Total population | |
---|---|
(Italian South Africans 20,000 - 75,000) |
|
Regions with significant populations | |
Johannesburg, Umkomaas, Cape Town other main city centres. | |
Languages | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Roman Catholicism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Italian Americans, Italian Canadians, Italian British, Italian Australians, Mediterraneans Greek South Africans, Portuguese South Africans |
Italian Americans, Italian Canadians, Italian British, Italian Australians, Mediterraneans
Italian South Africans (Italian: Italo-sudafricani) refers to South Africans who have full or partial Italian heritage, especially those who identify with that ancestry, along with their cultural characteristics. The Italo-South Africans are the Italians who emigrated to South Africa in the last few centuries, and their descendants.
Most Italian South Africans, like other South Africans, are Christians. The majority of them are Roman Catholics although there is a Protestant minority.
All the remaining first-generation Italian South Africans speak Italian and also English or other South African languages as second language.
The Italian South Africans of the new generations are assimilated into South African society, and most of them speak mainly English as first language with a handful that speak Afrikaans and Zulu but still secondarily Italian (and sometimes French).