View source for Italian diaspora

{{Short description|Italian people and their descendants living outside Italy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Split portions|date=June 2025|discuss=Talk:Italian diaspora#Split needed|portions=[[Italian diaspora#Background of ancient Italian migrations|§{{nbsp}}Background of ancient Italian migrations]] and [[Italian diaspora#History|§{{nbsp}}History]]|History of the Italian diaspora}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Italian diaspora
| native_name      = {{native name|it|Emigrazione italiana}}
| image            = Map of the Italian Diaspora in the World.svg
| image_caption    = Map of the Italian diaspora in the world
| population       = '''{{Circa|80 million}}''' worldwide<ref name="askanews">{{Cite web|url=https://www.askanews.it/esteri/2020/02/04/sono-circa-80-milioni-gli-oriundi-italiani-nel-mondo-pn_20200204_00081/|title=Sono circa 80 milioni gli oriundi italiani nel mondo|date=4 February 2020 |access-date=10 November 2021|language=it}}</ref>
| popplace         = [[Brazil]], [[Argentina]], [[United States]], [[France]], [[Colombia]], [[Canada]], [[Peru]], [[Uruguay]], [[Paraguay]], [[Venezuela]], [[Germany]], [[Switzerland]], [[United Kingdom]], [[Belgium]], [[Chile]] and [[Australia]]
| langs            = [[Italian language|Italian]], other [[languages of Italy]], [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[German language|German]]
| rels             = [[Christianity]] (predominantly [[Catholicism]])<ref name="Riforma-Eurispes">{{cite web|url=http://riforma.it/it/articolo/2016/02/01/litalia-e-le-religioni-nel-2016|title=L'Italia e le religioni nel 2016|date=12 November 2016|website=Italofilia.Pl|access-date=12 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722180139/https://riforma.it/it/articolo/2016/02/01/litalia-e-le-religioni-nel-2016|archive-date=22 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
| related          = [[European diaspora]], [[Italians]]
}}
The '''Italian diaspora''' ({{langx|it|emigrazione italiana}}, {{IPA|it|emiɡratˈtsjoːne itaˈljaːna|pron}}) is the large-scale emigration of [[Italians]] from [[Italy]]. 

There were two major Italian [[diaspora]]s in [[Italian history]]. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the [[Risorgimento|Unification of Italy]], and ended in the 1920s to the early 1940s with the rise of [[Kingdom of Italy under Fascism (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]].<ref name="Pozzetta, George E. 1992">Pozzetta, George E., Bruno Ramirez, and Robert F. Harney. The Italian Diaspora: Migration across the Globe. Toronto: Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1992.</ref> Poverty was the main reason for emigration, specifically the lack of land as ''[[mezzadria]]'' [[sharecropping]] flourished in Italy, especially in the South, and property became subdivided over generations. Especially in [[Southern Italy]], conditions were harsh.<ref name="Pozzetta, George E. 1992"/> 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 [[Northeastern Italy|Northeast]], did not easily convince farmers to stay on the land and to work the soil.<ref name="MacDonald">{{cite journal |last1=McDonald |first1=J. S. |title=Some Socio-Economic Emigration Differentials in Rural Italy, 1902-1913 |journal=Economic Development and Cultural Change |date=October 1958 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=55–72 |doi=10.1086/449779 |s2cid=153889304 }}</ref> Another factor was related to the overpopulation of Italy as a result of the improvements in socioeconomic conditions after [[Unification of Italy|Unification]].<ref>Sori, Ercole. ''L'emigrazione italiana dall' Unità alla Seconda Guerra Mondiale''. First chapter</ref> 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]].<ref name="Italy's Many Diasporas">{{cite book|last1=Gabaccia|first1=Donna|title=Italy's Many Diasporas| date=200|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|pages=58–80}}</ref> The new migration of capital created millions of unskilled jobs around the world and was responsible for the simultaneous mass migration of Italians searching for "bread and work" ({{langx|it|pane e lavoro}}, {{IPA|it|ˈpaːne e llaˈvoːro|pron}}).<ref>{{cite book| last1=Pozzetta|first1=George E.|title=Pane e Lavoro: The Italian American Working Class|date=1980| publisher=Multicultural History Society of Ontorio|location=Toronto}}</ref>

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.<ref>Ben-Ghiat and Hom, "Introduction" to Italian Mobilities (Routledge, 2016)</ref> By 1980, it was estimated that about 25,000,000 Italians were residing outside Italy.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=King|first=Russell| date=1978-01-01|title=Report: The Italian Diaspora|journal=Area|volume=10| issue=5|pages=386| jstor=20001401}}</ref> Between 1861 and 1985, 29,036,000 Italians emigrated to other countries; of whom 16,000,000 (55%) arrived before the outbreak of [[World War I]]. About 10,275,000 returned to Italy (35%), and 18,761,000 permanently settled abroad (65%).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.italianlegacy.com/italian-immigration.html|title=Italian Immigration - The Great Italian Diaspora|website=Italianlegacy.com|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725205156/http://www.italianlegacy.com/italian-immigration.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> A third wave, primarily affecting young people, widely called "fuga di cervelli" ([[Human capital flight|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), 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.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2015/10/06/news/aumentano_espatri_italiani_migrantes-124460911/|title=Italiani all'estero, sempre più giovani e settentrionali: +7,6% nel 2015|date=6 October 2015|website=la Repubblica}}</ref> 

There are over 5 million Italian citizens living outside Italy,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.esteri.it/mae/it/servizi/italiani-all-estero/|title=Italiani nel Mondo|publisher=esteri.it|access-date=16 April 2020|archive-date=3 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103181452/https://www.esteri.it/MAE/it/servizi/italiani-all-estero|url-status=dead}}</ref> and {{Circa|80 million}} people around the world claim full or partial Italian ancestry.<ref name="askanews"/> Today there is the National Museum of Italian Emigration ({{langx|it|Museo Nazionale dell'Emigrazione Italiana}}, "MEI"), located in [[Genoa]], Italy.<ref name=museidigenova /> 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.<ref name=museidigenova /> The museum describes the Italian emigration through autobiographies, diaries, letters, photographs and newspaper articles of the time that dealt with the theme of Italian emigration.<ref name=museidigenova />

==Background of ancient Italian migrations==
[[Italica]] was the first Roman settlement in Spain. It was founded in 206 BC by Roman general [[Scipio Africanus|Scipio]] as a ''[[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]]'' for his [[Roman Italy|Italic]] veterans and named after them.<ref>Appian, Iberian Wars 38</ref> Italica later grew attracting new migrants from the Italian peninsula and also with the children of Roman soldiers and native women.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocgpAQAAMAAJ&q=italica+206+BC|title=Aspects of the Roman Experience in Iberia, 206-100 B.C.|first=Robert C.|last=Knapp|date=Nov 26, 1977|publisher=Universidad, D.L.|isbn=9788460008149 |accessdate=Nov 26, 2022|via=Google Books}}</ref> Roman emperors [[Trajan]] and [[Hadrian]] were born in Italica.

[[File:Republik Venedig Handelswege01.png|thumb|right|upright=2|Trade routes and colonies of the [[Genoese colonies|Genoese]] <small>(red)</small> and [[Stato da Màr|Venetian]] <small>(green)</small> empires during the [[Middle Age]]]]
[[File:Istanbul asv2020-02 img48 Galata Tower.jpg|thumb|The [[Galata Tower]] in [[Istanbul]], Turkey, built in 1348 by the [[Republic of Genoa]] and still a symbol of the [[Italian Levantine]]]]

[[Italian Levantine]]s are people living mainly in [[Turkey]], who are descendants from Genoese and Venetian [[colonists]] in the [[Levant]] during the [[Middle Ages]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.festivaletteraturadiviaggio.it/altrove/geografie/levante-e-levantini.htm|title=The "Levantini"|access-date=22 October 2021|language=it|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107005702/http://www.festivaletteraturadiviaggio.it/altrove/geografie/levante-e-levantini.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Italian Levantines have roots even in the eastern [[Mediterranean]] coast (the Levant, particularly in present-day [[Lebanon]] and [[Israel]]) since the period of the [[Crusades]] and the [[Byzantine Empire|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 the [[Mediterranean Sea|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.giustiniani.info/italianiasmirne.pdf|title=Frangini: Italiani in Smirne/Izmir|access-date=22 October 2021|language=it}}</ref> They came mainly from the Genoese island of [[Chios]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.levantineheritage.com/testi56.htm|title=Latin migration from Chios|access-date=22 October 2021}}</ref> The community reached more than 15,000 members during [[Kemal Ataturk|Ataturk]]'s times, but now is reduced to a few hundred, according to Italian Levantine writer Giovanni Scognamillo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.levantineheritage.com/testi35.htm|title=Interview to Scognamillo|access-date=22 October 2021}}</ref>
[[File:Delfini-Lualdi.png|thumb|The [[Italians in Lebanon|Italian Lebanese]] actress [[Antonella Lualdi]] in a scene from the film ''[[Silver Spoon Set]]'' (1960)]]

[[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, Libya|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 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 [[Culture of Europe|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 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").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sedi2.esteri.it/sitiweb/AmbBeirut/Notiziario%20IN%20LIBANO%20ottobre%20%202011.pdf|title=Rapporti italo-libanesi: Vinifest 2011|access-date=22 October 2021|language=it|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081514/http://sedi2.esteri.it/sitiweb/AmbBeirut/Notiziario%20IN%20LIBANO%20ottobre%20%202011.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Opera2011.jpg|thumb|The [[Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre]], Ukraine. It was started with the important contribution of the [[Italians of Odesa]]]]

[[Italians of Odesa]] are mentioned for the first time in documents of the 13th century.<ref name="reportdifesa">{{cite web|url=https://www.reportdifesa.it/ucraina-odessa-citta-italiana-la-nostra-cultura-e-la-nostra-arte-presente-nelle-bellezze-artistiche-e-architettoniche/|title=Ucraina: Odessa città italiana. La nostra cultura e la nostra arte presente nelle bellezze artistiche e architettoniche|date=7 March 2022 |access-date=23 September 2024|language=it}}</ref>  The influx of Italians in southern Ukraine grew particularly with the foundation of Odesa, which took place in 1794.<ref name="reportdifesa"/> In 1797 there were about 800 Italians in Odesa, equal to 10% of the total population.<ref name="Dundovich">{{cite book |first1 = Elena |last1 = Dundovich |first2 = Francesca |last2 = Gori |first3 = Emanuela |last3 = Guercett |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=57hb64WZLKQC |title = Gulag. Storia e memoria |publisher = Feltrinelli |year = 2004 |isbn = 88-07-81818-3 |page = 187 |access-date = 9 June 2015}}</ref> For more than a century the Italians of Odesa greatly influenced the culture, art, industry, society, architecture, politics and economy of the city.<ref name="lavita">{{cite web|url=http://www.lavita-odessita.com/italiani4.html|title=Gli italiani a Odessa|language=it|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005192716/http://www.lavita-odessita.com/italiani4.html|archive-date=5 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="brandes">{{cite book|first=Detlef|last=Brandes |language=de |page=252 |publisher=Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag |title=Von den Zaren adoptiert: Die deutschen Kolonisten und die Balkansiedler in Neurußland und Bessarabien (1751-1914) |year=1993|isbn=978-3486560145}}</ref><ref name="italiani">{{cite web|url=https://www.italiani.it/odessa-citta-ucraina-fondata-da-un-italiano/|title=Odessa, la città ucraina fondata da un italiano|date=24 March 2022 |access-date=23 September 2024|language=it |last1=Campolonghi |first1=Cristina }}</ref><ref name="eastjournal">{{cite web|url=http://www.eastjournal.net/archives/73532|title= UCRAINA: Odessa città napoletana, dove l'italiano era lingua ufficiale|date= 15 June 2016|language=it|access-date=24 September 2024}}</ref> Among the works created by the Italians of Odesa there were the [[Potemkin Stairs]] and the [[Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre|Odesa Opera and Ballet Theater]].<ref name="reportdifesa"/> At the beginning of the 19th century the [[Italian language]] became the second official language in Odesa, after Russian.<ref name="reportdifesa"/> Until the 1870s, Odesa's Italian population grew steadily.<ref name="lavita"/> From the following decade this growth stopped, and the decline of the Italian community in Odesa began.<ref name="lavita"/> The reason was mainly one, namely the gradual integration into the Slavic population of Odesa, i.e. Russians and Ukrainians.<ref name="lavita"/> Surnames began to be [[Russification|Russianized]] and [[Ukrainization|Ukrainianized]].<ref name="lavita"/> The [[October Revolution|revolution of 1917]] sent many of them to Italy, or to other cities in Europe.<ref name="italiani"/> In [[Soviet Union|Soviet times]], only a few dozen Italians remained in Odesa, most of whom no longer knew their own language.<ref name="cnr">{{cite web|url=https://rime.cnr.it/index.php/rime/article/download/585/950/|title=Odessa. Un'identità mutevole e plurale|access-date=24 September 2024|language=it}}</ref> Over time they merged with the local population, losing the ethnic connotations of origin.<ref name="Leoni">Father [[Pietro Leoni]] to Pietro Quaroni, 21 September 1944 (ASMAE, Italian embassy in Russia, 1861/1950, b. 321).</ref> They disappeared completely by [[World War II]].<ref name="Leoni"/>
[[File:Roman Catholic Church in Kerch, Ukraine.jpg|thumb|Catholic Church of Santa Maria Assunta in [[Kerch]], [[Ukraine]], reference for the [[Italians of Crimea]]]]

