People of Germany

Interestingly, around 91 percent of people are ethnically German. Turkish is the next largest ethnic group found in Germany , at 2.4 percent of the population. The remaining 6.1 percent are mostly Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Greek, Russian, Polish and Spanish.

Significantly, approximately 38% of the population is Protestant, who mostly occupies north of Germany, and 34% is Roman Catholic, who cover the south and west. Significantly, there is a small Jewish minority. About half the population in the area that was formerly East Germany has no religious affiliation. Catholic and Protestant churches and Jewish synagogues receive government support through a church surtax levied on members of these denominations. Almost all the citizens of the country speak German. Danes, Frisians, Gypsies, and Sorbs or Wends comprise the indigenous non-German-speaking minorities. Since the early 1970s, millions of guest workers from other countries have come to Germany for employment. These residents include about 2 million Muslims, mainly Turks and Kurds.

Facts about the Population

Age Structure: 0-14 years: 14.9% (male 6,312,614; female 5,988,681); 15-64 years: 67.3% (male 28,213,316; female 27,240,648); 65 years and over: 17.8% (male 5,842,457; female 8,800,610) (2003 est.)

Religions: Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%

Ethnic Groups: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish)