Italian people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
| Italians | ||
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| Total population: | c. 122 million | |
| Significant populations in: | Italy: 56,000,000 Brazil: |
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| Language: | Italian, Sicilian, Sardinian, Ladin, Friulian | |
| Religion: | Catholicism, some Atheists and Agnostics | |
| Related ethnic groups: | {{{related}}} | |
The Italians are a Western European Latin ethnic group primarily associated with Italy and the Italian language.
There are around 56 million autochthonous Italians in Italy, around 550,000 in Switzerland, as well as some smaller groups in Slovenia and Croatia.
There is a notable Italian diaspora in the United States (Italian-Americans), Brazil (Italian Brazilians), Argentina, Uruguay, Canada (Italian Canadians) and Australia (Italian Australians).
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Ethnic makeup
The history of Italy shows that over the centuries, quite a few non-native ethnic groups have poured into the Italian peninsula and Sicily since Roman times. Almost all of these ethnicities came from Europe with the notable exception of a small number of Arabs who invaded Sicily in the 9th century. The northern Italians of the Po Valley were historically recognized as Gauls (or Celts) by the Romans. Central and Italians labeled themselves as Latins and other linguistically related tribes (and may actually be related to the Celts in the north). The main outsiders who came into Italy in the last 3000 years were the Greeks who heavily colonized the southern Italian Peninsula as well as Sicily before the 1st century BC. Then came the Ostrogoths in the 5th century AD, and finally the Lombards in the 6th century AD. Both of these groups were Germanic tribes who had come from the north of Europe seeking land, wealth, and living space. Other later groups such as the Franks, Byzantines, Normans, and the French Angevins ruled parts of Italy but only settled in small numbers throughout the country.
Physical appearance and characteristics
The Italian phenotype is European, but profoundly varied within this context. Sicilians tend to have the darkest complexions, but yet many native people with Nordic features can be found throughout the island. The peninsula contains people mainly descended from the prehistoric waves of migration from the north during the last ice age. These groups of stone-age Europeans gave rise to the indigenous Italian tribes such as the Romans and Etruscans. Later, came succesive waves of Greeks who inhibited the southern Peninsula an Sicily, they were so numerous that southern Italy became known Magna Graecia ("Greater Greece"), During Roman times many immigrants came from throughout the vast Empire, and then at least two massive waves of Germans during the medieval period. The resulting varied appearance of Italians shows that there is no typical Italian 'look' as some claim for other European countries. The shape of the Italian peninsula dictates that any land travel into the peninsula would have to come down from the main body of the European continent, which is exactly what happened during the last ice age. Later, sea travel facilitated contact and some migration around the Mediterranean. Current genetic studies are attempting to detect distinct foreign gene signatures. The results so far indicate that Italians are most closely related to their immediate European neighbors.
Ethnicities within Italy
From the end of the Roman Empire until the mid-nineteenth century, Italy was not the nation-state as we know it today. The landmass was fractured into various kingdoms, duchies, and domains. Over the centuries, dialects and customs evolved differently as a result of isolation of the kingdoms from one another, and their being influenced by foreign powers. While all the kingdoms were similar in that they retained basic elements of Roman language and culture, each one built upon this ancient culture to develop their own independent culture and ethnic identity. Even to this day, Italians living in their homeland define themselves by their home region, and most speak both local dialect and standard Italian.
Immigrants to Italy
Today immigrants from North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia are coming to Italy both legally and illegally but are not present in great numbers like they are in France. It is interesting to note that hostility towards Arab and North African Muslim peoples is very intense in Italy. One theory holds that along with Spain and Greece, Italy was one of the main entry points of Islamic armies into medieval Europe. Because of the fact that Italians had to defeat and drive out these people in the past, there is a feeling of contempt toward them in modern Italian culture, which is not found in the more northern countries of Europe, which were isolated from Muslim invasion.
See also
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