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 [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire|recently annexed]] by the [[Russian Empire]].<ref name="Berni">{{Cite journal|last=Berni|first=Davide|journal=Academia|title=The Italian Minority of Crimea: History of a Diaspora between Emigration and Deportation|url=https://www.academia.edu/5412120}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Berni"/> Between 1936 and 1938, during [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s [[Great Purge]], many Italians were accused of [[espionage]] and were arrested, tortured, deported or executed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alessandro Vincenzi – Forgotten Italians {{!}} Imp Festival|url=https://www.impfestival.com/en/alessandro-vincenzi-forgotten-italians-2/|access-date=2020-06-16}}</ref> 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 the Italians of Crimea account today for 3,000 people, mainly residing in Kerch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ladante.it/?q=comunicatistampa/italiani-perseguitati-da-stalin-e-poi-dimenticati-crimea|title=Italiani perseguitati da Stalin e poi dimenticati|access-date=22 October 2021|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.corriere.it/inchieste/tragedia-dimenticata-italiani-crimea/a5f50b18-48d4-11e1-b976-995c60acee8e.shtml|title=La tragedia dimenticata degli italiani di Crimea - Come vivono i 300 tra deportati e loro discendenti|date=27 January 2012|access-date=22 October 2021|language=it}}</ref>
[[File:Farinata di Imperia.jpg|right|thumb|Gibraltarian ''Calentita'' is very similar to the Genoese [[Farinata]]. [[History of the Genoese in Gibraltar|Genoese community in Gibraltar]] influenced the [[Gibraltarian cuisine]]]]

A [[History of the Genoese in Gibraltar|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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.balbisei.unige.it/TomoII.pdf|title=L'azienda Durazzo a Cadice|page=24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822103604/http://www.balbisei.unige.it/TomoII.pdf |archive-date=2007-08-22|language=it|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 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 people|Portuguese]] and Dutch).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.storico.org/Gibilterra.htm|title=Rosselli: The Genoese community of Gibraltar|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728064632/http://www.storico.org/Gibilterra.htm|archive-date=2011-07-28|language=it|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 1753 census, the Genoese were the biggest group (nearly 34%) of civilian residents in the Gibraltar, and up until 1830, [[Italian language|Italian]] was spoken together with [[English language|English]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and used in official announcements.<ref>Levey, David: [https://books.google.com/books?id=VKW6uqxsj4YC&q=french+gibraltar+ethnic&pg=PA24 ''Language change and variation in Gibraltar'', page 24. John Benjamins Publishing Company.]</ref> After [[Napoleonic era|Napoleonic times]], many [[Sicily#Demographics|Sicilians]] and some [[Tuscany|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.<ref>Fiorenzo Toso. ''Linguistica di aree laterali ed estreme. Contatto, interferenza, colonie linguistiche e "isole" culturali nel Mediterraneo occidentale''</ref> Today, the descendants of the Genoese community of Gibraltar consider themselves ''Gibraltarians'' and most of them promote the autonomy of Gibraltar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1996/maggio/17/Gibilterra_voto_per_chiudere_paradiso_co_8_960517781.shtml|title=Excerpt from Corriere della Sera|access-date=22 October 2021|language=it}}</ref> Genoese [[Cultural heritage|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 [[courtyard]]s (also known as "patios").
[[File:Corfustspyridonchurch.jpg|thumb|Typical Venetian architecture in the old town of [[Corfu]], [[Ionian Islands]], [[Greece]]. The Ionian islands, having been under the dominion of the [[Republic of Venice]] for centuries, have been inhabited by the [[Corfiot Italians]].]]

[[Corfiot Italians]] (or "Corfiote Italians") are 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, the Republic of Venice sent many Italian families to Corfu. These families brought the Italian language of the [[Middle Ages]] to the island.<ref>Tagliavini, Carlo. ''Le origini delle lingue neolatine'', p. 149.</ref> When [[Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands|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 language|Italian]] (or specifically [[Venetian language|Venetian]] in many cases), but the mass of people remained Greek ethnically, linguistically, and religiously before and after 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.<ref>Gray, Ezio. ''Le terre nostre ritornano...Malta, Corsica, Nizza'', p. 92.</ref> The re-emergence of Greek nationalism, after the [[Napoleonic]] era, contributed to the gradual disappearance of the Corfiot Italians. Corfu was ultimately incorporated into 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.<ref>Vignoli Giulio. ''Gli Italiani Dimenticati. Minoranze Italiane In Europa'', p. 132.</ref> 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".
[[File:David - Napoleon crossing the Alps - Malmaison1.jpg|thumb|[[Napoleon]], the most notable [[Italians in France|Italian French]] personality<ref name="britannica"/>]]

There has always been migration, since ancient times, [[Italians in France|between what is today Italy and France]]. Since the 16th century, Florence and its citizens have long enjoyed a very close relationship with France.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eisenbichler |first1=Konrad |title=Savonarola in Francia: Circolazione di un'eredità politico-religiosa nell'Europa del Cinquecento (review) |journal=Renaissance Quarterly |date=2007 |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=1346–1347 |doi=10.1353/ren.2007.0344 |s2cid=161124825 |id={{Project MUSE|224928}} }}</ref> In 1533, at the age of fourteen, [[Catherine de' Medici]] married [[Henry II of France|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 [[Charles IX of France|King Charles IX]] and was granted sweeping powers. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, [[Henry III of France|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 the modern era, [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]], French emperor and general, was ethnically [[Italians|Italian]] of Corsican origin, whose family was of [[Genoa|Genoese]] and [[Tuscany|Tuscan]] ancestry.<ref name="britannica">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/402943/Napoleon-I |title=Napoleon I (emperor of France) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia |publisher=Britannica.com |access-date=2 September 2010}}</ref>
[[File:St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, London EC3 - geograph.org.uk - 1202998.jpg|thumb|[[Lombard Street, London|Lombard Street]] in [[London]] took its name from the small but powerful community from northern Italy, living there as bankers and merchants after AD 1000.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=King|first=R.|date=1977|title=Italian Migration to Great Britain|journal=[[Geographical Association|Geography]]|volume=62|issue=3|pages=176–186|doi=10.1080/20436564.1977.12219431 |jstor=40568731}}</ref>]]

After the conquest of Anglo-Saxon England in 1066, the first recorded [[Italians in the United Kingdom|Italian communities in England]] began from the merchants and sailors living in [[Southampton]]. The famous "[[Lombard Street, London|Lombard Street]]" in London took its name from the small but powerful community from northern Italy, living there as bankers and merchants after the year [[AD 1000|1000]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=King|first=R.|year=1977|title=Italian Migration to Great Britain|jstor=40568731|journal=Geography|volume=62|issue=3|pages=176–186|doi=10.1080/20436564.1977.12219431 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/art/cosmati-pavement | title=Cosmati Pavement|access-date=13 December 2022}}</ref> In 1303, [[Edward I]] negotiated an agreement with the Lombard merchant community that secured custom duties and certain rights and privileges.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=A.&nbsp;L. |year=1989 |title=The Governance of Late Medieval England 1272–1461 |url=https://archive.org/details/governanceoflate0000brow |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=Edward Arnold |isbn=978-0-8047-1730-4|pages=65–66}}</ref> The revenues from the customs duty were handled by the [[House of Simonetti#Simonetti of Lucca|Riccardi]], a group of bankers from [[Lucca]] in Italy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Prestwich |first=Michael |year=1972 |title=War, Politics and Finance under Edward I |location=London |publisher=Faber and Faber |isbn=978-0-571-09042-6|pages=99–100}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=A.&nbsp;L. |year=1989 |title=The Governance of Late Medieval England 1272–1461 |url=https://archive.org/details/governanceoflate0000brow |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=Edward Arnold |isbn=978-0-8047-1730-4|pages=80–81}}</ref> After this, the [[Frescobaldi]] of [[Florence]] took over the role as money lenders to the English crown.<ref>{{cite book |last=Prestwich |first=Michael |year=1972 |title=War, Politics and Finance under Edward I |location=London |publisher=Faber and Faber |isbn=978-0-571-09042-6|page=403}}</ref>

Large numbers of [[Italians in Germany|Italians have resided in Germany]] since 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 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).<ref name=wt/>
{{Multiple image
| align             = right
| image1            = David Filippo Mazzei.jpg
| width1            = 126
| caption1          = [[Filippo Mazzei]], an Italian physician, philosopher, diplomat, and author, whose phrase "All men are by nature equally free and independent" may have inspired [[Thomas Jefferson]] in drafting the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].
| image2            = Henri de Tonti.jpg
| width2            = 149
| caption2          = [[Enrico Tonti]], who founded the first European settlement in [[Illinois]] in 1679, and in [[Arkansas]] in 1683, making him "The Father of Arkansas".<ref name="Henri de Tonti"/>
| footer            = 
}}

[[Italians in the United States before 1880]] included a number of explorers, starting with [[Christopher Columbus]], and a few small settlements.<ref>Andrew F. Rolle, ''The immigrant upraised: Italian adventurers and colonists in an expanding America'' (Oklahoma UP, 1968) pp. 3–15.</ref> The first Italian to be registered as residing in the area corresponding to the current U.S. was [[Pietro Cesare Alberti]],<ref name=ItalianHistoricalPage>{{cite web|url=http://www.italianhistorical.org/page63.html|title=Peter Caesar Alberti|access-date=2 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914161128/http://www.italianhistorical.org/page63.html|archive-date=14 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> commonly regarded as the first [[Italian American]], a Venetian seaman who, in 1635, settled in the [[Netherlands|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 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".<ref name="Henri de Tonti">{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/henri-de-tonti-2537/ |title=Henri de Tonti (1649–1704) |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Arkansas]] |year=2011|access-date=6 December 2019}}</ref><ref name="HMdb">HMdb.org, "[https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=109793 Henri de Tonti Historical Marker]", Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Retrieved 9 August 2009.</ref> With LaSalle, he co-founded [[New Orleans]], and was governor of the Louisiana Territory for the next 20 years. His brother [[Alphonse de Tonty|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 {{lang|it|Tagliaferro}}), believed to have roots in [[Venice]], was one of the [[First Families of Virginia|First Families]] to settle [[Virginia]]. 

In 1773–1785, [[Filippo Mazzei]], a physician and close friend and confidant of [[Thomas Jefferson]], published a pamphlet containing the phrase, "All men are by nature equally free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government. All men must be equal to each other in natural law".<ref name="Gazette2">Filippo Mazzei, ''[[The Virginia Gazette]]'', 1774. Translated by a friend and neighbor, Thomas Jefferson</ref> As claimed by [[John F. Kennedy]] in ''[[A Nation of Immigrants]]'' and by Joint Resolution 175 of the [[103rd United States Congress|103rd Congress]], Mazzei's phrase may have inspired Jefferson in drafting the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].<ref name="Kennedy2">{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=John F. |author-link=John F. Kennedy |title=[[A Nation of Immigrants]] |publisher=Perennial |year=2008 |isbn=978-0061447549 |pages=15–16}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=1994 |title=H.J.Res.175 – Designating October 1993 and October 1994 as "Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month" |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-joint-resolution/175 |access-date=17 June 2025 |website=Congress.gov |publisher=United States Congress |quote=Whereas the phrase in the Declaration of Independence "All men are created equal", was suggested by the Italian patriot and immigrant Philip Mazzei}}.</ref> 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.
[[File:Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires (40689219792) (cropped).jpg|thumb|View of [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]]. [[Leonardo Gribeo]] gave the name to the city]]

During the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish conquest]] of what would be present-day Argentine territory, an Italian [[Leonardo Gribeo]], from 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 [[Shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria|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 ({{abbr|lit.|literally}} "good airs").<ref name="BAItalia">{{Cite web |url=http://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/derechoshumanos/observatorio/colectividad-italiana |title=Observatorio de colectividades: Italiana |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923223453/http://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/derechoshumanos/observatorio/colectividad-italiana |archive-date=23 September 2015|access-date=3 February 2023|language=es}}</ref> The presence of Italians in the [[Río de la Plata Basin]] predates the birth of Argentina. Small groups of [[Italian Argentines|Italians began to emigrate to the present-day Argentine]] territory already in the second half of the 17th century.<ref name="Colectividad Italiana">{{Cite web |url=http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi98/bajarondelosbarcos/Colectividades/Italia/itaprin.htm |title=Colectividad Italiana |archive-date=12 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140612125453/http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi98/BajarondelosBarcos/Colectividades/Italia/itaprin.htm |url-status=dead |language=es |access-date=19 September 2011}}</ref> 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 the May Revolution and the [[Primera Junta]].<ref name="AporteClarin">{{Cite web |url=http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2008/04/14/elmundo/i-02506.htm |title=El aporte de la inmigración italiana en Argentina |first=Dante |last=Ruscica |date=14 April 2008 |access-date=14 August 2008 |language=es |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121255/http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2008/04/14/elmundo/i-02506.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="BAItalia"/>

==History==
===From Italian unification to World War I===
[[File:Italienische Emigration pro Region 1876-1915.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Italian emigration per region from 1876 to 1900 and from 1901 to 1915]]
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 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.<ref name="MacDonald"/> The transition was not smooth for the south (the "[[Mezzogiorno]]"). The path to unification and modernization created a divide between Northern and Southern Italy called [[Southern question]].

Between 1860 and the start of World War I in 1914, 9 million Italians left permanently of a total of 16 million who emigrated, most travelling to North or South America.<ref name="Hatton">{{cite journal |last1=Hatton |first1=Timothy J. |last2=Williamson |first2=Jeffrey G. |title=What Drove the Mass Migrations from Europe in the Late Nineteenth Century? |journal=Population and Development Review |date=September 1994 |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=533 |doi=10.2307/2137600 |jstor=2137600 |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/h0043.pdf }}</ref> 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 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.<ref name="Italy's Many Diasporas"/> 
[[File:Steamship Rio Amazonas migrants from Italy disembark at Port of Santos in Brazil 1907.png|thumb|Ship loaded with Italian emigrants arrived in [[Brazil]] (1907).]]
As the number of Italian emigrants abroad increased, so did their [[remittance]]s, which encouraged further emigration, even in the face of factors that might logically be thought to decrease the need to leave, such as increased salaries at home. It has been termed "persistent and path-dependent emigration flow".<ref name="Hatton"/> 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 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|Emergency Quota Act of 1921]] and the [[Immigration Act of 1924]]. Restrictive legislation to limit emigration from Italy was introduced by the fascist government of the 1920s and 1930s.<ref name="Monticelli"/>
[[File:Manifesto Emigrazione San Paolo Brasile.jpg|thumb|left|Poster created in 1886 by the [[São Paulo (state)|Brazilian state of São Paulo]], intended for potential [[Italian Brazilians|Italian emigrants to Brazil]]]]
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 the sense of depopulation; it has been characteristically permanent".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abbott |first1=Edith |title=Italian Emigration of our Times. By Robert F. Foerster. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1919. Pp. xv, 556.) |journal=American Political Science Review |date=August 1920 |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=523–524 |doi=10.2307/1946285 |jstor=1946285 |s2cid=147320636 }}</ref> 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 the Italian Friuli.<ref>Emigration to Australia from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Francesco Fait</ref>

''[[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 was socially despised. People invested not in agricultural equipment, but in such things as low-risk state bonds.<ref name="MacDonald"/>

The rule that emigration from cities was negligible has an important exception, in [[Naples]].<ref name="MacDonald"/> 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 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.
[[File:FamigliaCastagnaColoniCapitanPastene1910.jpg|thumb|[[Modena|Modenese]] emigrants to [[Capitan Pastene]] ([[Chile]]) in 1910: the Castagnoli family]]
During the first few years before the unification of Italy, emigration 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.<ref name="Italy's Many Diasporas"/> Abuses led to the first migration law in Italy, passed in 1888, to bring the many emigration agencies under state control.<ref name="Cometti"/> On 31 January 1901, the Commissariat of Emigration 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 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.<ref name="Cometti"/> 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]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Glazier |first1=Ira A. |last2=Cinel |first2=Dino |title=The National Integration of Italian Return Migration, 1870-1929. |journal=The American Historical Review |date=February 1993 |volume=98 |issue=1 |pages=198 |doi=10.2307/2166476 |jstor=2166476 }}</ref> In 1903, 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.<ref>"Italian Emigration Law", New York Times, 3 September 1903.{{vs|date=October 2023}}</ref>

===Interwar period===
[[File:Reunião-de-família---1928.jpg|thumb|right|The Benvenuti family, who immigrated to [[Caxias do Sul]], a [[municipalities of Brazil|municipality]] of [[Brazil]] founded by Italian emigrants from [[Veneto]], in a photo of 1928]]
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 18 December 1880, ''[[The New York Times]]'' ran an editorial, "Undesirable Emigrants", full of typical invective of 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 17 April 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 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 the East Indies ...".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.silvanapoli.it/2021/01/12/lemigrazione-italiana/|title=Emigrazione italiana|date=12 January 2021 |access-date=7 December 2022|language=it}}</ref>

[[File:2016 - Vittoriano (Rome) 07.jpg|thumb|One of the two braziers that burn perpetually on the sides of the [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Italy)|tomb of the Italian Unknown Soldier]] at [[Altare della Patria]] in [[Rome]]. At their base there is a plaque bearing the inscription ''Gli italiani all'estero alla Madre Patria'' ("Italians abroad to the Motherland")''.'']]
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.<ref name="Cannistraro">{{cite journal |last1=Cannistraro |first1=Philip V. |last2=Rosoli |first2=Gianfausto |title=Fascist Emigration Policy in the 1920s: An Interpretive Framework |journal=International Migration Review |date=1979 |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=673–692 |doi=10.2307/2545181 |jstor=2545181 |pmid=12337317 }}</ref> By then, 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), 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 Unknown Soldier (Italy)|tomb of the Italian Unknown Soldier]], reads "Gli italiani all'estero alla Madre Patria" ("Italians abroad to the Motherland").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://serenaitalian.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/il-vittoriano-roma/|title=Il Vittoriano – Roma|date=26 March 2014|access-date=7 January 2018|language=it}}</ref> The [[Allegory|allegorical]] meaning of the flames that burn perpetually is linked to their symbolism, which is centuries old, since it has its origins in [[classical antiquity]], especially in the [[Funeral|cult of the dead]].<ref name="fiamma">{{cite web|url=http://www.toscanaoggi.it/Cultura-Societa/Il-mito-della-lampada-perenne|title=Il mito della "lampada perenne"|date=13 January 2010 |access-date=12 February 2018|language=it}}</ref> A fire that burns eternally symbolizes that the memory, in this case of the sacrifice of the Unknown Soldier and the [[Fatherland|bond of the country of origin]], is perpetually alive in Italians, even in those who are far from their country, and will never fade.<ref name="fiamma"/>

===After World War II===
[[File:Italians leave Pola.jpg|thumb|right|[[Istrian Italians]] leave [[Pula|Pola]] in 1947 during the [[Istrian-Dalmatian exodus]].]]
Following the defeat of Italy in [[World War II]] and the [[Treaty of peace with Italy (1947)|Paris Treaties of 1947]], [[Istria]], [[Kvarner Gulf|Kvarner]] and most of [[Julian March]], with the cities of [[Pula|Pola]], [[Rijeka|Fiume]] and [[Zadar|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]].<ref name="rainews">{{cite web|url=https://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/articoli/giorno-ricordo-10-febbraio-2004-2014-dieci-anni-strage-foibe-eccidio-tito-comunisti-slavi-esodo-giuliano-dalmata-77ba65a1-a1e5-460e-bb57-946819b4b905.html|title=Il Giorno del Ricordo|date=10 February 2014 |access-date=16 October 2021|language=it}}</ref><ref name="ilgiornale">{{cite web|url=https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/spettacoli/lesodo-giuliano-dalmata-e-quegli-italiani-fuga-che-nacquero-1639585.html|title=L'esodo giuliano-dalmata e quegli italiani in fuga che nacquero due volte|date=5 February 2019 |access-date=24 January 2023|language=it}}</ref>

The Italian emigration of 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stopgavage.com/en/manifesto.php|title=A barbaric custom|access-date=12 February 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231234004/http://stopgavage.com/en/manifesto.php|archive-date=31 December 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wmaker.net/lesgaribaldiens/index.php?action=article&numero=53|title=Belgique: 60 ans d'intégration italienne|access-date=12 February 2017|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lautresite.com/new/edition/explo/immigr_ital/|title=L'immigration italienne|access-date=12 February 2017|language=fr|archive-date=2 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802013736/http://www.lautresite.com/new/edition/explo/immigr_ital/|url-status=dead}}</ref> These countries were considered by many, at the time of departure, as a temporary destination—often only for 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 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 [[Sicily|Sicilian]], [[Calabria]]n, [[Abruzzo|Abruzzese]] and [[Apulia]]n origin, but also [[Veneto|Venetian]] and [[Emilia (region)|Emilia]]n, many of whom have [[dual citizenship]] and therefore the ability to vote in both countries. In Belgium and Switzerland, the Italian communities remain 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 (Italy)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] estimates that over 10,000 associations set up by Italian emigrants over the course of over a century are present abroad. [[Benefit society|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 Church|Catholic world]], is that of the ''Italian Federation of migrant workers and families''.

==="New emigration" of the 21st century===
[[File:RiccardoGiacconi.jpg|thumb|right|[[Riccardo Giacconi]], Italian [[naturalized]] American [[physicist]], winner of the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 2002]]

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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pitroso |first1=Giulio |title=Una prospettiva regionalista su 'Italian Diaspora' e 'Anti-Italianism' in Australia e negli Stati Uniti |trans-title=A regionalist perspective on 'Italian Diaspora' and 'Anti-Italianism' in Australia and in the United States |language=it |journal=Nazioni e Regioni |date=24 March 2023 |issue=19–20 |pages=119–138 |doi=10.15162/2282-5681/1683 }}</ref> 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 the previous two, this period mainly affects young people who are often graduates, so much so that is defined as a "[[Human capital flight|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 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 the so-called "new emigration"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cambiailmondo.org/2012/05/15/2012-fuga-dallitalia-la-nuova-emigrazione-in-ripartenza-urgente-avviare-un-confronto-per-cogliere-la-sfida-del-nuovo-esodo-europeo/|title=2012, fuga dall'Italia. La Nuova Emigrazione in ripartenza: urgente avviare un confronto per cogliere la sfida del nuovo esodo europeo|date=15 May 2012|access-date=9 February 2018|language=it}}</ref> 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 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 citizen]]s 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 was about one fifth of the entire Italian population).<ref>Philip Cannistraro and Gianfusto Rosoli, ''Fascist Emigration Policy in the 1930s: an Interpretative Framework'', 1979, International Migration Review, pp. 673–692.</ref>

The "Report of Italians in the World 2011" produced by the Migrantes Foundation, which is part of the [[Episcopal Conference of Italy|CEI]], specified that:

{{blockquote|Italians residing abroad as of 31 December 2010 were 4,115,235 (47.8% are women).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chiesacattolica.it/cci_new_v3/allegati/21532/scheda%20definitiva.pdf|title=Rapporto italiani nel mondo 2011|access-date=13 February 2018|language=it}}</ref> 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 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 [[Southern Italy|South]] and almost 800,000 from the [[Insular Italy|Islands]]); 30.1% comes from the [[Northern Italy|northern regions]] (almost 600,000 from the [[Northeast Italy|Northeast]] and 580,000 from the [[Northwest Italy|Northwest]]); finally, 15% (588,717) comes from the [[Central Italy|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 [[Regions of Italy|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 [[Provinces of Italy|province]] with the most emigrants is [[Metropolitan City of Rome Capital|Rome]] (263,210), followed by [[Province of Agrigento|Agrigento]] (138,517), [[Province of Cosenza|Cosenza]] (138,152), [[Province of Salerno|Salerno]] (108,588) and [[Metropolitan City of Naples|Naples]] (104,495).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.repubblica.it/2009/11/sezioni/cronaca/immigrati-13/italiani-all-estero09/italiani-all-estero09.html|title=In Italia (ancora nel 2009) ci sono più emigrati che immigrati|access-date=13 February 2018|language=it}}</ref>|author=CEI report on "new emigration"}}

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).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www3.istat.it/salastampa/comunicati/non_calendario/20101202_01/|title=Trasferimenti di residenza|access-date=12 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210002340/http://www3.istat.it/salastampa/comunicati/non_calendario/20101202_01/|archive-date=10 February 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> The number of Italian citizens residing abroad according to those registered in the AIRE registry:
{{Demography
| caption = Italian citizens residing abroad
| 2000 = 2,352,965
| 2001 = 2,536,643
| 2002 = 2,751,593
| 2003 = 3,045,064
| 2004 = 3,316,635
| 2005 = 3,520,809
| 2006 = 3,547,808
| 2007 = 3,649,377
| 2008 = 3,853,614
| source = [http://infoaire.interno.it/stat_note.htm Statistiche relative all'elenco aggiornato dei cittadini italiani residenti all'estero (AIRE)]
}}
<br />
{{Demography
| caption = Italian citizens residing abroad
| 2009 = 3,995,732
| 2010 = 4,115,235
| 2011 = 4,208,877
| 2012 = 4,341,156
| 2014 = 4,521,000
| 2016 = 4,973,940
| 2018 = 5,134,000
| 2020 = 5,652,080
| 2022 = 5,806,068
| source = [http://infoaire.interno.it/stat_note.htm Statistiche relative all'elenco aggiornato dei cittadini italiani residenti all'estero (AIRE)]
}}

Most of italians registered at AIRE are born abroad (70% circa). They are descendents of italian emigrants who conserved the citizenship of their parents thanks to easy italian legislation. Many south americans acquired italian citizenship through ius sanguinis.<ref>https://www.istat.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Italiani-residenti-allestero.pdf. {{Bare URL inline|date=June 2025}}</ref>

==By continent==
===Africa===
<!-- "Italian Angolans" redirects here. -->
<!-- "Italian Mozambicans" redirects here. -->
{{See also|Italian settlers in Libya|Italian Somalis|Italian Eritreans|Italians of Ethiopia|Italian Egyptians|Italian Tunisians|Italian Algerians|Italian Moroccans|Italian South Africans|Italian Zimbabweans}}
{{Split section|date=June 2025|discuss=Talk:Italian diaspora#Split needed|Italian diaspora in Africa}}
[[File:South Africa - Italian club - 001.jpg|thumb|Italian Club in [[Boksburg]], in [[South Africa]]]]

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 South Africans|Italian immigrants arrived]], though there were some prominent exceptions such as the [[Cape Colony|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 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://remembered.co.za/john-charles-molteno-5826 |title=John Charles "Lion of Beaufort" Molteno (1814 - 1886) &#124; Remembered.co.za |access-date=2014-02-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222203950/http://remembered.co.za/john-charles-molteno-5826 |archive-date=2014-02-22 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol014lb.html|title=ITALIAN P.O.W. IN SOUTH AFRICA (Medical Services)|website=Samilitaryhistory.org|access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref> 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 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),<ref name="Italian-World">{{cite web|url=http://www.migranti.torino.it/Documenti%20%20PDF/italianial%20ster05.pdf|title=Italiani nel Mondo: diaspora italiana in cifre|trans-title=Italians in the World: Italian diaspora in figures|language=it|date=30 April 2004|publisher=Migranti Torino|access-date=22 September 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227022729/http://www.migranti.torino.it/Documenti%20%20PDF/italianial%20ster05.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2008}}</ref> half of whom have Italian citizenship. Those of Venetian origin number about 5,000, mainly residing in [[Johannesburg]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.regione.veneto.it/videoinf/periodic/conferenze/australia/sudafrica.htm|title=Veneti in Sudafrica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915102953/http://www2.regione.veneto.it/videoinf/periodic/conferenze/australia/sudafrica.htm |archive-date=15 September 2008|language=it|access-date=26 January 2023|url-status=dead}}</ref> while 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://infoaire.interno.it/statistiche2007/stat_aao_circ.html|title=Numero iscritti per Ripartizione geografica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326232734/http://infoaire.interno.it/statistiche2007/stat_aao_circ.html|archive-date=26 March 2009|language=it|access-date=26 January 2023|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:The first Locomotive arrived in Tripoli Harbor.jpg|thumb|right|Arrival of the first Italian locomotive in Tripoli, [[Italian Tripolitania]], in 1912]]
Very numerous was the presence of Italian emigrants in African territories that were [[Italian Empire|Italian colonies]], namely in [[Eritrea]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Libya]] and [[Somalia]].

In 1911, the [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Kingdom of Italy]] waged [[Italian invasion of Libya|war]] on the [[Ottoman Empire]] and [[Italian colonization of Libya|captured Libya as a colony]]. [[Italian settlers in Libya|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 a racing circuit outside Tripoli (it lasted until 1940).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEtz-wzbs9Y|title=Tripoli Grand Prix 1937 سباق الملاحة|date=6 October 2008 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> 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).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.architecturebeyond.eu/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/vittoria-capresi_I-centri-rurali-libici.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720153207/http://www.architecturebeyond.eu/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/vittoria-capresi_I-centri-rurali-libici.pdf |url-status=dead |title=New villages in coastal Libya (in Italian)|archive-date=20 July 2011}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-46562/Libya|title=Libya - History, People, & Government|website=Britannica.com|access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Greenberg|first1=Udi|last2= A. Foster|first2=Elizabeth|title=Decolonization and the Remaking of Christianity|year=2023|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Pennsylvania|isbn=9781512824971|pages=105}}</ref> The Italians in Libya resided (and many still do) in most major cities like [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] (37% of the city was Italian), [[Benghazi]] (31%), and [[Hun, Libya|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 a [[coup d'état]] on 7 October 1970,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4380360.stm|title=Libya cuts ties to mark Italy era|date=27 October 2005|access-date=11 January 2018|website=BBC News}}</ref> but a few hundred Italian settlers returned to Libya in the 2000s (decade).

{| class="wikitable" style="width:90%;; margin:auto; clear:both"
|-
!  Year!!  Italians !! Percentage !! {{nowrap|Total Libya}} !! Source for data on population
|-
| 1936 || 112,600 || 13.26% || 848,600 || ''Enciclopedia Geografica Mondiale K-Z, De Agostini, 1996''
|-
| 1939 || 108,419 || 12.37% || 876,563 || ''Guida Breve d'Italia Vol.III, C.T.I., 1939 (Censimento Ufficiale)''
|-
| 1962 || 35,000|| 2.1% || 1,681,739 || ''Enciclopedia Motta, Vol.VIII, Motta Editore, 1969''
|-
| 1982 || 1,500 || 0.05% || 2,856,000 ||''Atlante Geografico Universale, Fabbri Editori, 1988''
|-
| 2004 || 22,530 || 0.4% || 5,631,585 || [http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/libye.htm ''L'Aménagement Linguistique dans le Monde''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426013808/http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/libye.htm |date=26 April 2009 }}
|}

[[Somalia]] had some 50,000 [[Italian Somalis|Italian Somali]] settlers during World War II, constituting about 5% of the total population in [[Italian Somaliland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.populstat.info/Africa/somaliac.htm|title=SOMALIA: population growth of the whole country|website=Populstat.info|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104193138/http://www.populstat.info/Africa/somaliac.htm|archive-date=4 November 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2011/july/19424/memories_from_somalia_part_one.aspx|title=Memories from Somalia-Part one|website=Hiiraan.com|access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref> 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 was founded by the Italian prince [[Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi]]. [[Italian language|Italian]] used to be a major language, but its influence significantly diminished following independence. It is now most frequently heard among older generations.<ref name="Dubnov">Helena Dubnov, ''A grammatical sketch of Somali'', (Kِppe: 2003), pp. 70–71.</ref>
[[File:Asmara Church.jpeg|right|thumb|Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Asmara, built by Italian Eritreans in 1923]]

Former Italian communities also once thrived in the [[Horn of Africa]], with about 50,000 Italian settlers living in [[Eritrea]] in 1935.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/33/038.html|title=Eritrea—Hope For Africa's Future| website=Hartford-hwp.com|access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref> The [[Italian Eritreans|Italian Eritrean]] population grew from 4,000 during World War I, to nearly 100,000 at the beginning of World War II.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilcornodafrica.it/rds-01emigrazione.pdf|title=Essay on Italian emigration to Eritrea (in Italian)|website=Ilcornodafrica.it|access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archiviomemoriemigranti.net/archivio/focus-corno-africa/informazioni-storiche-sulleritrea/|title=Informazioni storiche sull'Eritrea|access-date=12 March 2023|language=it}}</ref> 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).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362416639|title=L'italiano nell'interazione interetnica del contesto eritreo: fonti storiche e testimonianze contemporanee|access-date=12 March 2023|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eritreaeritrea.com/cronologia-storica.html|title=Cronologia storica|access-date=12 March 2023|language=it}}</ref> Many Italian settlers got out of their colony after its conquest by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in November 1941 and they were reduced to only 38,000 by 1946.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maitacli.it/images/stories/home-page/ERITREA%20-%20GLI%20ANNI%20DIFFICILI.pdf|title=Gli anni difficili (1941-1951)|access-date=12 March 2023|language=it}}</ref> 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 [[statelessness|stateless]] today, as none of them were given citizenship unless through marriage or, more rarely, by having it conferred upon them by the State.
[[File:1939-Etiopia-Palazzo-del-Governatorato.jpg|thumb|Palace of the Italian Governorate in Ethiopia, 1939]]

[[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#Italian conquest of Ethiopia|Emperor of Ethiopia]]. During 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,<ref name="Italoethiopians">{{Cite web| url=https://ladywriteronline.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/fratelli-detiopia/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211022551/https://ladywriteronline.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/fratelli-detiopia/|url-status=dead|title=Fratelli d'Etiopia|date=29 April 2008|archive-date=11 February 2017}}</ref> but eventually nearly 22,000 Italo-Ethiopians left the country due to the [[Ethiopian Civil War]] in 1974.<ref name="Italoethiopians"/> 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.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://dait.interno.gov.it/servizi-demografici |title = I servizi demografici|date = 2016-11-25}}</ref>
[[File:Tunis Place de la Victoire.JPG|thumb|right|Buildings showing influence of the Italian "Liberty" architecture in [[Tunis]]]]

Conspicuous was the presence of Italian emigrants even in territories that have never been [[Italian Empire|Italian colonies]], such as [[Egypt]], [[Tunisia]], [[Morocco]], [[Zimbabwe]] and [[Algeria]].

