The number of Polish citizens living in the German capital continues to grow: in the first half of 2002, 30,053 Poles were permanently residing in Berlin. According to the state statistical office, their number increased by 3.1% compared to 2001.
Most of the 439,617 foreigners living in Berlin are Turks. By the middle of last year, there were 123,605 of them in the new German capital. Although the number of citizens from the former Yugoslavia decreased by 5.4% over the year, they form the third largest group of foreigners - 29,104 people.
The number of foreigners from European countries in Berlin is decreasing, but more and more immigrants from other continents are coming here. The German capital is home to 323,809 foreigners from Europe, accounting for 73.7%. 14.5% of foreign citizens are of Asian origin, 4.6% American, 3.7% African, and 0.3% Australian. The fastest growing number of migrants is from Bulgaria, Canada, Mongolia, as well as from Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the Czech Republic. For example, the number of arriving citizens of Kazakhstan increased by 12.6% in 2001-2002.
Most "Berlin Americans" came from the United States. Their number increased by 2.1% compared to 2001. And the largest Asian group after the Turks in Berlin is the Vietnamese. In 2002, there were 9,616 of them. However, in their calculations, statisticians do not take into account late resettlers who have already received German citizenship. Then the picture of "foreign" Berlin would certainly look different.