Germany is one of the most lucrative destinations for higher studies. The universities in Germany combine age-old traditions with modern technologies. More than 300 universities are featured on Campus Germany: from time-honored institutions offering students the classical repertoire of subjects such as Medicine, Law, English and German to innovative new institutions of higher education with inter-disciplinary study programs. German universities are open to anyone who fulfills the prerequisites and academic freedom is one of the basic principles of the German university system.
Germany has much to offer as a place to study - courses geared to international needs, internationally recognized qualifications such as Bachelor and Master, a credit system which allows the accumulation and transfer of study and exam modules. And the best: you don’t necessarily have to speak German in order to study in Germany. Still, you could learn it while you’re there.
German Universities have been the scene of many groundbreaking discoveries and they're internationally renowned. German universities attract faculty and students from around the world. Modern German universities also combine theoretical work with its practical application. They both educate and train - basic research is augmented by applied research. Interdisciplinary cooperation is common and many of them cooperate closely with multinational firms and with other research institutes in Germany and abroad. In the end, this increases the graduates' chances on the job market.
One can chose from a variety of courses: short-term.summer courses, Professional courses, Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees and Doctoral ones await you in Germany.
Life in Germany is full of joys. German society is a society of immigrants. For economic, demographic and humanitarian reasons immigration has become an important issue for German society over the past 50 years: over 14 million people with a migration background are living in Germany today. They are immigrants themselves or second generation immigrants. One out of five marriages is a binational one and one out of four children born in Germany has at least one foreign parent. Every third teenager in West Germany has a migration background, while in some areas this rises to almost 40%, tendency increasing. Immigration has substantially changed the ways our society works – ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity have become a living reality for a long time already.
German society is a modern, open-minded society: Most people – both young and old – are well-educated and enjoy a high Standard of living, as well as sufficient freedom to be able to plan their lives as they themselves see fit. The nucleus of their lives is the family, which is constantly adopting new forms. Yet society is faced with the challenge of solving important problems such as population trends – the ageing of society as well as immigration, which is increasingly varied in terms of ethnic culture. And there is one thing the Germans still have to overcome: the effects of the 45 years during which the country was divided. Since political reunification in 1990 much has happened, and yet restoring the social unity of Germany will remain an important issue for the foreseeable future.
With reunification Germany became the country with by far the largest population in the European Union. Around 82 million people live on German territory, almost one fifth of them in what was formerly East Germany. Three trends are characteristic of demographic developments in Germany: a low birth rate, increasing life expectancy and an ageing society.
For 30 years now Germany has been witnessing few births: With slight fluctuations, since 1975 the number of newborn infants has been approximately 1.3 children per woman. This means that for 30 years the generation of children has been smaller than that of their parents. High rates of immigration to Germany from other societies prevented the overall population from shrinking accordingly. At the same time life expectancy has risen continuously, and is now 77 years for men and 82 years for women.
The rise in Life expectancy and, to an even greater extent, the low birth rates are the reason for the third trend: The ratio of young people in the overall population is decreasing, that of elderly people rising: In the early 1990s there were almost three people of an employable age for every person over the age of 60. In the early 21st century, the ratio was only 1 to 2.2 and calculations indicate that within the next decade the ratio will already be less than 1 to 2. The ageing of society is one of the greatest challenges facing welfare and family policy. For this reason the pension insurance scheme has been undergoing re-structured for some time now: The traditional ”cross-generational contract“ (Cross-generational contract) is becoming less and less affordable, such that private individuals are supplementing it by making their own provisions for old age. In addition, family-related measures to increase the number of children are also being implemented.
Diversity also characterises how and with whom Germans live. An estimated 800,000 marriages in Germany are binational. In one-in-six weddings, at least one of the partners comes from abroad. This in turn means that ever more children in Germany are growing up with several cultures and languages, and so are particularly well equipped for the challenges of a globalised world.
Many different kinds of family structures also exist. The traditional Mum-Dad-2 Kids model is increasingly being replaced by a kind of patchwork family: people get divorced, then live together with their new partner, with children from various relationships. In addition, many single parents or same-sex relationships are bringing up their own or adopted children.
The traditional roles attributed to men and women have also changed in Germany. Men and women enjoy equal rights. Both have the right to economic independence and self-realisation in family and career.
Religious freedom prevails in Germany. The constitution guarantees each citizen: "The freedom of faith, of conscience, and the freedom of religious and ideological beliefs are inviolable". Around 68% of the German population are Christians, divided more or less equally into Protestants and Catholics. The number of Protestants and Catholics differs regionally across Germany. More Protestants live in the north (and east), while many more Catholics live in the south.
It is estimated that around 3.7% of the population (just under 3 million people) are Muslims, most of them Sunnis, with a small proportion of Shiites and Alewites as well. People of the Judaic faith (0.12%) and Hindus, Buddhist and Orthodox Christians also live in Germany. All in all, around 160 different religious communities and faiths exist in Germany.
Besides the many millions of immigrants, minorities with their own culture and language also live in some regions of Germany. These include the Slavonic Sorbs (in Brandenburg and Saxony) with Sorbian as their language; the Danes (in Schleswig-Holstein) with Danish; Sinti and Roma gypsies with the Romany language are found throughout Germany, while there are also minorities that live in Northern Frisia and in the Oldenburger Saterland who speak Frisian.
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