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177-395: In the center of Calabria sits Sila National Park. It offers visitors a fascinating place, full of beautiful routes and exciting landscapes, mountains and enchanted valleys. There are spectacular plants and a wide variety of animals that roam about. The park preserves one of the most significant biodiverse and scenic natural wonders, truly deserving the utmost of protection. The park's symbol

354-533: A coup d'état on October 7, 1970, but a few hundred Italian settlers returned to Libya in the 2000s (decade). Somalia had some 50,000 Italian Somali settlers during World War II, constituting about 5% of the total population in Italian Somaliland . The Italians resided in most major cities in the central and southern parts of the territory, with around 10,000 living in the capital Mogadishu . Other major areas of settlement included Jowhar , which

531-780: A protected area in Europe is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Italy – in Europe  (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (light green)  –  [ Legend ] Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country in Southern and Western Europe . It consists of a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea , with

708-638: A branch of the Bourbons ascended to the throne of Sicily and Naples. During the Napoleonic Wars , north and central Italy were reorganised as Sister Republics of France and, later, as a Kingdom of Italy . The south was administered by Joachim Murat , Napoleon's brother-in-law. 1814's Congress of Vienna restored the situation of the late 18th century, but the ideals of the French Revolution could not be eradicated, and re-surfaced during

885-525: A crucially innovative role in financial development by devising banking practices, and enabling new forms of social organisation. In coastal and southern areas, maritime republics dominated the Mediterranean and monopolised trade to the Orient. They were independent thalassocratic city-states, in which merchants had considerable power. Although oligarchical, the relative political freedom they afforded

1062-448: A divide between Northern and Southern Italy called Southern question . Between 1860 and World War I, 9 million Italians left permanently of a total of 16 million who emigrated, most travelling to North or South America. The numbers may have even been higher; 14 million from 1876 to 1914, according to another study. Annual emigration averaged almost 220,000 in the period 1876 to 1900, and almost 650,000 from 1901 through 1915. Prior to 1900

1239-533: A famous meeting between Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II , the last king of Sardinia, during which Garibaldi shook Victor Emanuel's hand and hailed him as King of Italy . Cavour agreed to include Garibaldi's southern Italy in a union with the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860. This allowed the Sardinian government to declare a united Italian kingdom on 17 March 1861, with Victor Emmanuel II as its first king. In 1865,

1416-661: A few dozen Italians remained in Odesa, most of whom no longer knew their own language. Over time they merged with the local population, losing the ethnic connotations of origin. They disappeared completely by World War II . The Italians of Crimea are a small ethnic minority residing in Crimea. Italians have populated some areas of Crimea since the time of the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Venice. In 1783, 25,000 Italians immigrated to Crimea, which had been recently annexed by

1593-466: A few months—in which to work and earn money in order to build a better future in Italy. This phenomenon took place the most in the 1970s, a period that was marked by the return to their homeland of many Italian emigrants. The Italian state signed an emigration pact with Germany in 1955 which guaranteed mutual commitment in the matter of migratory movements and which led almost three million Italians to cross

1770-533: A few small settlements. The first Italian to be registered as residing in the area corresponding to the current U.S. was Pietro Cesare Alberti , commonly regarded as the first Italian American , a Venetian seaman who, in 1635, settled in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam , what would eventually become New York City . Enrico Tonti , together with the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle , explored

1947-586: A fraction of the white Zimbabwean population, Italo-Zimbabweans are well represented in the hospitality , real estate , tourism and food and beverage industries. The majority live in Harare, with over 9,000 in 2012, (less than one percent of the city's population), while over 30,000 live abroad mostly in the UK , South Africa , Canada , Italy and Australia . The first Italian presence in Morocco dates back to

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2124-753: A free government. All men must be equal to each other in natural law". Italian Americans served in the American Revolutionary War both as soldiers and officers. Francesco Vigo aided the colonial forces of George Rogers Clark by serving as one of the foremost financiers of the Revolution in the frontier Northwest. Later, he was a co-founder of Vincennes University in Indiana. During the Spanish conquest of what would be present-day Argentine territory, an Italian Leonardo Gribeo , from

2301-756: A member of NATO . The Marshall Plan revived the economy, which, until the late 1960s, enjoyed a period called the Economic Miracle . In the 1950s, Italy became a founding country of the European Communities , a forerunner of the European Union. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, the country experienced the Years of Lead , characterised by economic difficulties, especially after the 1973 oil crisis ; social conflicts; and terrorist massacres. The economy recovered and Italy became

2478-618: A part of the monument dedicated to King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy , and in memory of that, the inscription of the plaque on the two burning braziers perpetually at the Altare della Patria next to the tomb of the Italian Unknown Soldier , reads "Gli italiani all'estero alla Madre Patria" ("Italians abroad to the Motherland"). The allegorical meaning of the flames that burn perpetually is linked to their symbolism, which

2655-647: A permanent seat in the League of Nations 's executive council. The socialist agitations that followed the devastation of the Great War, inspired by the Russian Revolution , led to counter-revolution and repression throughout Italy. The liberal establishment, fearing a Soviet-style revolution, started to endorse the small National Fascist Party , led by Mussolini. In October 1922, the Blackshirts of

2832-816: A population from the Greek island of Corfu (Kerkyra) with ethnic and linguistic ties to the Republic of Venice. The origins of the Corfiot Italian community can be found in the expansion of the Italian States toward the Balkans during and after the Crusades . In the 12th century, the Kingdom of Naples sent some Italian families to Corfu to rule the island. From the Fourth Crusade of 1204 onwards,

3009-464: A population of nearly 60 million. Italy's capital and largest city is Rome ; other major urban areas include Milan , Naples , Turin , Palermo , Bologna , Florence , Genoa , and Venice . The history of Italy goes back to numerous Italic peoples , notably including the ancient Romans , who conquered the Mediterranean world during the Roman Republic and ruled it for centuries during

3186-620: A racing circuit outside Tripoli (it lasted until 1940). Italian farmers cultivated lands that had returned to native desert for many centuries, and improved Italian Libya's agriculture to international standards (even with the creation of new farm villages). Libya had some 150,000 Italians settlers when Italy entered World War II in 1940, constituting about 18% of the total population in Italian Libya . The Italians in Libya resided (and many still do) in most major cities like Tripoli (37% of

3363-543: A revival of Italian republicanism. Italy became a republic after the 1946 Italian institutional referendum held on 2 June, a day celebrated since as Festa della Repubblica . This was the first time women voted nationally. Victor Emmanuel III's son, Umberto II , was forced to abdicate. The Republican Constitution was approved in 1948. Under the Treaty of Paris between Italy and the Allied Powers , areas next to

3540-539: A safe stronghold to be detained as prisoners of war (POWs). South Africa was the perfect destination, and the first POWs arrived in Durban , in 1941. In the early 1970s, there were over 40,000 Italians in South Africa, scattered throughout the provinces but concentrated in the main cities. Some of these Italians had taken refuge in South Africa, escaping the decolonization of Rhodesia and other African states. In

3717-734: A series of wars in the peninsula. During the High Renaissance , popes such as Julius II (1503–1513) fought for control of Italy against foreign monarchs; Paul III (1534–1549) preferred to mediate between the European powers to secure peace. In the middle of such conflicts, the Medici popes Leo X (1513–1521) and Clement VII (1523–1534) faced the Protestant Reformation in Germany, England and elsewhere. In 1559, at

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3894-628: A significant role in regional and global economic, military, cultural, and diplomatic affairs. Italy is a founding and leading member of the European Union, and is part of numerous international institutions, including NATO , the G7 and G20 , the Latin Union and the Union for the Mediterranean . As a cultural superpower , Italy has long been a renowned global centre of art , music , literature , cuisine , fashion , science and technology , and

4071-403: Is also significant that these flows no longer concern only the regions of southern Italy, but also those of the north, such as Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna . According to the available statistics, the community of Italian citizens residing abroad amounts to 4,600,000 people (2015 data). It is therefore greatly reduced, from a percentage point of view, from 9,200,000 in the early 1920s (when it

4248-441: Is an annual flow which, according to the 2012 data from the registry office of Italians residing abroad (AIRE), is around 78,000 people with an increase of about 20,000 compared to 2011, even if it is estimated that the actual number of people who have emigrated is considerably higher (between two and three times), as many compatriots cancel their residence in Italy with much delay compared to their actual departure. The phenomenon of

4425-594: Is centuries old, since it has its origins in classical antiquity , especially in the cult of the dead . A fire that burns eternally symbolizes that the memory, in this case of the sacrifice of the Unknown Soldier and the bond of the country of origin , is perpetually alive in Italians, even in those who are far from their country, and will never fade. Following the defeat of Italy in World War II and

4602-506: Is concentrated mainly between Europe (55.8%) and America (38.8%). Followed by Oceania (3.2%), Africa (1.3%) and Asia with 0.8%. The country with the most Italians is Argentina (648,333), followed by Germany (631,243), then Switzerland (520,713). Furthermore, 54.8% of Italian emigrants are of southern origin (over 1,400,000 from the South and almost 800,000 from the Islands ); 30.1% comes from

4779-478: Is influenced by the seas that surround Italy on every side except the north, which constitute a reservoir of heat and humidity. Within the southern temperate zone, they determine a Mediterranean climate with local differences. Because of the length of the peninsula and the mostly mountainous hinterland, the climate is highly diverse. In most inland northern and central regions, the climate ranges from humid subtropical to humid continental and oceanic . The Po Valley

4956-514: Is mostly assimilated into the Lebanese Catholic community. There is a growing interest in economic relationships between Italy and Lebanon (like with the "Vinifest 2011"). Italians of Odesa are mentioned for the first time in documents of the 13th century. The influx of Italians in southern Ukraine grew particularly with the foundation of Odesa, which took place in 1794. In 1797 there were about 800 Italians in Odesa, equal to 10% of

5133-599: Is mostly humid subtropical, with cool winters and hot summers. The coastal areas of Liguria , Tuscany, and most of the south generally fit the Mediterranean climate stereotype, as in the Köppen climate classification . Conditions on the coast are different from those in the interior, particularly during winter when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters, and hot and generally dry summers; lowland valleys are hot in summer. Winter temperatures vary from 0 °C (32 °F) in

5310-593: Is reduced to a few hundred, according to Italian Levantine writer Giovanni Scognamillo. Italians in Lebanon (or Italian Lebanese) are a community in Lebanon. Between the 12th and 15th centuries, the Italian Republic of Genoa had some Genoese colonies in Beirut , Tripoli , and Byblos . In more recent times, the Italians came to Lebanon in small groups during World War I and World War II , trying to escape

5487-536: Is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy . There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history . The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Unification of Italy , and ended in the 1920s to the early 1940s with the rise of Fascist Italy . Poverty was the main reason for emigration, specifically the lack of land as mezzadria sharecropping flourished in Italy, especially in

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5664-469: Is the wolf, a hunted species for centuries that has withstood its survival until 1970, when a law in favor of its preservation was established. Sila National Park offers magnificent sceneries of history that changes with the seasons. This park is full of a magical atmosphere, wondrous contrasts and harmonious arrangements of colors and shades. This Italian location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to

5841-514: Is today Italy and France . 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

6018-630: Is water. Including the islands, Italy has a coastline of 7,600 kilometres (4,722 miles) on the Mediterranean Sea , the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas, the Ionian Sea , and the Adriatic Sea . Its border with France runs for 488 km (303 mi); Switzerland, 740 km (460 mi); Austria, 430 km (267 mi); and Slovenia, 232 km (144 mi). The sovereign states of San Marino and Vatican City (the smallest country in

6195-670: The Oration on the Dignity of Man , considered the manifesto of the Renaissance. In the arts, the Italian Renaissance exercised a dominant influence on European art for centuries, with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci , Botticelli , Michelangelo , Raphael , Giotto , Donatello , and Titian , and architects such as Filippo Brunelleschi , Andrea Palladio , and Donato Bramante . Italian explorers and navigators from

6372-678: The Achaeans founded various cities. Greek colonisation placed the Italic peoples in contact with democratic forms of government and high artistic and cultural expressions. Ancient Rome, a settlement on the river Tiber in central Italy, founded in 753 BC, was ruled for 244 years by a monarchical system. In 509 BC, the Romans, favouring a government of the Senate and the People ( SPQR ), expelled

6549-622: The Adriatic Sea were annexed by Yugoslavia , resulting in the Istrian-Dalmatian exodus , which involved the emigration of around 300,000 Istrian and Dalmatian Italians . Italy lost all colonial possessions, ending the Italian Empire . Fears of a Communist takeover proved crucial in 1948 , when the Christian Democrats , under Alcide De Gasperi , won a landslide victory. Consequently, in 1949 Italy became

6726-599: The Alien Contract Labor Law ) and even suspending, for some time, emigration to Brazil, where many migrants had wound up as quasi-slaves on large coffee plantations. The Commissariat also helped to set up remittances sent by emigrants from the United States back to their homeland, which turned into a constant flow of money amounting, by some accounts, to about 5% of the Italian GNP . In 1903,

6903-741: The Allies in November 1941 and they were reduced to only 38,000 by 1946. This also includes a population of mixed Italian and Eritrean descent; most Italian Eritreans still living in Eritrea are from this mixed group. Although many of the remaining Italians stayed during the decolonization process after World War II and are actually assimilated to the Eritrean society, a few are stateless today, as none of them were given citizenship unless through marriage or, more rarely, by having it conferred upon them by

7080-449: The Alps on its northern land border, as well as nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia . Italy shares its borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and two enclaves: Vatican City and San Marino . It is the tenth-largest country in Europe by area, covering 301,340 km (116,350 sq mi), and third-most populous member state of the European Union , with

7257-489: The Clean Hands investigation—demanded radical reform. The Christian Democrats, who had ruled for almost 50 years, underwent a crisis and disbanded, splitting into factions. The Communists reorganised as a social-democratic force. During the 1990s and 2000s, centre-right (dominated by media magnate Silvio Berlusconi ) and centre-left coalitions (led by professor Romano Prodi ) alternately governed. In 2011, amidst

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7434-831: The Crimean War . Sardinia fought the Austrian Empire in the Second Italian War of Independence of 1859, with the aid of France, resulting in liberating Lombardy . On the basis of the Plombières Agreement , the Sardinia ceded Savoy and Nice to France, an event that caused the Niçard exodus . In 1860–1861, Garibaldi led the drive for unification in Naples and Sicily. Teano was the site of

7611-494: The Crusades , providing support, transport, but mostly taking political and trading opportunities. Italy first felt the economic changes which led to the commercial revolution : Venice was able to sack Byzantine's capital and finance Marco Polo 's voyages to Asia; the first universities were formed in Italian cities, and scholars such as Aquinas obtained international fame; capitalism and banking families emerged in Florence, where Dante and Giotto were active around 1300. In

7788-434: The Empire of Japan , and strongly supported Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War . In 1939, Italy annexed Albania . Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940. At different times, Italians advanced in British Somaliland , Egypt , the Balkans , and eastern fronts. They were, however, defeated on the Eastern Front as well as in the East African and North African campaigns, losing their territories in Africa and

7965-576: The Ethiopian Civil War in 1974. 80 original Italian colonists remain alive in 2007, and nearly 2000 mixed descendants of Italians and Ethiopians. In the 2000s, some Italian companies returned to operate in Ethiopia, and a large number of Italian technicians and managers arrived with their families, residing mainly in the metropolitan area of the capital. Conspicuous was the presence of Italian emigrants even in territories that have never been Italian colonies , such as Egypt , Tunisia , Morocco , Zimbabwe and Algeria . The first Italians in Tunisia at

8142-429: The Great Recession , Berlusconi resigned and was replaced by the technocratic cabinet of Mario Monti . In 2014, Matteo Renzi became prime minister and the government started constitutional reform. This was rejected in a 2016 referendum and Paolo Gentiloni became prime minister. During the European migrant crisis of the 2010s, Italy was the entry point and leading destination for most asylum seekers entering

8319-440: The Gregorian calendar ; the Jesuit China mission ; the French Wars of Religion ; end of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648); and the Great Turkish War . The Italian economy declined in the 1600s and 1700s. During the war of the Spanish succession (1700–1714), Austria acquired most of the Spanish domains in Italy, namely Milan, Naples and Sardinia; the latter was given to the House of Savoy in exchange for Sicily in 1720. Later,

8496-401: The House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula . By the mid-19th century, rising Italian nationalism led to revolution. Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the political and social Italian unification movement, or Risorgimento , emerged to unite Italy by consolidating the states and liberating them from foreign control. A radical figure was

8673-434: The Italian Federation of migrant workers and families . Between the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the next, the flow of Italian emigrants around the world greatly attenuated. Nevertheless, migration from certain regions never stopped, such as in Sicily. However, following the effects of the Great Recession , a continuous flow of expatriates has spread since the end of the 2010s. Although numerically lower than

8850-428: The Italian Peninsula , Sicily and Sardinia (the biggest islands of the Mediterranean), and many smaller islands . Some of Italy's territory extends beyond the Alpine basin, and some islands are located outside the Eurasian continental shelf. The country's area is 301,230 square kilometres (116,306 sq mi), of which 294,020 km (113,522 sq mi) is land and 7,210 km (2,784 sq mi)

9027-418: The Italic peoples . The main historic peoples of possible non-Indo-European or pre-Indo-European heritage include the Etruscans , the Elymians and Sicani of Sicily, and the prehistoric Sardinians , who gave birth to the Nuragic civilisation . Other ancient populations include the Rhaetian people and Camunni , known for their rock drawings in Valcamonica . A natural mummy, Ötzi , dated 3400–3100 BC,

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9204-482: The Kingdom of Greece in 1864. The Greek government abolished all Italian schools in the Ionian islands in 1870, and as a consequence, by the 1940s there were only 400 Corfiote Italians left. The architecture of Corfu City still reflects its long Venetian heritage, with its multi-storied buildings, its spacious squares such as the popular "Spianada" and the narrow cobblestone alleys known as "Kantounia". There has always been migration, since ancient times, between what

9381-461: The Kvarner Gulf , and the Dalmatian city of Zara . The subsequent Treaty of Rome (1924) led to annexation of Fiume by Italy. Italy did not receive other territories promised by the Treaty of London, so this outcome was denounced as a " mutilated victory ", by Benito Mussolini , which helped lead to the rise of Italian fascism . Historians regard "mutilated victory" as a "political myth", used by fascists to fuel Italian imperialism . Italy gained

9558-478: The Mediterranean (such as the Republic of Venice , the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Pisa or of the inhabitants of the Crusader states ). There are two big communities of Italian Levantines: one in Istanbul and the other in İzmir . At the end of the 19th century there were nearly 6,000 Levantines of Italian roots in İzmir. They came mainly from the Genoese island of Chios . The community reached more than 15,000 members during Ataturk 's times, but now

9735-407: The Middle Ages Italian communities from the "Maritime Republics" of Italy (mainly Pisa , Genoa and Amalfi ) were present in Egypt as merchants. Since the Renaissance the Republic of Venice has always been present in the history and commerce of Egypt: there was even a Venetian Quarter in Cairo . From the time of Napoleon I , Italian Egyptians started to grow in a huge way: the size of

9912-408: The Middle East . In the wake of Julius Caesar 's assassination in 44 BC, Rome grew into a massive empire stretching from Britain to the borders of Persia , engulfing the whole Mediterranean basin, in which Greek, Roman, and other cultures merged into a powerful civilisation. The long reign of the first emperor, Augustus , began an age of peace and prosperity. Roman Italy remained the metropole of

10089-479: The National Republican Army . German troops, with RSI collaboration, committed massacres and deported thousands of Jews to death camps. The post-armistice period saw the emergence of the Italian Resistance , who fought a guerrilla war against the Nazi German occupiers and collaborators. This has been described as an Italian civil war due to fighting between partisans and fascist RSI forces. In April 1945, with defeat looming, Mussolini attempted to escape north, but

10266-445: The Norse ; and Amerigo Vespucci , for whom the continent of America is named. A defensive alliance known as the Italic League was formed between Venice, Naples, Florence, Milan, and the Papacy. Lorenzo the Magnificent de Medici was the Renaissance's greatest patron, his support allowed the League to abort invasion by the Turks. The alliance, however, collapsed in the 1490s; the invasion of Charles VIII of France initiated

10443-449: The Ottoman Empire and captured Libya as a colony . Italians settlers were encouraged to come to Libya and did so from 1911 until the outbreak of World War II . In less than thirty years (1911–1940), the Italians in Libya built a significant amount of public works (roads, railways, buildings, ports, etc.) and the Libyan economy flourished. They even created the Tripoli Grand Prix , an international motor racing event first held in 1925 on

10620-457: The Paris Treaties of 1947 , Istria , Kvarner and most of Julian March , with the cities of Pola , Fiume and Zara , passed from Italy to Yugoslavia , causing the Istrian-Dalmatian exodus , which led to the emigration of between 230,000 and 350,000 of local ethnic Italians ( Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians ), towards Italy, and in smaller numbers, towards the Americas , Australia and South Africa . The Italian emigration of

10797-416: The Renaissance many Italian bankers, architects and artists moved to Germany and successfully integrated in the German society. The first Italians came to Poland in the Middle Ages, however, substantial migration of Italians to Poland began in the 16th century (see Poland section below). Italians in the United States before 1880 included a number of explorers, starting with Christopher Columbus , and

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10974-404: The Rif , included in Spanish Morocco , was minimal, except in Tangier , an international city, where there was an important community, as evidenced by the presence of the Italian School. A further increase of Italian immigrants in Morocco was recorded after World War I , reaching 12,000 people, who were employed among the workers and as farmers, unskilled workers, bricklayers and operators. In

11151-482: The Roman Empire . With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of the Catholic Church and the Papacy . Between late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages , Italy experienced the arrival of Germanic tribes and the fall of the Western Roman Empire . By the 11th century, Italian city-states and maritime republics expanded, bringing renewed prosperity through commerce and laying the groundwork for modern capitalism. The Italian Renaissance flourished during

11328-833: The Russian Empire . In 1830 and in 1870, two distinct migrations arrived in Kerch from the cities of Trani , Bisceglie and Molfetta . These migrants were peasants and sailors, attracted by the job opportunities in the local Crimean seaports and by the possibility to cultivate the nearly unexploited and fertile Crimean lands. After the October Revolution , many Italians were considered foreigners and were seen as an enemy. They therefore faced much repression. Between 1936 and 1938, during Stalin's Great Purge , many Italians were accused of espionage and were arrested, tortured, deported or executed. The few survivors were allowed to return to Kerch under Nikita Khrushchev 's regency. Some families dispersed in other territories of Soviet Union, mainly in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan . The descendants of

11505-437: The Río de la Plata Basin predates the birth of Argentina. Small groups of Italians began to emigrate to the present-day Argentine territory already in the second half of the 17th century. There were already Italians in Buenos Aires during the May Revolution , which started the Argentine War of Independence . In particular, Manuel Belgrano , Manuel Alberti and Juan José Castelli , all three of Italian descent, were part of

11682-405: The collapse of the Fascist regime on 25 July. Mussolini was deposed and arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III. On 8 September, Italy signed the Armistice of Cassibile , ending its war with the Allies. The Germans, with the assistance of Italian fascists, succeeded in taking control of north and central Italy. The country remained a battlefield, with the Allies moving up from the south. In

11859-428: The early Middle Ages , particularly architects, craftsmen and traders. During the late Middle Ages and early modern times many Italians came to Germany for business, and relations between the two countries prospered. The political borders were also somewhat intertwined under the German princes' attempts to extend control over all the Holy Roman Empire , which extended from northern Germany down to Northern Italy. During

12036-412: The eponymous geographical region , is located in Southern Europe (and is also considered part of Western Europe ) between latitudes 35° and 47° N , and longitudes 6° and 19° E . To the north, from west to east, Italy borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia, and is roughly delimited by the Alpine watershed , enclosing the Po Valley and the Venetian Plain . It consists of the entirety of

12213-516: The northern regions (almost 600,000 from the Northeast and 580,000 from the Northwest ); finally, 15% (588,717) comes from the central regions . Central-southern emigrants are the overwhelming majority in Europe (62.1%) and Oceania (65%). In Asia and Africa, however, half of the Italians come from the North. The region with the most emigrants is Sicily (646,993), followed by Campania (411,512), Lazio (346,067), Calabria (343,010), Apulia (309,964) and Lombardy (291,476). The province with

12390-437: The political upheavals that characterised the early 19th century. The first adoption of the Italian tricolour by an Italian state, the Cispadane Republic , occurred during Napoleonic Italy , following the French Revolution, which advocated national self-determination . This event is celebrated by Tricolour Day . The birth of the Kingdom of Italy was the result of efforts of Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to

12567-401: The 1400s and 1500s, Italy was the birthplace and heart of the Renaissance . This era marked the transition from the medieval period to the modern age and was fostered by the wealth accumulated by merchant cities and the patronage of dominant families. Italian polities were now regional states effectively ruled by princes, in control of trade and administration, and their courts became centres of

12744-701: The 15th and 16th centuries and spread to the rest of Europe. Italian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World , contributing significantly to the European Age of Discovery . After centuries of political and territorial divisions, Italy was almost entirely unified in 1861, following wars of independence and the Expedition of the Thousand , establishing the Kingdom of Italy . From

12921-557: The 1870s, Odesa's Italian population grew steadily. From the following decade this growth stopped, and the decline of the Italian community in Odesa began. The reason was mainly one, namely the gradual integration into the Slavic population of Odesa, i.e. Russians and Ukrainians. Surnames began to be Russianized and Ukrainianized . The revolution of 1917 sent many of them to Italy, or to other cities in Europe. In Soviet times , only

13098-590: The 1950s and 1970s. Today there is the National Museum of Italian Emigration ( Italian : Museo Nazionale dell'Emigrazione Italiana , "MEI"), located in Genoa , Italy. The exhibition space, which is spread over three floors and 16 thematic areas, describes the phenomenon of Italian emigration from before the unification of Italy to present. The museum describes the Italian emigration through autobiographies, diaries, letters, photographs and newspaper articles of

13275-475: The 1990s, a period of crisis began for Italian South Africans and many returned to Europe; however, the majority successfully integrated into the multiracial society of contemporary South Africa. The Italian community consists of over 77,400 people (0.1–2% of South Africa's population), half of whom have Italian citizenship. Those of Venetian origin number about 5,000, mainly residing in Johannesburg , while

13452-651: The AIRE registry: Although Italians did not emigrate to South Africa in large numbers, those who arrived there have nevertheless made an impact on the country. Before World War II, relatively few Italian immigrants arrived , though there were some prominent exceptions such as the Cape 's first Prime Minister John Molteno . South African Italians made big headlines during World War II, when Italians were captured in Italian East Africa , they needed to be sent to

13629-705: The Adriatic or Tyrrhenian Sea. The longest is the Po , which flows from the Alps on the western border, and crosses the Padan plain to the Adriatic. The Po Valley is the largest plain, with 46,000 km (18,000 sq mi), and contains over 70% of the country's lowlands . The largest lakes are, in descending size: Garda (367.94 km or 142 sq mi), Maggiore (212.51 km or 82 sq mi), and Como (145.9 km or 56 sq mi). The climate

13806-787: The Alps form most of its northern boundary, where Italy's highest point is located on the summit of Mont Blanc ( Monte Bianco ) at 4,810 m (15,780 ft). Other well-known mountains include the Matterhorn ( Monte Cervino ) in the western Alps, and the Dolomites in the eastern Alps. Many parts of Italy are of volcanic origin . Most small islands and archipelagos in the south are volcanic islands . There are active volcanoes: Mount Etna in Sicily (the largest in Europe), Vulcano , Stromboli , and Vesuvius . Most rivers of Italy drain into

13983-598: The Alps to 12 °C (54 °F) in Sicily; so, average summer temperatures range from 20 °C (68 °F) to over 25 °C (77 °F). Winters can vary widely with lingering cold, foggy, and snowy periods in the north, and milder, sunnier conditions in the south. Summers are hot across the country, except at high altitude, particularly in the south. Northern and central areas can experience strong thunderstorms from spring to autumn. Italian diaspora The Italian diaspora ( Italian : emigrazione italiana , pronounced [emiɡratˈtsjoːne itaˈljaːna] )

14160-509: The Balkans. Italian war crimes included extrajudicial killings and ethnic cleansing by deportation of about 25,000 people—mainly Yugoslavs—to Italian concentration camps and elsewhere. Yugoslav Partisans perpetrated their own crimes against the ethnic Italian population during and after the war, including the foibe massacres . An Allied invasion of Sicily began in July 1943, leading to

14337-616: The Church and new political dynasties. In 1453, despite activity by Pope Nicholas V to support the Byzantines, the city of Constantinople fell to the Ottomans . This led to the migration of Greek scholars and texts to Italy, fuelling the rediscovery of Greek humanism . Humanist rulers such as Federico da Montefeltro and Pope Pius II worked to establish ideal cities , founding Urbino and Pienza . Pico della Mirandola wrote

14514-733: The Commissariat also set the available ports of embarkation as Palermo , Naples and Genoa , excluding the port of Venice , which had previously also been used. Although the physical perils involved with transatlantic ship traffic during World War I disrupted emigration from all parts of Europe, including Italy, the condition of various national economies in the immediate post-war period was so bad that immigration picked up almost immediately. Foreign newspapers ran scare stories similar to those published 40 years earlier (when, for example, on December 18, 1880, The New York Times ran an editorial, "Undesirable Emigrants", full of typical invective of

14691-537: The EU. Between 2013 and 2018, it took in over 700,000 migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, which put a strain on the public purse and led to a surge in support for far-right or euro-sceptic parties. After the 2018 general election , Giuseppe Conte became prime minister of a populist coalition . With more than 155,000 victims, Italy was one of the countries with the most deaths in the COVID-19 pandemic and one of

14868-501: The East Indies ...". The extreme economic difficulties of post-war Italy and the severe internal tensions within the country, which led to the rise of fascism, led 614,000 immigrants away in 1920, half of them going to the United States. When the fascists came to power in 1922, there was a gradual slowdown in the flow of emigrants from Italy. However, during the first five years of fascist rule, 1,500,000 people left Italy. By then,

15045-725: The First World War in 1915 with the aim of completing national unity, so it is also considered the Fourth Italian War of Independence, from a historiographical perspective, as the conclusion of the unification of Italy . Italy, nominally allied with German and the Austro-Hungarian empires in the Triple Alliance , in 1915 joined the Allies , entering World War I with a promise of substantial territorial gains that included west Inner Carniola ,

15222-630: The Gibraltar, and up until 1830, Italian was spoken together with English and Spanish and used in official announcements. After Napoleonic times , many Sicilians and some Tuscans migrated to Gibraltar, but the Genoese and Ligurians remained the majority of the Italian group. Indeed, the Genoese dialect was spoken in Catalan Bay well into the 20th century, dying out in the 1970s. Today,

15399-880: The Great Lakes region. Tonti founded the first European settlement in Illinois in 1679, and in Arkansas in 1683, making him "The Father of Arkansas". With LaSalle, he co-founded New Orleans , and was governor of the Louisiana Territory for the next 20 years. His brother Alfonso Tonti , with French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac , was the co-founder of Detroit in 1701, and was its acting colonial governor for 12 years. The Taliaferro family (originally Tagliaferro ), believed to have roots in Venice ,

15576-488: The Italian Friuli. Mezzadria , a form of sharefarming where tenant families obtained a plot to work on from an owner and kept a reasonable share of the profits, was more prevalent in central Italy, and is one of the reasons that there was less emigration from that part of Italy. The south lacked entrepreneurs, and absentee landlords were common. Although owning land was the basic yardstick of wealth, farming there

15753-622: The Italian Front, secured dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was instrumental in ending the war less than two weeks later. During the war, more than 650,000 Italian soldiers and as many civilians died, and the kingdom was on the brink of bankruptcy. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) and Treaty of Rapallo (1920) allowed for annexation of Trentino Alto-Adige , the Julian March , Istria ,

15930-515: The Italian occupation of Ethiopia, roughly 300,000 Italians settled in the Italian East Africa (1936–1941). Over 49,000 lived in Asmara in 1939 (around 10% of the city's population), and over 38,000 resided in Addis Abeba . After independence, some Italians remained for decades after receiving full pardon by Emperor Selassie, but eventually nearly 22,000 Italo-Ethiopians left the country due to

16107-523: The Italians of Crimea account today for 3,000 people, mainly residing in Kerch. A Genoese community has existed in Gibraltar since the 16th century and later became an important part of the population. There is much evidence of a community of emigrants from Genoa, who moved to Gibraltar in the 16th century and that were more than a third of the Gibraltar population in the first half of the 18th century. Although labeled as "Genoese", they were not only from

16284-595: The May Revolution and the Primera Junta . The Italian community had already grown to such an extent that in 1836 the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia sent an ambassador, Baron Picolet d'Hermilion. The Unification of Italy broke down the feudal land system, which had survived in the south since the Middle Ages, especially where land had been the inalienable property of aristocrats, religious bodies or

16461-587: The National Fascist Party organised a mass demonstration and the " March on Rome " coup . King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Mussolini as prime minister, transferring power to the fascists without armed conflict. Mussolini banned political parties and curtailed personal liberties, establishing a dictatorship. These actions attracted international attention and inspired similar dictatorships in Nazi Germany and Francoist Spain . Fascism

16638-717: The Ottoman sieges of the 16th century. Corfiot Italians were mainly concentrated in the city of Corfu, which was called "Città di Corfu" by the Venetians. More than half of the population of Corfu city in the 18th century spoke the Venetian language. The re-emergence of Greek nationalism, after the Napoleonic era, contributed to the gradual disappearance of the Corfiot Italians. Corfu was ultimately incorporated into

16815-756: The Papacy, with city-states siding with the former ( Ghibellines ) or with the latter ( Guelphs ) for momentary advantage. The Germanic emperor and Roman pontiff became the universal powers of medieval Europe. However, conflict over the Investiture Controversy and between Guelphs and Ghibellines ended the imperial-feudal system in the north, where cities gained independence. In 1176, the Lombard League of city-states, defeated Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa , ensuring their independence. City-states—e.g. Milan , Florence, Venice —played

16992-682: The Republic of Venice sent many Italian families to Corfu. These families brought the Italian language of the Middle Ages to the island. When Venice ruled Corfu and the Ionian islands , which lasted during the Renaissance and until the late 18th century, most of the Corfiote upper classes spoke Italian (or specifically Venetian in many cases), but the mass of people remained Greek ethnically, linguistically, and religiously before and after

17169-574: The Roman Republic's expansion, the name was used by Greeks for the land between the strait of Messina and the line connecting the gulfs of Salerno and Taranto , corresponding to Calabria. The Greeks came to apply "Italia" to a larger region. In addition to the " Greek Italy " in the south, historians have suggested the existence of an "Etruscan Italy", which consisted of areas of central Italy. The borders of Roman Italy , Italia , are better established. Cato's Origines describes Italy as

17346-572: The South, and property became subdivided over generations. Especially in Southern Italy , conditions were harsh. From the 1860s to the 1950s, Italy was still a largely rural society with many small towns and cities having almost no modern industry and in which land management practices, especially in the South and the Northeast , did not easily convince farmers to stay on the land and to work

17523-556: The State. Italians of Ethiopia are immigrants who moved from Italy to Ethiopia starting in the 19th century, as well as their descendants. Most of the Italians moved to Ethiopia after the Italian conquest of Abyssinia in 1936. Italian Ethiopia was made of Harrar, Galla-Sidamo, Amhara and Scioa Governorates in summer 1936 and became a part of the Italian colony Italian East Africa , with capital Addis Abeba and with Victor Emmanuel III proclaiming himself Emperor of Ethiopia . During

17700-408: The area. In the early-1880s, epidemics of cholera also struck the city, causing many people to leave. The epidemics were the driving force behind the decision to rebuild entire sections of the city, an undertaking known as the " risanamento " (literally "making healthy again"), a pursuit that lasted until the start of World War I. During the first few years before the unification of Italy, emigration

17877-577: The arts and sciences. These princedoms were led by political dynasties and merchant families, such as the Medici of Florence. After the end of the Western Schism , newly elected Pope Martin V returned to the Papal States and restored Italy as the sole centre of Western Christianity. The Medici Bank was made the credit institution of the Papacy, and significant ties were established between

18054-424: The beginning of World War II. Their ancestry dates back from the beginning of the Italian colonization of Eritrea at the end of the 19th century, but only during 1930s they settled in large numbers. In the 1939 census of Eritrea there were more than 76,000 Eritrean Italians, most of them living in Asmara (53,000 out of the city's total of 93,000). Many Italian settlers got out of their colony after its conquest by

18231-582: The beginning of the 19th century were mainly traders and professionals in search of new opportunities, coming from Liguria and the other regions of northern Italy. At the end of the 19th century, Tunisia received the immigration of tens of thousands of Italians, mainly from Sicily and also Sardinia . As a consequence, in the first years of the 20th century there were more than 100,000 Italian residents in Tunisia. In 1926, there were 100,000 Italians in Tunisia, compared to 70,000 Frenchmen (unusual since Tunisia

18408-480: The border in search of work. As of 2017, there are approximately 700,000 Italians in Germany, while in Switzerland this number reaches approximately 500,000. They are mainly of Sicilian , Calabrian , Abruzzese and Apulian origin, but also Venetian and Emilian , many of whom have dual citizenship and therefore the ability to vote in both countries. In Belgium and Switzerland, the Italian communities remain

18585-467: The calf ( Latin : vitulus ; Umbrian : vitlo ; Oscan : Víteliú ). Several ancient authors said it was named after a local ruler Italus . The ancient Greek term for Italy initially referred only to the south of the Bruttium peninsula and parts of Catanzaro and Vibo Valentia . The larger concept of Oenotria and "Italy" became synonymous, and the name applied to most of Lucania as well. Before

18762-463: The city of Genoa but from all of Liguria , a region in Northern Italy that was the center of the maritime Republic of Genoa. According to the 1725 census, on a total civilian population of 1,113 there were 414 Genoese, 400 Spaniards, 137 Jews, 113 Britons and 49 others (mainly Portuguese and Dutch). In the 1753 census, the Genoese were the biggest group (nearly 34%) of civilian residents in

18939-450: The city was Italian), Benghazi (31%), and Hun (3%). Their numbers decreased after 1946. France and the UK took over the spoils of war that included Italian discovery and technical expertise in the extraction and production of crude oil, superhighways, irrigation, electricity. Most of Libya's Italian residents were expelled from the country in 1970, a year after Muammar Gaddafi seized power in

19116-519: The community had reached around 55,000 just before World War II , forming the second largest immigrant community in Egypt. After World War II, like many other foreign communities in Egypt, migration back to Italy and the West reduced the size of the community greatly due to wartime internment and the rise of Nasserist nationalism against Westerners. After the war many members of the Italian community related to

19293-524: The course of over a century are present abroad. Benefit , cultural, assistance and service associations that have constituted a fundamental point of reference for emigrants. The major associative networks of various ideal inspirations are now gathered in the National Council of Emigration. One of the largest associative networks in the world, together with those of the Catholic world , is that of

19470-759: The customs duty were handled by the Riccardi , a group of bankers from Lucca in Italy. This was in return for their service as money lenders to the crown, which helped finance the Welsh Wars. When the war with France broke out, the French king confiscated the Riccardi's assets, and the bank went bankrupt. After this, the Frescobaldi of Florence took over the role as money lenders to the English crown. Large numbers of Italians have resided in Germany since

19647-536: The day against the "promiscuous immigration… [of]…the filthy, wretched, lazy, criminal dregs of the meanest sections of Italy"). An article written during the interwar period on April 17, 1921, in the same newspaper, used the headlines "Italians Coming in Great Numbers" and "Number of Immigrants Will Be Limited Only By Capacity of Liners" (there was now a limited number of ships available because of recent wartime losses) and that potential immigrants were thronging

19824-545: The defeated Italian expansion in Egypt were forced to move away, starting a process of reduction and disappearance of the Italian Egyptians. After 1952 the Italian Egyptians were reduced – from the nearly 60,000 of 1940 – to just a few thousands. Most Italian Egyptians returned to Italy during the 1950s and 1960s, although a few Italians continue to live in Alexandria and Cairo. Officially the Italians in Egypt at

20001-427: The descendants of the Genoese community of Gibraltar consider themselves Gibraltarians and most of them promote the autonomy of Gibraltar. Genoese heritage is evident throughout Gibraltar but especially in the architecture of the town's older buildings which are influenced by traditional Genoese housing styles featuring internal courtyards (also known as "patios"). Corfiot Italians (or "Corfiote Italians") are

20178-695: The eastern Mediterranean coast (the Levant, particularly in present-day Lebanon and Israel ) since the period of the Crusades and the Byzantine empire. A small group came from Crimea and the Genoese colonies in the Black Sea , after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. The majority of the Italian Levantine in modern Turkey are descendants of traders and colonists from the maritime republics of

20355-684: The emergence of Christianity as a world religion, are among the many legacies of Roman dominance. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , Italy fell under the Odoacer's kingdom , and was seized by the Ostrogoths . Invasions resulted in a chaotic succession of kingdoms and the supposed " Dark Ages ". The invasion of another Germanic tribe in the 6th century, the Lombards, reduced Byzantine presence and ended political unity of

20532-446: The empire, homeland of the Romans and territory of the capital. As Roman provinces were being established throughout the Mediterranean, Italy maintained a special status which made it domina provinciarum ('ruler of the provinces'), and—especially in relation to the first centuries of imperial stability — rectrix mundi ('governor of the world') and omnium terrarum parens ('parent of all lands'). The Roman Empire

20709-419: The end of 2007 were 3,374 (1,980 families). The oldest area of Italian settlement in Zimbabwe was established as Sinoia - today's Chinhoyi - in 1906, as a group settlement scheme by a wealthy Italian lieutenant , Margherito Guidotti, who encouraged several Italian families to settle in the area. The name Sinoria derives from Tjinoyi, a Lozwi/Rozwi Chief who is believed to have been a son of Lukuluba who

20886-424: The end of the Italian wars between France and the Habsburgs, about half of Italy (the southern Kingdoms of Naples , Sicily , Sardinia , and the Duchy of Milan ) was under Spanish rule, while the other half remained independent (many states continued to be formally part of the Holy Roman Empire). The Papacy launched the Counter-Reformation , whose key events include: the Council of Trent (1545–1563); adoption of

21063-509: The entire peninsula south of the Alps. In 264 BC, Roman Italy extended from the Arno and Rubicon rivers of the centre-north to the entire south. The northern area, Cisalpine Gaul , considered geographically part of Italy, was occupied by Rome in the 220s BC, but remained politically separated. It was legally merged into the administrative unit of Italy in 42 BC. Sardinia, Corsica , Sicily, and Malta were added to Italy by Diocletian in 292 AD, which made late-ancient Italy coterminous with

21240-411: The former Austrian Littoral , and Dalmatia , as well as parts of the Ottoman Empire . The country's contribution to the Allied victory earned it a place as one of the " Big Four " powers. Reorganisation of the army and conscription led to Italian victories. In October 1918, the Italians launched a massive offensive, culminating in victory at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto . This marked the end of war on

21417-450: The king. The breakdown of feudalism and the ensuing redistribution of land, however, did not necessarily lead to small farmers in the south winding up with land they could own, work, and profit from. Many remained landless, and plots grew smaller and smaller and so less and less productive, as land was subdivided amongst heirs. The transition was not smooth for the south (the " Mezzogiorno "). The path to unification and modernization created

21594-435: The kingdom's capital was moved from Turin to Florence. In 1866, Victor Emmanuel II, allied with Prussia during the Austro-Prussian War , waged the Third Italian War of Independence , which resulted in Italy annexing Venetia . Finally, in 1870, as France abandoned Rome during the Franco-Prussian War , the Italians captured the Papal States , unification was completed, and the capital moved to Rome. Sardinia's constitution

21771-421: The late 19th to the early 20th century, Italy rapidly industrialised, mainly in the north, and acquired a colonial empire , while the south remained largely impoverished, fueling a large immigrant diaspora to the Americas. From 1915 to 1918, Italy took part in World War I with the Entente against the Central Powers . In 1922, the Italian fascist dictatorship was established. During World War II , Italy

21948-412: The majority of Italian immigrants were from northern and central Italy. Two-thirds of the migrants who left Italy between 1870 and 1914 were men with traditional skills. Peasants were half of all migrants before 1896. As the number of Italian emigrants abroad increased, so did their remittances , which encouraged further emigration, even in the face of factors that might logically be thought to decrease

22125-407: The maritime republics, eager to find an alternative route to the Indies to bypass the Ottomans, offered their services to monarchs of Atlantic countries and played a key role in ushering the Age of Discovery and colonization of the Americas. The most notable were: Christopher Columbus , who opened the Americas for conquest by Europeans; John Cabot , the first European to explore North America since

22302-413: The modern Italian geographical region . The Latin Italicus was used to describe "a man of Italy" as opposed to a provincial , or one from the Roman province . The adjective italianus , from which Italian was derived, is from medieval Latin and was used alternatively with Italicus during the early modern period . After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy

22479-488: The modern era, Napoleon Bonaparte , French emperor and general, was ethnically Italian of Corsican origin, whose family was of Genoese and Tuscan ancestry. After the conquest of Anglo-Saxon England in 1066, the first recorded Italian communities in England began from the merchants and sailors living in Southampton . The famous " Lombard Street " in London took its name from the small but powerful community from northern Italy, living there as bankers and merchants after

22656-420: The monarchy and established an oligarchic republic. The Italian Peninsula, named Italia , was consolidated into a unified entity during Roman expansion, the conquest of new territories often at the expense of the other Italic tribes , Etruscans , Celts , and Greeks . A permanent association, with most of the local tribes and cities, was formed, and Rome began the conquest of Western Europe, North Africa, and

22833-447: The most affected economically . In February 2021, after a government crisis , Conte resigned. Mario Draghi , former president of the European Central Bank , formed a national unity government supported by most main parties, pledging to implement an economic stimulus to face the crisis caused by the pandemic. In 2022, Giorgia Meloni was sworn in as Italy's first female prime minister. Italy, whose territory largely coincides with

23010-401: The most emigrants is Rome (263,210), followed by Agrigento (138,517), Cosenza (138,152), Salerno (108,588) and Naples (104,495). In 2008, about 60,000 Italians changed citizenship; they mostly come from Northern Italy (74%) and have preferred Germany as their adopted country (12% of the total emigrants). The number of Italian citizens residing abroad according to those registered in

23187-418: The most numerous Italian regional communities are the southern ones. The official Italian registry records 28,059 Italians residing in South Africa in 2007, excluding South Africans with dual citizenship. Very numerous was the presence of Italian emigrants in African territories that were Italian colonies , namely in Eritrea , Ethiopia , Libya and Somalia . In 1911, the Kingdom of Italy waged war on

23364-514: The most numerous foreign representations, and although many return to Italy after retirement, often the children and grandchildren remain in the countries of birth, where they have now taken root. An important phenomenon of aggregation that is found in Europe, as well as in other countries and continents that have been the destination of migratory flows of Italians, is that of emigration associations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that over 10,000 associations set up by Italian emigrants over

23541-404: The nature of the emigrants had changed; there was, for example, a marked increase in the rise of relatives outside the working age moving to be with their families, who had already left Italy. The bond of the emigrants with their mother country continued to be very strong even after their departure. Many Italian emigrants made donations to the construction of the Altare della Patria (1885–1935),

23718-423: The need to leave, such as increased salaries at home. It has been termed "persistent and path-dependent emigration flow". Friends and relatives who left first sent back money for tickets and helped relatives as they arrived. That tended to support an emigration flow since even improving conditions in the original country took time to trickle down to potential emigrants to convince them not to leave. The emigrant flow

23895-413: The north, the Germans set up the Italian Social Republic (RSI), a Nazi puppet state and collaborationist regime with Mussolini installed as leader after he was rescued by German paratroopers. What remained of the Italian troops was organised into the Italian Co-belligerent Army , which fought alongside the Allies, while other Italian forces, loyal to Mussolini, opted to fight alongside the Germans in

24072-567: The number of Italians abroad rose from 3,106,251 in 2006 to 4,636,647 in 2015 and so grew by 49% in just 10 years. There are over 5 million Italian citizens living outside Italy, and c.  80 million people around the world claim full or partial Italian ancestry. Internal migration within the Italian geographical borders also occurred for similar reasons; its largest wave consisted of 4 million people moving from Southern Italy to Northern Italy (and mostly to Northern or Central Italian industrial cities like Rome or Milan, etc.), between

24249-432: The outbreak of World War I . About 10,275,000 returned to Italy (35%), and 18,761,000 permanently settled abroad (65%). A third wave, primarily affecting young people, widely called "fuga di cervelli" ( brain drain ) in the Italian media, is thought to be occurring, due to the socioeconomic problems caused by the financial crisis of the early 21st century. According to the Public Register of Italian Residents Abroad (AIRE),

24426-399: The patriotic journalist Giuseppe Mazzini , founder of the political movement Young Italy in the 1830s, who favoured a unitary republic and advocated a broad nationalist movement. 1847 saw the first public performance of " Il Canto degli Italiani ", which became the national anthem in 1946. The most famous member of Young Italy was the revolutionary and general Giuseppe Garibaldi who led

24603-406: The peninsula. The north formed the Lombard kingdom, central-south was also controlled by the Lombards, and other parts remained Byzantine. The Lombard kingdom was absorbed into Francia by Charlemagne in the late 8th century and became the Kingdom of Italy. The Franks helped form the Papal States . Until the 13th century, politics was dominated by relations between the Holy Roman Emperors and

24780-402: The previous two, this period mainly affects young people who are often graduates, so much so that is defined as a " brain drain ". In particular, this flow is mainly directed towards Germany, where over 35,000 Italians arrived in 2012 alone, but also towards other countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, the United States and the South American countries. This

24957-433: The quays in the cities of Genoa. This article continues: ... the foreigner who walks through a city like Naples can easily realize the problem the government is dealing with: the back streets are literally teeming with children running around the streets and on the dirty and happy sidewalks. ... The suburbs of Naples ... teem with children who, in number, can only be compared to those found in Delhi , Agra and other cities of

25134-408: The region of Sardinia , accompanied Pedro de Mendoza to the place where Buenos Aires would be founded. From Cagliari to Spain, to Río de la Plata , then to Buenos Aires, he brought an image of Saint Mary of Good Air , to which the "miracle" of having reached a good place was attributed, giving the founded city its name in Spanish: Buenos Aires ( lit. "good airs"). The presence of Italians in

25311-469: The republican drive for unification in southern Italy. However, the Italian monarchy of the House of Savoy, in the Kingdom of Sardinia , whose government was led by Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour , also had ambitions of establishing a united Italian state. In the context of the 1848 liberal revolutions that swept Europe, an unsuccessful First Italian War of Independence was declared against Austria . In 1855, Sardinia became an ally of Britain and France in

25488-417: The second half of the 20th century, on the other hand, was mostly to European nations experiencing economic growth. From the 1940s onwards, Italian emigration flow headed mainly to Switzerland and Belgium , while from the following decade, France and Germany were added among the top destinations. These countries were considered by many, at the time of departure, as a temporary destination—often only for

25665-408: The sense of depopulation; it has been characteristically permanent". The very large number of emigrants from Friuli-Venezia Giulia , a region with a population of only 509,000 in 1870 until 1914 is due to the fact that many of those counted among the 1.407 million emigrants actually lived in the Austrian Littoral which had a larger polyglot population of Croats, Friulians, Italians and Slovenes than in

25842-438: The so-called "new emigration" caused by the serious economic crisis also affects all of southern Europe such as countries like Spain, Portugal and Greece (as well as Ireland and France) which record similar, if not greater, emigration trends. It is widely believed that the places where there are no structural changes in economic and social policies are those most subject to the increase in this emigration flow. Regarding Italy, it

26019-401: The soil. Another factor was related to the overpopulation of Italy as a result of the improvements in socioeconomic conditions after Unification . That created a demographic boom and forced the new generations to emigrate en masse in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, mostly to the Americas . The new migration of capital created millions of unskilled jobs around the world and

26196-474: The source of multiple inventions and discoveries . It has the highest number of World Heritage Sites ( 60 ) and is the fifth-most visited country in the world. Hypotheses for the etymology of Italia are numerous. One theory suggests it originated from an Ancient Greek term for the land of the Italói , a tribe that resided in the region now known as Calabria . Originally thought to be named Vituli , some scholars suggest their totemic animal to be

26373-408: The south, Sicily had become an Arab Islamic emirate in the 9th century, thriving until the Italo-Normans conquered it in the late 11th century, together with most of the Lombard and Byzantine principalities of southern Italy. The region was subsequently divided between the Kingdom of Sicily and Kingdom of Naples . The Black Death of 1348 killed perhaps a third of Italy's population. During

26550-408: The time that dealt with the theme of Italian emigration. Oh and just a quick note the biggest amount of immigrants in a time period were in 1880 - 1924 over 4 Million plus Italians immigrants came to the USA Italian Levantines are people living mainly in Turkey , who are descendants from Genoese and Venetian colonists in the Levant during the Middle Ages Italian Levantines have roots even in

26727-464: The times of the Italian maritime republics , when many merchants of the Republic of Venice and of the Republic of Genoa settled on the Maghreb coast. This presence lasted until the 19th century. he Italian community had a notable development in French Morocco ; already in the 1913 census about 3,500 Italians were registered, almost all concentrated in Casablanca , and mostly employed as excavators and construction workers. The Italian presence in

26904-429: The total population. For more than a century the Italians of Odesa greatly influenced the culture, art, industry, society, architecture, politics and economy of the city. Among the works created by the Italians of Odesa there were the Potemkin Stairs and the Odesa Opera and Ballet Theater . At the beginning of the 19th century the Italian language became the second official language in Odesa, after Russian. Until

27081-405: The traditional liberal and conservative establishment. In the last two decades of the 19th century, Italy developed into a colonial power by subjugating Eritrea , Somalia , Tripolitania , and Cyrenaica in Africa. In 1913, male universal suffrage was adopted. The pre- World War I period was dominated by Giovanni Giolitti , prime minister five times between 1892 and 1921. Italy entered into

27258-407: The wars at that time in Europe. Some of the first Italians who choose Lebanon as a place to settle and find refuge were Italian soldiers from the Italo-Turkish War from 1911 to 1912. Most of the Italians chose to settle in Beirut because of its European style of life. Few Italians left Lebanon for France after independence. The Italian community in Lebanon is very small (about 4,300 people) and it

27435-419: The world and headquarters of the worldwide Catholic Church under the governance of the Holy See ) are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The border with San Marino is 39 km (24 mi) long, that with Vatican City, 3.2 km (2.0 mi). Over 35% of Italian territory is mountainous. The Apennine Mountains form the peninsula's backbone, and

27612-400: The world's fifth-largest industrial nation after it gained entry into the G7 in the 1970s. However, national debt skyrocketed past 100% of GDP. Between 1992 and 1993, Italy faced terror attacks perpetrated by the Sicilian Mafia as a consequence of new anti-mafia measures by the government. Voters—disenchanted with political paralysis, massive public debt and extensive corruption uncovered by

27789-484: The year 1000 . The rebuilding of Westminster Abbey showed significant Italian artistic influence in the construction of the so-called ' Cosmati ' Pavement completed in 1245 and a unique example of the style unknown outside of Italy, the work of highly skilled team of Italian craftsmen led by a Roman named Ordoricus. In 1303, Edward I negotiated an agreement with the Lombard merchant community that secured custom duties and certain rights and privileges. The revenues from

27966-543: Was a French protectorate ). In the 1946 census, the Italians in Tunisia were 84,935, but in 1959 (3 years after many Italian settlers left to Italy or France after independence from France) there were only 51,702, and in 1969 there were less than 10,000. As of 2005, there are only 900, mainly concentrated in the metropolitan area of Tunis . Another 2,000 Italians, according to the Italian Embassy in Tunis, are "temporary" residents, working as professionals and technicians for Italian companies in different areas of Tunisia. During

28143-460: Was about one fifth of the entire Italian population). The "Report of Italians in the World 2011" produced by the Migrantes Foundation, which is part of the CEI , specified that: Italians residing abroad as of 31 December 2010 were 4,115,235 (47.8% are women). The Italian emigrant community continues to increase both for new departures, and for internal growth (enlargement of families or people who acquire citizenship by descent). Italian emigration

28320-422: Was among the largest in history, wielding great economical, cultural, political, and military power. At its greatest extent, it had an area of 5 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles). The Roman legacy has deeply influenced Western civilisation shaping the modern world. The widespread use of Romance languages derived from Latin, numerical system , modern Western alphabet and calendar, and

28497-458: Was based upon Italian nationalism and imperialism, seeking to expand Italian possessions via irredentist claims based on the legacy of the Roman and Venetian empires. For this reason the fascists engaged in interventionist foreign policy . In 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia and founded Italian East Africa , resulting in international isolation and leading to Italy's withdrawal from the League of Nations . Italy then allied with Nazi Germany and

28674-417: Was captured and summarily executed by partisans. Hostilities ended on 29 April 1945, when the German forces in Italy surrendered . Nearly half a million Italians died in the conflict, society was divided, and the economy all but destroyed—per capita income in 1944 was at its lowest point since 1900. The aftermath left Italy angry with the monarchy for its endorsement of the Fascist regime, contributing to

28851-560: Was conducive to academic and artistic advancement. The best-known maritime republics were Venice, Genoa , Pisa , and Amalfi . Each had dominion over overseas lands, islands, lands on the Adriatic, Aegean, and Black seas, and commercial colonies in the Near East and North Africa. Venice and Genoa were Europe's gateways to the East, and producers of fine glass, while Florence was a centre of silk, wool, banking, and jewellery. The wealth generated meant large public and private artistic projects could be commissioned. The republics participated in

29028-457: Was created, granting licenses to carriers, enforcing fixed ticket costs, keeping order at ports of embarkation, providing health inspection for those leaving, setting up hostels and care facilities and arranging agreements with receiving countries to help care for those arriving. The Commissariat tried to take care of emigrants before they left and after they arrived, such as dealing with the American laws that discriminated against alien workers (like

29205-530: Was created. After the Lombard invasions, Italia was retained as the name for their kingdom, and its successor kingdom within the Holy Roman Empire . Lower Paleolithic artefacts, dating back 850,000 years, have been recovered from Monte Poggiolo . Excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence in the Middle Palaeolithic period 200,000 years ago, while modern humans appeared about 40,000 years ago at Riparo Mochi . The ancient peoples of pre-Roman Italy were Indo-European , specifically

29382-499: Was discovered in the Similaun glacier in 1991. The first colonisers were the Phoenicians , who established emporiums on the coasts of Sicily and Sardinia. Some became small urban centers and developed parallel to Greek colonies . During the 8th and 7th centuries, Greek colonies were established at Pithecusae , eventually extending along the south of the Italian Peninsula and the coast of Sicily, an area later known as Magna Graecia . Ionians , Doric colonists, Syracusans , and

29559-496: Was extended to all of Italy in 1861, and provided basic freedoms for the new state; but electoral laws excluded the non-propertied classes. The new kingdom was governed by a parliamentary constitutional monarchy dominated by liberals. As northern Italy quickly industrialised, southern and northern rural areas remained underdeveloped and overpopulated, forcing millions to migrate and fuelling a large and influential diaspora . The Italian Socialist Party increased in strength, challenging

29736-448: Was first part of the Axis until its surrender to the Allied powers (1940–1943), then a co-belligerent of the Allies during the Italian resistance and the liberation of Italy (1943–1945). Following the war, the monarchy was replaced by a republic and the country enjoyed a strong recovery . A developed country , Italy has the ninth-largest nominal GDP in the world, the second-largest manufacturing industry in Europe, and plays

29913-462: Was founded by the Italian prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi . Italian used to be a major language, but its influence significantly diminished following independence. It is now most frequently heard among older generations. Former Italian communities also once thrived in the Horn of Africa , with about 50,000 Italian settlers living in Eritrea in 1935. The Italian Eritrean population grew from 4,000 during World War I, to nearly 100,000 at

30090-406: Was granted sweeping powers. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III . Other notable examples of Italians that played a major role in the history of France include Cardinal Mazarin , born in Pescina was a cardinal, diplomat and politician, who served as the chief minister of France from 1642 until his death in 1661. As for the personalities of

30267-545: Was introduced by the fascist government of the 1920s and 1930s. The Italian diaspora did not affect all regions of the nation equally. In the second phase of emigration (1900 to World War I), slightly less than half of emigrants were from the south and most of them were from rural areas, as they were driven off the land by inefficient land management, lawlessness and sickness ( pellagra and cholera ). Robert Foerster, in Italian Emigration of our Times (1919) says, "[Emigration has been]… well nigh expulsion; it has been exodus, in

30444-427: Was not particularly controlled by the state. Emigrants were often in the hands of emigration agents whose job was to make money for themselves by moving emigrants. Such labor agents and recruiters were called padroni , translating to patron or boss. Abuses led to the first migration law in Italy, passed in 1888, to bring the many emigration agencies under state control. On 31 January 1901, the Commissariat of Emigration

30621-412: Was one of the First Families to settle Virginia . In 1773–1785, Filippo Mazzei , a physician and promoter of liberty, was a close friend and confidant of Thomas Jefferson . He published a pamphlet containing the phrase, which Jefferson incorporated essentially intact into the Declaration of Independence : "All men are by nature equally free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create

30798-554: Was responsible for the simultaneous mass migration of Italians searching for "bread and work" ( Italian : pane e lavoro , pronounced [ˈpaːne e llaˈvoːro] ). The second diaspora started after the end of World War II and concluded roughly in the 1970s. Between 1880 and 1980, about 15,000,000 Italians left the country permanently. By 1980, it was estimated that about 25,000,000 Italians were residing outside Italy. Between 1861 and 1985, 29,036,000 Italians emigrated to other countries; of whom 16,000,000 (55%) arrived before

30975-428: Was socially despised. People invested not in agricultural equipment, but in such things as low-risk state bonds. The rule that emigration from cities was negligible has an important exception, in Naples . The city went from being the capital of its own kingdom in 1860 to being just another large city in Italy. The loss of bureaucratical jobs and the subsequently declining financial situation led to high unemployment in

31152-403: Was stemmed only by dramatic events, such as the outbreak of World War I, which greatly disrupted the flow of people trying to leave Europe, and the restrictions on immigration that were put in place by receiving countries. Examples of such restrictions in the United States were the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 . Restrictive legislation to limit emigration from Italy

31329-448: Was the third son of Emperor Netjasike. The Kalanga (Lozwi/Rozwi name) was changed to Sinoia by the white settlers and later Chinhoyi by the Zezuru. Along with other Zimbabweans, a disproportionate number of people of Italian descent now reside abroad, many of whom hold dual Italian or British citizenship. Regardless of the country's economic challenges, there is still a sizable Italian population in Zimbabwe. Though never comprising more than

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