Immigration to Germany, both in the country's modern borders and the many political entities that preceded it, has occurred throughout the country's history. Today, Germany is one of the most popular destinations for immigrants in the world, with well over 1 million people moving there each year since 2013. As of 2019, around 13.7 million people living in Germany, or about 17% of the population, are first-generation immigrants.
Refugees of Iraq are Iraqi nationals who have fled Iraq due to war or persecution. Throughout 1980 until 2017, there were a large number of refugees fleeing Iraq and settling throughout the world, peaking with the Iraq War and continued until the end of the most recent War in Iraq (2013–2017). Precipitated by a series of conflicts including the Kurdish rebellions during the Iran–Iraq War, Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait (1990) and the Gulf War (1991), the subsequent sanctions against Iraq (1991–2003), culminating in the Iraq War and the subsequent War in Iraq (2013–2017), millions were forced by insecurity to flee their homes in Iraq. Like the majority of refugees worldwide, Iraqi refugees established themselves in urban areas in other countries rather than in refugee camps. In April 2007, there was an estimate of over four million Iraqi refugees around the world, including 1.9 million in Iraq, 2 million in neighboring Middle East countries, and around 200,000 in countries outside the Middle East. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has led the humanitarian efforts for Iraqi refugees. The Iraqi displacement of several million was the largest in the Middle East at the time, and was even larger than the number of Palestinians who were displaced in 1948 during the creation of the state of Israel.
Syrian diaspora refers to Syrian people and their descendants who chose or were forced to emigrate from Syria and now reside in other countries as immigrants, or as refugees of the Syrian Civil War.
The Greeks in Germany comprise German residents or citizens of Greek heritage and Greeks who immigrated to Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, 453,000 people living in Germany in 2019 had full or partial Greek ancestry. 363,650 of these were Greek citizens.
The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world.
Boxberg is a municipality in the Görlitz district in Saxony, Germany. The place is known for its large Boxberg Power Station, that uses lignite as fuel.
The number of Iraqis in Greece is unclear since numbers fluctuate greatly over time. as of 2007, Greece hosted 1,400 Iraqi refugees. Proving helpful, Greece offered one million dollars to Iraq for humanitarian purposes, this may be because they do not want to take in any refugees, as it was reported that Iraqis trying to enter Greece from Turkey are most definitely likely to be sent back to Iraq. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has confirmed that a group of 135 Iraqis were arrested while preparing to cross into Greece have been sent back to Iraq. As Greece has the toughest migration policy in Europe, allowing only less than one percent of applications through.
The Iraqi diaspora refers to native Iraqis who have left for other countries as emigrants or refugees, and is now one of the largest in modern times, being described by the UN as a "humanitarian crisis" caused by the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 invasion of Iraq and by the ensuing war.
Since the late 1970s until the present, Iraq has witnessed numerous waves of refugees and emigrants due to significant events in its modern history. These events have led to the displacement of millions of Iraqis. These include over three decades of repression, periodic violent attacks, and massacres targeting the Kurdish population in the north and the Shi'a in the south, all carried out by Saddam Hussein's regime. Other factors include the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the Gulf War of 1991, the prolonged economic sanctions until the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
Iraqis are the second largest minority group living in Sweden, with 146,048 Iraqi-born people living in Sweden and 79,732 Swedes with at least one Iraqi-born parent. They are also one of the largest Asian communities in the country. The size of this group has doubled in the period of 2002 to 2009; the influx of Iraqi refugees increased dramatically from 2006 to 2009 as a result of the US-led invasion of Iraq.
German Afghans are German citizens with Afghan ancestry and non-citizen residents born in, or with ancestors from, Afghanistan. It is the largest Afghan community in Europe and part of the worldwide Afghan diaspora, of which it is one of the largest. In 2022, the Federal Statistical Office of Germany estimated the number of people of Afghan descent residing in Germany at 425,000 the third largest from outside the EU, and the largest group from Asia excluding the Middle East and Caucusus. In particular, there are over 50,000 Afghans in Hamburg alone, comprising over 7% of the city's population. Offenbach am Main and Hamburg had the highest shares of Afghan migrants among all German districts in 2011. There were 51,000 people of Afghan decent living in Hamburg in 2023.
Belgium-Germany relations are the bilateral relations between Belgium and Germany. Both of these are neighbouring countries and share a common 204 kilometer long landborder. Both nations are members of the Council of Europe, European Union, NATO and the Eurozone.
The Albanians in Germany refers to the Albanian migrants in Germany and their descendants. They mostly trace their origins to Albania, Kosovo and to a lesser extent to North Macedonia and other Albanian-speaking territories in the Balkan Peninsula. Their exact number is difficult to determine as some ethnic Albanians hold German, Macedonian, Serbian or another Former Yugoslavian citizenship.
The old states of Germany is a jargon referring to the ten of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) that were part of West Germany and that unified with the eastern German Democratic Republic's 5 states, which are given the contrasting term new states of Germany. Usage of this terminology usually excludes one other state, Berlin, conterminous with the capital city of the reunified nation which used to be divided, with its western part linked with West Germany.
Iraqis in Turkey includes Turkish citizens of Iraqi origin, Iraqi-born citizens and Iraqi expat workers.
In the narrow sense, Lebanese people in Germany include migrants from Lebanon living in Germany and their descendants, excluding Palestinians.
Kurds in Pakistan comprise people residing in Pakistan who are of Kurdish origin. They are a small population consisting mainly of expatriates and transient migrants, most of whom arrived following the start of the Gulf War in Iraq in 1990.
Syrians in Germany refers to Syrian immigrants in Germany, or Germans with Syrian ancestry. The number of people with an immigration background from Syria, including those with German citizenship, was estimated at around 1,225,000 in 2022. Additionally, the population with Syrian citizenship residing in Germany is 923,000 in 2022, making it the second-largest group of foreign nationals living in the country. Notably, Germany boasts by far the largest Syrian diaspora outside of the Middle East.
The right of asylum for victims of political persecution is a basic right stipulated in the Constitution of Germany. In a wider sense, the right of asylum recognises the definition of 'refugee' as established in the 1951 Refugee Convention and is understood to protect asylum seekers from deportation and grant them certain protections under the law. Generally, these protections are a part of the asylum procedure itself and are verified by the Federal Office For Migration and Refugees without any further application.
Romanians in Germany are one of the sizable communities of the Romanian diaspora in Western Europe. According to German statistics, in 2022, the number of Romanian citizens in Germany was 883,670. The number of people with Romanian ancestry in 2022 was 1,096,000.
