Germans (German: Deutsche) are the people of Germany. There are two main groups of people who are called Germans. They are citizens of Germany and ethnic Germans. They are also called German people.
Citizens of Germany
The term Germans is used to describe a person who is a citizen of the country. This is true no matter what their ethnicity. As long as they meet the requirements of German laws to be a citizen of Germany, they are Germans.
Ethnic Germans
Descendants (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren) of Germans in other countries are often called "ethnic Germans".[1][2] There are many ethnic Germans in Belgium, Denmark, Russia, Poland and France. There are also many of them living in the United States Brazil and Canada. There are about 100 million Germans in the world. Most Germans speak the German language (Hochdeutsch is Standard German) and dialects such as Low German and Upper German. Most people in Switzerland and Austria are native speakers of the German language. Other than ethnicity, the "German" ethnicity is widely celebrated in the United States.
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