribution of the population. It is projected that in 2030 the percentage of over-60-year-olds will have grown from today's figure of 23 to around 30 percent. The ratio between the proportion of the population in active employment and the percentage of pensioners is shifting in favor of those who have retired from the labor market.
The family is still the preferred mode of coexistence. The lions share of the population live as families, and almost half of them in a traditional family consisting of a married couple with children. The tendency is, however, towards smaller families, with the number of households on the increase. Every fourth inhabitant of a large town lives alone; in the countryside and in small towns the figure stands at every seventh person. Around 2.4 million people, mainly women, live alone with their children.
Economy
The countryside
The federal states
Structure of the state
The people
Society
The Basic Law
Social security
Education
Climate |
