[Foreigners in Germany: ethnic diversity and regional patterns].

"This contribution gives an overview of the development of ethnic minorities and foreign population-groups in Germany within a regional perspective. Following a discussion of the complex terminology used to describe residential groups of foreigners, immigrants, and ethnic minorities, the recent history of immigration to West and East Germany is outlined. As a consequence of the succession of different ¿waves' of migrants, the ethnic diversity has strikingly risen during the last decades. Whereas guest-workers from most Mediterranean countries of Europe decreased, a strong increase is typical of refugees (former Yugoslavia) and asylum applicants (selected Third World countries), of migrants from Eastern Europe as well as of highly-skilled migrants from industrialized countries. For some of these groups, the spatial patterns are compared in the final part of the paper." (EXCERPT)