For the Federal Republic (BRD) the most recent estimate is from mid-1974, with 62,041,000 residents and a density of 250 residents per km 2 ; the data also includes the residents of the western sector of Berlin, that is 2,063,000. In the Democratic Republic (DDR) as of December 1973 the population was estimated at 15,862,423 residents, With a density of 147 residents per km 2 ; in addition, 1,088,028 other people live in the eastern sector of Berlin. Basically, it can be said that in the course of 1973 the total number of territories of the two Germanies exceeded 79 million residents, with a total density of over 221 residents. per km 2. The latest official censuses gave the following results: in May 1970 in the Federal Republic 58,528,100 residents, to which 2,122,300 residents were added. of West Berlin; in the Democratic Republic in January 1971 there were 15,981,944 people, plus 1,084,866 in East Berlin. Since the end of the 1950s the demographic evolution has had a very different trend in the two parts of Germany. In particular, the Federal Republic recorded a moderate increase that places it at the top of the European rankings, with an average annual growth coefficient in the decade 1963-72 of 0.8%. In the GDR in the same decade, on the other hand, there was a decrease, equal to an average annual rate of −0.1%. The difference is not in the natural movement, which is rather similar. The average values of both birth and death rates vary between 12 and 15%, with generally a slight prevalence of the former in the BRD, the latter in the DDR. In this, the values vary very little from one year to the next, while in the BRD there is a decrease in the birth rate, and the years in which mortality prevails are becoming more frequent. It is therefore the migratory movements that have occurred in recent years that have caused the population variations, and have led to an increase of about three million in the BRD and a decrease of 300,000 people in the GDR. The outflow of German-speaking populations from Eastern European territories only marginally affected the GDR, which was able to offer jobs only in nascent heavy industry or in less favored agricultural regions, while it fully invested the BRD which, at least in principle, ensured a wider range of occupations. Furthermore, the appeal of western urban life, especially in the period of greatest economic expansion, was not countered by the undeniable greyness of the cities of the GDR, where the consumer goods industry produced almost exclusively for export. In this way, despite the presence of hundreds of km of border, most of the clandestine exits took place in the city of Berlin (also because a real reception organization had formed in the western sector). The average number of expatriates exceeded 220,000 per year, when in 1961 the government drastically stopped the phenomenon by erecting a separation wall between the two sectors of the city. The construction of the infamous wall, heavily criticized throughout the Western world, had unsuspected repercussions on the ethnic composition of the BRD. The influx of manpower had in fact become a structural element of industrial progress, to the point that the BRD had to favor foreign immigration from other countries. Until then, about 10 million Germans had immigrated in the postwar period, but since then there have been increasing tensions between local workers and immigrants, foreigners in every sense and perceived as competitors. At the 1961 census there were about 3.5 million foreigners, equal to 6% of the total population, but more than 13% of the active population. It was aimed at making it difficult for immigrants to be joined by family members; in this way, since the vast majority of immigrants are men of working age, the structure of the population has improved, in terms of age and the ratio between males and females. In fact, in the GDR, again as a consequence of the war, the women-men ratio was still 127 to 100 in 1971; furthermore, the percentages of young and old are high, while the number of people of working age is low. In the BRD the Italians, which in 1955 did not reach 30,000, reached almost 590,000 in 1971. But since EEC regulations have brought EU workers to equal treatment, immigration from other countries has been favored. On the same date there were in fact over 650,000 Turks, about 600,000 Yugoslavs, 400,000 Greeks, 270. 000 Spaniards, etc. The immigration areas, given what has been said about the natural movement, are those that have registered the greatest increases in population. North Rhine-Westphalia, with almost 17,200,000 residents, is still the most populous Land, but it is no longer the area of greatest attraction. In the last decade, the greatest development has in fact occurred in the southernmost Länder. Baden-Württemberg rose from 7,760,000 to over 9,154,000 residents; Bavaria from 9.5 to 10.8 million; Hesse from 4.8 to over 5.5. On the other hand, there has been a decrease in population in large areas of Lower Saxony, from where there is an emigration of 15-20,000 people per year towards the central-southern Länder. There are no such marked heterogeneities in the GDR, and the districts in which there has been a slight increase are distributed throughout the territory. These are those of Rostock, on the Baltic; Frankfurt on the Oder and Cottbus, on the border with Poland; Gera in the south and Suhl in the west. The most significant decrease occurred in a large contiguous region including Magdeburg, Leipzig, Karl Marx Stadt and Dresden. The degree of urbanization is higher in the BRD. In fact, in 1970 only 18% of the population lived in municipalities with less than 2000 residents; 49% were in small and medium-sized cities, with populations between 2000 and 100,000; the remaining 33% finally lived in large cities, with over 100,000 residents However, it should be noted that in recent years most cities have reported a decrease in population, with rare exceptions. The greatest increase was recorded by Bonn, whose population has slightly less than doubled (from 144 to 280,000 residents); however, it is a single case, due to the new administrative functions that the new federal capital must perform. Among the capitals of the Länder the only ones to register net increases are Munich (increase of over 200,000 units, up to 1,338,000) and, at a more modest level, Mainz (180,000 residents, increase of over 40,000). With the exception of Bremen, which remained stationary, all the other capitals showed a reduction, particularly marked in the case of Hanover (516,000 residents, Reduction of 57,000) and Düsseldorf (650,000, reduction of 55,000). But this is a generalized phenomenon, which has not only affected the capitals, as evidenced by the fact that the cities whose population has experienced even slight increases are exceptional (Cologne, Mannheim, Nuremberg, Karlsruhe). The biggest decreases concern the city-state of Hamburg, which has 1,766,000 residents, 77,000 fewer in 10 years, and the entire Ruhr city complex. The area always remains one of the extreme cases of world urbanization, but Essen, one of its original centers, has decreased from 730,000 to 692,000 residents; Duisburg, the large river port at the Ruhr-Rhine confluence, decreased from 504,000 to 450,000. Even in the smaller industrialization regions further south, decreases are recorded, as in Frankfurt am Main. Case apart from every point of view, for this aspect West Berlin falls under the general rule, decreasing by over 100,000 residents.
In the GDR the phenomenon is not so generalized, but here it is even less surprising, given that it is part of a national context of decrease. The downturns of cities are indeed more contained. The greatest decrease occurred in Halle an der Saale, 251,000 residents, 27,000 fewer. In Leipzig, the decrease was 10,000 residents, Reaching 577,000. The other major centers have seen increases, and East Berlin has also seen a slight increase. In percentage terms, the greatest increase took place in Rostock, over 23%, up to 205,000 residents.
