German diaspora

The German diaspora (German: Deutschstämmige, pronounced) consists of German people and their descendants living outside of Central Europe. The term is used in particular to refer to the aspects of migration of German speakers from Central Europe to different countries around the world. This definition describes German as a sociolinguistic group as opposed to the national one since the emigrant groups came from different regions with diverse cultural practices and different varieties of German. For instance, the Alsatians and Hessians were often simply called "Germans" once they set foot in their new homelands.