Editing German language (section)

====Outside the German Sprachraum====
Although [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)|expulsions]] and [[Persecution of Germans|(forced) assimilation]] after the two [[World war]]s greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum.

Within Europe, German is a recognized minority language in the following countries:<ref name="charter-ratifications">{{cite web |author=Bureau des Traités |url=http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=1&DF=&CL=ENG&VL=1 |title=Recherches sur les traités |website=Conventions.coe.int |access-date=18 July 2016 |archive-date=18 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918164438/http://www.conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=1&DF=&CL=ENG&VL=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Czech Republic]] (see also: [[Germans in the Czech Republic]])
* [[Denmark]] (see also: [[North Schleswig Germans]])
* [[Hungary]] (see also: [[Germans of Hungary]])
* [[Poland]] (see also [[German minority in Poland]]; German is an [[Bilingual communes in Poland|auxiliary and co-official language in 31 communes]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ksng.gugik.gov.pl/english/files/list_of_minority_names.pdf |title=Map on page of Polish Commission on Standardization of Geographical Names |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-date=1 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501024600/http://ksng.gugik.gov.pl/english/files/list_of_minority_names.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Romania]] (see also: [[Germans of Romania]])
* [[Russia]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://russia.bestpravo.com/omsk/data04/tex17941.htm |script-title=ru:Устав азовского районного совета от 21 May 2002 N 5-09 устав муниципального |trans-title=Charter of the Azov District Council of 05.21.2002 N 5-09 Charter of the municipal |website=russia.bestpravo.com |language=ru |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808205416/http://russia.bestpravo.com/omsk/data04/tex17941.htm |archive-date=8 August 2016 |access-date=18 July 2016}}</ref> (see also: [[History of Germans in Russia, Ukraine and the Soviet Union|Germans in Russia]])
* [[Slovakia]] (see also: [[Carpathian Germans]])

In France, the [[High German]] varieties of [[Alsatian dialect|Alsatian]] and [[Moselle Franconian]] are identified as "[[regional language]]s", but the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]] of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/societe/2015/06/05/31003-20150605ARTFIG00157-charte-europeenne-des-langues-regionales-hollande-nourrit-la-guerre-contre-le-francais.php |title=Charte européenne des langues régionales : Hollande nourrit la guerre contre le français |trans-title=European Charter for Regional Languages: Hollande fuels the war against French |website=lefigaro.fr |date=5 June 2015 |access-date=18 July 2016 |archive-date=9 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109035907/http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/societe/2015/06/05/31003-20150605ARTFIG00157-charte-europeenne-des-langues-regionales-hollande-nourrit-la-guerre-contre-le-francais.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the [[Baltic states]] of [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], and [[Lithuania]], there are still around 8,000 members of the German minority ([[Baltic Germans]], East Prussians, and [[Russian Germans]]) who speak Standard German and, to some extent, Low German. For Estonia, the number is estimated quite precisely at under 2,000 (in 2000: 1,870), for Latvia at just over 3,000 (in 2004: 3,311), and also for Lithuania at just over 3,000.<ref>gemäß {{Webarchive |url=http://www.stat.gov.lt/en/pages/view/?id=1763&PHPSESSID=756a5976f2c9cff73b1a04144e501d58 |text=stat.gov.lt |archive-is=20120924}} – zur regionalen Verteilung 2001.</ref>

In 2010, 394,000 Germans lived in [[Russia]], some of whom spoke German. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Russian Germans immigrated to Germany.