U.S. English Foundation Research
ITALY
General Information
Capital:
Rome 2,687,881 (1993 est.)
Area:
301,230 sq km (116,341 sq mi)
Form of government
Republic with two legislative houses
GDP per capita
Purchasing power parity-$21,400 (1999 est.)
Population
56,735,130 (July 1999 est.)
Ethnic composition
Italian - 94.1%
This includes small clusters of Albanian-, Catalan-, Croatian-, French-, Friulian-, German-, Greek-, Ladin-, Occitan-, Sardian-, Slovene-, Roma- and Sinti-Italians
Sardinian - 2.7%
Rhaetian - 1.3%
Other - 1.9%
Official Language(s)
Italian
Note: In July 2000 the Italian Parliament agreed to modify the Constitution by adding the words "Italian is the official language of the country". The lower house of Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, approved a draft to modify Article 12 of the Constitution. The proposal must be passed by the upper house, known as the Senate.
Minority Language(s)
ALBANIAN
Albanian is spoken in certain towns Abruzzo, Campania, Calabria, Basilicata, Puglia, Sicilia and Molise regions. The number of Albanian language speakers in Italy is estimated at about 100,000.
CATALAN
Catalan is spoken in the city of Alghero in the northwestern part of Sardinia. About 20,000 people out of a total of 40,000 inhabitants speak the language.
CROATIAN
Croatian is spoken in three communities in the Molise region of the province of Campobasso. Approximately 2,000 to 2,400 people speak Croatian.
FRENCH, (FRANCO-PROVENÇAL)
There is a small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region where it comes under the influence of Francoprovencal dialects spoken locally. Also the province of Turins' Piedmont region contains several valleys where it comes under the influence of Occitan, such as Val Germanasea, and the valleys of Cluson and Pélis. The population of the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley (115,000 inhabitants) is officially bilingual, the French along with the Italian languages. The number of those who use French daily is, according to available statistical data, limited. The native population prefers Francoprovençal dialects whereas immigrants prefer either Italian or its respective regional dialects.
About 4,000 people in Piedmont speak French. In Puglia, according to 1977 estimates, the resident population (1450) had both active and passive competence in the French language.
FRIULIAN
Friulian (or Eastern Ladin) is spoken in the provinces of Udine, Pordenone and in parts of the provinces of Gorizia and Venice. There is no official data, but it is estimated that of a total of 1,230,000 inhabitants in the Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, about 550,000 people speak Friulan.
GERMAN
The German language is spoken in the region of South Tyrol. It is also spoken in various dialectal forms in a number of linguistic islands outside of that area. According to the 1981 census, there are about 280,000 ethnic Germans in the province of South Tyrol. This amounts to 66.4% of the total population. Numerous linguistic islands exist along the ridge of the Southern Alps. The number of German speakers can only be estimated, as no official statistics are available. There are a few thousand people in total, scattered over no less than eleven locations (the Alpine range of Piedmont and the Valle d'Aosta; the province of Trento/Trient; Fersental/Valle dei Mocheni (Mòcheno); Lusern/Luserna(Cimbri; the Asagio plateau in the province of Vicenza; the Veneto area; the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia; Zahre/Sauris, Tischlwang/Timau and the Kanaltal).
GREEK
Greek is spoken in the regions of Puglia and Calabria. The estimated number of speakers is around 10,000 to 12,000 people.
LADIN
Ladin is spoken in certain valleys in the Dolomites, Val Badia, Val Marebbe, Val Gardena, Val di Fassa, Livinallongo, and Cortina d'Ampezzo, all of which are located in the provinces of Trento, Belluno and Bolzano/Bozen. The language is spoken by between 30,000 and 35,000, most of who are bilingual, either Ladin-Italian, or Ladin-German.
OCCITAN
Occitan is spoken in 14 Piedmontese valleys in the Alps (provinces of Cuneo and Torino), in one community (Olivetta San Michele), a few hamlets in the Liguria region (province of Imperia), and in one community (Guardia Piemontese) in the region of Calabria (province of Cosenza). There is no official data on the number of speakers, but estimates are around 50,000.
SARDINIAN
Varieties of Sardinian are spoken throughout Sardinia with the exception of the city of Alghero, where Catalan is spoken.
SLOVENE
There is a Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area. There is no official data on the number of speakers. A rough estimate shows between 50,000 and 100,000 people (out of a total population of 632,000).
ROMA AND SINTI
There are an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 Roma and Sinti in Italy.
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