title: SQL Server - NVARCHAR needed for European Languages?
body: <p>We are doing an installation of our web-based application (.NET against SQL Server 2008) in Germany. We are in the midst of internationalizing the application and database. I realize that some languages (e.g. in India or China) require extended character sets. These extended character sets require data types of NVARCHAR (instead of VARCHAR) in SQL Server.</p>
  
  <p>Due to an already aggressive timeline, I'd like to make the transition from VARCHAR to NVARCHAR in a later release. I have researched but could not find a definitive answer to this question:</p>
  
  <p>Will SQL Server's VARCHAR datatype fully support the German language? </p>