section_path: Geographical distribution
section_name: Geographical distribution
paragraph_text: Geographical distribution
  
  Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide:
  
  As a result of the German diaspora, as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language, the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents.
  
  However, an exact, global number of native German speakers is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German. With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90 – 95 million people speak German as a first language, 10 – 25 million speak it as a second language, and 75 – 100 million as a foreign language. This would imply the existence of approximately 175 – 220 million German speakers worldwide.
  
  German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker.