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German
German (Deutsch) is a Germanic language with approximately 90-98 million native speakers (120 milion worldwide). This makes German one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.
High German (Hochdeutsch) is the primary written and spoekn German language and came into being with Martin Luther's translation of the Bible. High German was based on the German spoken at the time, and has been the basis for the spoken and written versions ever since.
In Germany, German is the first language for more than 95% of the population. In Austria it's the first for 89%, in Switzerland 65%, and is also the majority language in Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. There are pockets of German speaking people in Mexico, Namibia, Canada, and Costa Rica. In the United States, there have been several German enclaves. For instance, German immigrants have settled extensively in Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and other places.
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