East Franconian German

East Franconian, known in German as Ostfränkisch, is a dialect spoken across Franconia, the northern part of the German state of Bavaria, and in neighboring areas of Thuringia, Saxony, Baden-Wurttemberg, and Hesse, centered on cities including Nuremberg, Bamberg, Würzburg, Bayreuth, and Coburg; it was also once spoken in Bohemia before the postwar expulsion of German speakers from that region. As of 2006 it had about 4.9 million native speakers, one of the larger totals among German dialects. It belongs to the Upper German group within High German, occupying a transitional position that blends elements of Central German and Upper German between the neighboring Rhine Franconian dialects and the Austro-Bavarian varieties. Scholars divide it into three main subgroups, Lower East Franconian, Upper East Franconian, and South East Franconian, though the exact boundaries between them remain debated. UNESCO's Atlas of Languages in Danger classifies East Franconian as vulnerable, reflecting its declining use among younger generations.