For a long time Germany had one of the world's lowest fertility rates of around 1.3 to 1.4, however there has been a small increase in recent years.

[18] In 2004, in the age group 18–29 (statistically important for starting families) there were only 90 women for every 100 men in the new federal states (the East, including Berlin).

[24] In 2013 the following most recent developments were noticed:[25] In the new federal states the fertility rate of college-educated women is now higher than that of those without college degrees.

[27] The contemporary demographics of Germany used to also be measured by a series of full censuses mandated by the state, with the most recent held in 1987.

[50] The Mikrozensus done in 2008 revealed that the number of children a German woman aged 40 to 75 had, was closely linked to her educational achievement.

In 2011, this trend was reversed in Eastern Germany, where more highly educated women now had a somewhat higher fertility rate than the rest of the population.

Eastern and Northern Frisians live at Schleswig-Holstein's western coast, and in the north-western part of Lower Saxony.

They are the last remnants of the Slavs that lived in central and eastern Germany since the 7th century to have kept their traditions and not been completely integrated into the wider German nation.

[71] Even before the German invasion of Poland, leading anti-Nazi members of the Polish minority were deported to concentration camps; some were executed at the Piaśnica murder site.

Minority rights for Poles in Germany were revoked by Hermann Göring's World War II decree of 27 February 1940, and their property was confiscated.

In contrast, Germans living in Poland are recognized as national minority and have granted seats in Polish Parliament.

It is difficult to estimate their exact number, as the German government counts them as "persons without migrant background" in their statistics.

In contrast to the old-established Roma population, the majority of them do not have German citizenship, and are classified as immigrants or refugees.

Since the 1960s, ethnic Germans from the People's Republic of Poland and Soviet Union (especially from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine), have come to Germany.

Also included were Vietnam, Mongolia, North Korea, Angola, Mozambique and Cuba when the former East Germany existed until reunification in 1990.

For regional administrative purposes four states, namely Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, consist of a total of 19 Government Districts (Regierungsbezirke).

Since the 1960s, West and later reunified Germany has attracted immigrants primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe as well as Turkey, many of whom (or their children) have acquired German citizenship over time.

During the 1960s and 1970s, agreements were signed with the governments of Turkey, Yugoslavia, Italy and Spain to help Germany overcome its severe labour shortage.

[92] In contrast, secondary education includes three traditional types of schools focused on different levels of academic ability: the Gymnasium enrols the most academically promising children and prepares students for university studies; the Realschule for intermediate students lasts six years; the Hauptschule prepares pupils for vocational education.

[95] Nearly all German universities are public institutions, tuition fees in the range of €500 were introduced in some states after 2006, but quickly abolished again until 2014.

Percentage of jobholders holding Hauptschulabschluss, Realschulabschluss or Abitur in Germany[96] Over 99% of those of age 15 and above are estimated to be able to read and write.

[105][108] Since the reunification of Germany, the number of non-religious people has grown and an estimated 46.2% of the country's population are not affiliated with any church or religion.

Non-religious people, including atheists and agnostics are especially numerous in the former East Germany and major metropolitan areas.

[115][116] 1.5% of the country's overall population declare themselves Orthodox Christians,[105] with Serbs, Greeks, Romanians, Ukrainians and Russians being the most numerous.

[118] In 2004, twice as many Jews from former Soviet republics settled in Germany as in Israel, bringing the total Jewish population to more than 200,000, compared to 30,000 prior to German reunification.

With speakers of Romany living in all parts of Germany, the federal government has promised to take action to protect the language.

Many dialects, for example the Upper German varieties, are to some degree cultivated as symbols of regional identity and have their own literature, theaters and some TV programming.

[citation needed] Nevertheless, partly due to the prevalence of Standard German in media, the use of dialects has declined over the past century, especially in the younger population.

[citation needed] Despite this relatively high number of speakers there is very little coverage in the media (mostly on NDR TV, no regular programming) and very little education in or on the language.

The relatively high number of Russian speakers is a result of immigration from the former Soviet Union to Germany for almost 10 consecutive years, plus its having been learned in school by many older former East Germans as compulsory first foreign language.