Inhabitants

Inhabitants of a municipality or a state are people who live in a flat or house in that place. They are also considered residents if they work in another place or are currently on holiday. However, hotel guests or people who work in this place but live elsewhere are not considered residents. These are, for example, auxiliary workers in agriculture or on a construction site, even if they spend several weeks or months in that place.

Inhabitants of a municipality are also automatically inhabitants of the corresponding district, also of the canton or the federal state as well as of the whole country, i.e. the state. When it comes to the continent, for example Europe, one also speaks of inhabitants. When it comes to the whole world, however, one tends to speak of inhabitants or the world population.

Residents should not be confused with citizens. Citizens have a civil right because their parents already had it. That goes on and on. However, a citizen's right can also be acquired under certain conditions. If a person is a citizen of Bern, for example, and lives there, he or she is both a citizen and a resident.

The duties and rights of residents and citizens are regulated by the municipalities and the state. It is therefore not the same all over the world. The following rules apply in German-speaking countries and for the most part throughout Western Europe. In other countries, too, many parts of them sometimes apply, and in some countries only the least applies.