Italians (people)

Italians (people)
source
Name	Italians
Native name	Italiani
Caption	Distribution of Italian ancestry worldwide
Regions	Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, Malta, Argentina, United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil
Language	Italian and regional languages
Religion	Predominantly Christianity (Roman Catholic)
Related	Other Romance peoples, Sardinians, Sicilians

Italians (people) are a Romance-speaking ethnic group primarily associated with the Italian Peninsula and surrounding islands whose history, culture, and institutions have been central to Mediterranean and European developments from antiquity to the present. They trace descent from a complex mix of ancient Italic, Etruscan, Greek, Celtic, Germanic, and other Mediterranean and European populations, and have contributed to art, science, law, exploration, and cuisine across the globe.

History

Italy's peninsula witnessed ancient civilizations such as the Etruscan civilization, the Latins, and other Italic tribes before the rise of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire, whose institutions influenced Byzantine Empire, Holy Roman Empire, and medieval polities like the Kingdom of the Lombards and the Republic of Venice. The medieval period saw city-states and maritime republics including Florence, Genoa, Venice, Pisa, and Siena foster commerce, banking (e.g., Medici family), and artistic patronage that fed the Renaissance and shaped figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante Alighieri, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Galileo Galilei. The peninsula was fragmented into entities like the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Papal States, and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the 19th-century Risorgimento, led by actors such as Giuseppe Garibaldi, Count Cavour, Giuseppe Mazzini, and culminating in the Kingdom of Italy (1861) under Victor Emmanuel II. The 20th century involved participation in World War I, the rise of Benito Mussolini and Fascist Italy, involvement in World War II, postwar reconstruction, the 1946 Italian institutional referendum establishing the Italian Republic, and integration into supranational bodies like the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Union.

Demographics

Population centers include Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Bologna, and Florence, with diasporas in Buenos Aires, New York City, Toronto, Sydney, São Paulo, and Chicago. Census and registry data track internal migration from southern regions such as Sicily and Calabria to northern industrial regions like Lombardy and Piedmont during the 20th century. Immigration flows since the late 20th century include arrivals from Albania, Morocco, China, Romania, Philippines, and Ukraine, reshaping urban demography. Emigration waves during the late 19th and early 20th centuries produced large communities of Italian descent in Argentina, United States, Brazil, Australia, and Canada.

Language and Dialects

Standard Italian derives from the Tuscan dialect used by writers such as Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, and Giovanni Boccaccio, codified in grammars and lexicons like those by Accademia della Crusca. Regional languages and varieties—often called dialects—include Sicilian, Neapolitan, Ligurian, Venetian, Sardinian, Romanesco, Emilian, and Friulian, each with literary traditions and local media. Language policy and education involve institutions such as the Italian Constitution provisions on language and organizations like the Accademia della Crusca and the Istat collecting linguistic data. Multilingual contexts exist in South Tyrol (German), parts of Aosta Valley (French), and Istria and Dalmatia historic ties.

Culture and Society

Italian society features regional culinary traditions including pizza from Naples, pasta varieties, Tuscan cuisine, Sicilian cuisine, and wine regions like Chianti and Barolo; artistic heritage centered on Uffizi Gallery, Vatican Museums, and the Accademia Gallery; and public celebrations such as Carnevale di Venezia and Palio di Siena. Family networks, patronage legacies like the Medici family, and institutions such as Opera houses—e.g., La Scala—shape social life alongside clubs, trade guilds, and football clubs like Juventus F.C., A.C. Milan, and Inter Milan. Festivals and artisan traditions persist in crafts from Murano glassmaking to Florentine leatherwork.

Religion and Beliefs

Roman Catholicism is historically predominant, with the Holy See and Vatican City exerting spiritual and cultural influence; major Catholic sites include St. Peter's Basilica and the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. Religious pluralism includes Eastern Orthodoxy among immigrant communities, Islam and Judaism with historic communities in Venice and Rome, and growing secular and nonreligious populations documented in national surveys. Religious institutions such as the Italian Episcopal Conference and concordats like the Lateran Treaty have shaped church-state relations.

Identity and Citizenship

Italian identity has been constructed through regional, linguistic, and historical narratives from the legacy of the Roman Empire to the Risorgimento. Citizenship law is governed by statutes such as the Italian nationality law with principles of jus sanguinis shaping diaspora ties; naturalization processes involve institutions like the Ministry of Interior (Italy). Symbols like the Flag of Italy, the Italian Republic emblem, and national commemorations such as Festa della Repubblica contribute to civic identity.

Notable Contributions and Influence

Individuals of Italian origin have been prominent across arts, sciences, and politics: Renaissance masters Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael; composers Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini; explorers like Christopher Columbus (born in Genoa); scientists Galileo Galilei and Alessandro Volta; modern figures including Enrico Fermi, Sofia Loren, Federico Fellini, Guglielmo Marconi, and Rita Levi-Montalcini. Institutions and movements such as the Roman law tradition, the Renaissance, Italian neorealist cinema exemplified by Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica, and design houses like Ferrari, Fiat, Prada, and Gucci reflect wide-ranging global influence in architecture (e.g., St. Mark's Basilica), literature (e.g., Italo Calvino), philosophy (e.g., Giambattista Vico), and architecture firms and restoration projects tied to UNESCO world heritage sites across Veneto, Tuscany, and Campania.

Category:Ethnic groups in Europe