[Bouncr: 3v394] Almost 1.1 Million People Registered As Asylum Seekers In Germany In

A young Syrian girl at a distribution centre in Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany, Aug. 20, 2015.

Ina Fassbender / Reuters

Nearly 1.1 million people registered as asylum seekers in Germany during 2015, the country's Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

That number is higher than the figure of 1,005,504 irregular migrants and refugees the International Organization for Migration said had entered the whole of Europe when it released its annual figures late last month.

The German Interior Ministry said a total of 1,091,894 people registered in the twelve months to December 2015, with Syrians by far the biggest nationality among those, accounting for 428,460 people, AP reported.

Afghans accounted for 154,046 of those registered, and another 121,662 people were Iraqis.

German police officers guide migrants and refugees crossing the border from Austria near Passau, Oct. 20, 2015.

Kerstin Joensson / AP

On Dec. 22, the IOM said it had tracked 821,008 migrants heading to Germany during 2015 using land or sea routes from places such as north Africa, the Middle East and south Asia.

The Interior Ministry's figures show that, in the early part of 2015, Germany also received a high number of claims of people from the Balkans, who would have had little chance of winning asylum. Albania and Kosovo were the fourth and fifth biggest sources of asylum seekers in the country, AP reported.

Germany's actual asylum applications have lagged behind arrivals, with 476,649 formally applying last year — far higher than 2014's figure of 202,834.

A sign at a reception center in Flensburg, Germany, close to the Danish border, Jan. 6. 2016.

Sean Gallup / Getty Images

The numbers were less in December than in previous months. While 206,101 arrived in Germany in November, only 127,320 did so in the final month of 2015, the Interior Ministry said.

The huge amounts of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants entering Europe during 2015 made for the biggest mass movement of people since World War II, the IOM said last month.

Germany has proved to be by far the most popular destination for those making the journey to Europe, thanks largely to the comparatively welcoming policies of Angela Merkel's government.

LINK: Why Are Refugees Going To Germany – And Will They Stay?

LINK: Having Opened Its Doors To Refugees, Germany Risks A Far-Right Backlash

LINK: Here's How The Refugees Were Welcomed When They Reached Germany And Austria

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