German (Deutsch, [dɔʏtʃ] (help·info)) is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers. Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities and Goethe Institutes worldwide. German is spoken primarily in Germany (first language for more than 95% of the population), Austria (89%) and Switzerland (65%). The majority of the small population of Liechtenstein also speaks German. Other European German-speaking communities are found in Northern Italy (Bolzano-Bozen), in the East Cantons of Belgium, in the French Alsace region which often was traded between Germany and France in history and in some border villages of the former South Jutland County (in German, Nordschleswig, in Danish, Sønderjylland) of Denmark.

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