Italians in France
 
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
4,000,000 (with Italian ancestry) 174,000 (Italian citizens) 370,000 (Other data of Italian citizens in France) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
|
France, Paris, Lyon, Lille, Strasbourg, Lorraine Southeastern France (Provence, Savoy, Corsica and Nice have autochthonous Italian populations), Southwestern France. |
|
| Languages | |
| French, Italian, Italian dialects. | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism |
4,000,000 (with Italian ancestry) 174,000 (Italian citizens)
Italian migration into what is today France has been going on, in different migrating cycles, for centuries, beginning in prehistoric times right to the modern age. In addition, Corsica passed from the Republic of Genoa to France in 1768, and the county of Nice and Savoy from the Kingdom of Sardinia to France in 1860. According to Robin Cohen, "about 5 million French nationals are of Italian origin if their parentage is retraced over three generations". According to official data of the Eurostat for 2012, the number of Italian citizens residing in France was 174,000.
There has always been migration, since ancient times, between what is today Italy and France, but at a limited extent. This is especially true of the regions of northwestern Italy and southeastern France. As Italian wealth and influence grew during the Middle Ages, many Florentine, Genoese, Neapolitan, Piedmontese and Venetian traders, bankers and artisans settled, usually through family branches, throughout France. Regions of significant Italian diaspora sprang up as far north as Paris and Flanders. However it was not much as a percentage of the French global population.
This Italian migration developed more through the Renaissance, as previous generations became assimilated. Italian artists, writers and architects were called upon by the French monarchy and aristocrats, leading to a significant interchange of culture, but it was not a massive immigration of popular classes.
Since the 16th century, Florence and its citizens have long enjoyed a very close relationship with France. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Catherine de' Medici married Henry, the second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude of France. Under the gallicised version of her name, Catherine de Médici, she became Queen consort of France when Henry ascended to the throne in 1547. Later on, after Henry died, she became regent on behalf of her ten-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III.
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Wikipedia