Total population | |
---|---|
c. 135 million (Italian citizens: c. 60 million; Italian ancestry: c. 75 million) |
|
Regions with significant populations | |
Italy 60,665,551 ab. (31/12/2015) | |
Brazil | 23,047,494 |
Argentina | 20,500,000 |
United States | 17,250,211 |
Venezuela | 1,736,766 |
France | 1,530,563 |
Canada | 1,488,425 |
Peru | 1,400,000 |
Uruguay | 1,055,220 |
Australia | 916,121 |
Germany | 830,000 |
Switzerland | 545,274 |
Belgium | 451.825 |
Chile | 184,997 |
United Kingdom | 130,000 |
Mexico | 85,000 |
South Africa | 77,400 |
Spain | 38,694 |
Austria | 29.287 |
Albania | 19,000 |
Croatia | 17,807 |
Czech Republic | 3,503 |
Romania | 3,203 |
Languages | |
Italian and other languages (Corsican · Sardinian · Sicilian · Neapolitan · Emilian-Romagnol · Ligurian · Piedmontese · Lombard · Venetian · Friulian · Ladin · Romansh · Istriot) | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholic (predominantly) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
other Romanic peoples, Greeks, Swiss people, Slovenians and Croatians |
c. 135 million
Italians (Italian: italiani [itaˈljaːni]) are a nation and ethnic group native to Italy who share a common culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a native tongue. Legally, Italians are citizens of the Italian Republic, regardless of ancestry or country of residence (though the principle of jus sanguinis is used extensively and arguably more favourably in the Italian nationality law), and are distinguished from people of Italian descent and from ethnic Italians living in territories adjacent to the Italian Peninsula.
In 2014, in addition to about 55 million Italians in Italy (91% of the Italian national population), Italian-speaking autonomous groups are found in neighbouring nations: about half a million are in Switzerland and a large population is in France, as well as smaller groups in Slovenia and Croatia, primarily in Istria and Dalmatia. Because of the wide-ranging diaspora, about 5 million Italian citizens and nearly 80 million people of full or partial Italian ancestry live outside of their own homeland, most notably in parts of Europe, the Americas and Australia.
Italians have greatly influenced and contributed to the arts and music, science, technology, cuisine, sports, fashion, jurisprudence, banking and business both abroad and worldwide. Italian people are generally known for their localism (both regionalist and municipalist) and their attention to clothing and family values.