The Federal city of Bonn has more than 320,000 citizens. There are around 80,000 citizens with a foreign background, coming from more than 170 different countries. The most frequent countries of origin are Turkey (approx. 8.500), Poland (approx. 7.500), Morocco (approx. 5.800) and the Russian Federation (approx. 4.000).  Numerous people from Arabic speaking countries live in Bonn; therefore the most spoken language after German is Arabic, being followed by Turkish, Russian and Polish.

Bonn is member of the European Coalition of Cities Against Racism (ECCAR) since October 2015. The Bonn City Council had previously signed in 2009 the “Bonn Declaration Against Racism” stating among other things that it is the intention of the City Council for all the people in Bonn to be able to feel that they are valued citizens, irrespective of their gender, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, philosophy, disability, age, sexual orientation or identity.

Bonn is Germany's centre for international co-operation and a leading sustainability cluster. The German UN City hosts 20 UN secretariats and organisations with some 1,000 employees. As Germany's United Nations City and host city for many international and internationally active NGOs, Bonn is also home to an international community that continues to grow. The same also applies to the many foreign visitors, conference guests, and tourists whose numbers are increasing every year. Their presence fosters an international flair, a climate of openness towards foreign cultures and influences cultural life and even the goods on offer in shops and bookstores.

Bonn is the beating heart of an attractive region of science, research, and education. Its large international university and six universities of applied sciences provide young talent with qualifications in economics and the sciences. The University of Bonn is one of the most international universities in Germany and Europe. This was confirmed 2017 by the British magazine Times Higher Education (THE) in its university ranking which takes into account internationalization criteria such as number of international employees, students and innovative research with global partners.