The first [[Italian Tunisians|Italians in Tunisia]] at 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]].<ref>El Houssi L. 'Italians in Tunisia: between regional organisation, cultural adaptation and political division, 1860s-1940'. ''European Review Of History''. 2012;19(1):163-181.</ref> As a consequence, in the first years of the 20th century there were more than 100,000 Italian residents in Tunisia.<ref>Alberti Russell, Janice. ''The Italian Community in Tunisia, 1861-1961: a viable minority''. pags. 34-37</ref> In 1926, there were 100,000 Italians in Tunisia, compared to 70,000 Frenchmen (unusual since [[French protectorate of Tunisia|Tunisia was a French protectorate]]).<ref>Moustapha Kraiem. ''Le fascisme et les italiens de Tunisie, 1918-1939'' pag. 57</ref> 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. 
[[File:Egyptian Museum - front view with wide angle lens.JPG|thumb|right|The [[Egyptian Museum]] of Cairo (the most important museum of ancient Egypt in the world) was built between 1897 and 1902 by the Garozzo-Zaffarani, an Italian construction company.<ref>{{Cite Q |Q110494851 |page=51}}</ref>]]

During 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 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 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 the end of 2007 were 3,374 (1,980 families).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://infoaire.interno.it/statistiche2007/stat_aao_circ.html|title=I servizi demografici|website=Dipartimento per gli affari interni e territoriali|date=25 November 2016|language=it-IT|access-date=17 March 2018}}</ref>

The oldest area of [[Italian Zimbabweans|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 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.<ref name="1R">{{cite web|date=3 December 2013 | url=http://www.parlzim.gov.zw/attachments/article/96/NAMES_ALTERATION_ACT_10_14.pdf | title=Names Alteration Act 10/14: Part II: Municipalities And Municipal Councils: Old–Municipality of Sinoia; New–Municipality of Chinhoyi |publisher=Parliament of Zimbabwe |author=Parliament of Zimbabwe |access-date=25 May 2020 |location=Harare | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203041146/http://www.parlzim.gov.zw/attachments/article/96/NAMES_ALTERATION_ACT_10_14.pdf | archive-date=3 December 2013 | format=Archived from the original on 3 December 2013}}</ref> 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 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]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289335664|title=History of Zimbabwean Migration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6oOhCAAAQBAJ|title=Robert Mugabe and the Betrayal of Zimbabwe|last=Norman|first=Andrew|date=2004-02-08|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786416868|pages=130|language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Bd de la gare - bd MV.JPG|thumb|The [[Italian Moroccans]] were concentrated in the "Maarif" district (also called "Little Italy"), near the Boulevard De la Gare in [[Casablanca]].<ref name="istitutoeuroarabo"/>]]

The first [[Italian Moroccans|Italian presence in Morocco]] dates back to 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.<ref name="icsaicstoria">{{cite web|url=https://www.icsaicstoria.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Cortese-2012.pdf|title=L'EMIGRAZIONE ITALIANA NELL'AFRICA MEDITERRANEA|access-date=5 April 2023|language=it}}</ref> This presence lasted until the 19th century.<ref name="icsaicstoria"/> 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.<ref name="icsaicstoria"/><ref name="istitutoeuroarabo">{{cite web|url=http://www.istitutoeuroarabo.it/DM/la-presenza-italiana-in-marocco-tra-l800-e-la-prima-meta-del-900/|title=La presenza italiana in Marocco tra l'800 e la prima metà del 900|access-date=5 April 2023|language=it}}</ref> The Italian presence in 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.esteri.it/mae/it/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/approfondimenti/2013/05/20130503_archivio_scuola_italiana.html|title = Tangeri - Riordinato archivio scuola italiana|access-date = 14 December 2015|language=it}}</ref> 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.<ref name="icsaicstoria"/><ref name="istitutoeuroarabo"/> In the 1930s, Italian-Moroccans, almost all of Sicilian origin, numbered over 15,600 and lived mainly in the Maarif district of Casablanca.<ref name="icsaicstoria"/> With [[decolonization]], most Italian Moroccans left Morocco for France and Spain.<ref name="icsaicstoria"/> The community has started to grow again since the 1970s and 1980s with the arrival of industrial technicians, tourism and [[international cooperation]] managers, but remains very limited.
[[File:GIACOMO D'ANGELIS EN ARGEL.jpg|thumb|The [[Italian Algerians|Italian Algerian]] Giacomo D'Angelis, founder of the historic ''Hotel D'Angelis'' in [[Algiers]], 1919]]

The first [[Italian Algerians|Italian presence in Algeria]] dates back to the times of the [[Italian maritime republics]], when some merchants of the [[Republic of Venice]] settled on the central [[Maghreb]] coast. The first Italians took root in Algiers and in eastern Algeria, especially in [[Annaba]] and [[Constantine, Algeria|Constantine]]. A small minority went to [[Oran]], where the Spanish community had been substantial for many centuries. These first Italians (estimated at 1,000) were traders and artisans, with a small presence of peasants. When France occupied Algeria in 1830, it counted over 1,100 Italians in its first census (done in 1833),<ref name="icsaicstoria"/> concentrated in Algiers and in Annaba. With the arrival of the French, the migratory flow from Italy grew considerably: in 1836 the Italians had grown to 1,800, to 8,100 in 1846, to 9,000 in 1855, to 12,000 in 1864 and to 16,500 in 1866.<ref name="icsaicstoria"/> Italians were an important community among foreigners in Algeria.<ref name="icsaicstoria"/> In 1889, French citizenship was granted to foreign residents, mostly settlers from Spain or Italy, so as to unify all European settlers (''[[pieds-noirs]]'') in the political consensus for an "''Algérie française''". The French wanted to increase the European numerical presence in the recently conquered Algeria,<ref>Priestley, Herbert. ''France Overseas: Study of Modern Imperialism''. p. 124</ref> and at the same time limit and prevent the aspirations of [[Italian colonialism]] in neighboring [[Tunisia]] and possibly also in Algeria.<ref name="books.google">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o76S8_p0stgC&dq=tunisian+italians&pg=PA220|title=The Italian Emigration of Our Times|first=Robert Franz|last=Foerster|date=5 April 1924|publisher=Arno Press|isbn=9780405005220 |via=Google Books}}</ref> As a consequence, the Italian community in Algeria began to decline, going from 44,000 in 1886, to 39,000 in 1891 and to 35,000 in 1896.<ref name="icsaicstoria"/> In the 1906 census, 12,000 Italians in Algeria were registered as naturalized Frenchmen,<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/geo_0003-4010_1908_num_17_91_18205|title=Le recensement de 1906 en Algérie et en Tunisie|first=Augustin|last=Bernard|date=5 April 1908|journal=Annales de géographie|volume=17|issue=91|pages=24–33|via=www.persee.fr|doi=10.3406/geo.1908.18205}}</ref> demonstrating a very different attitude from that of the [[Italian Tunisians]], much more sensitive to the [[Italian irredentism|irredentist bond with the motherland]].<ref name="books.google"/> After [[World War II]], Italian Algerians followed the fate of the French ''pieds-noirs'', especially in the years of the [[Algerian War]], repatriating massively to Italy.<ref name="icsaicstoria"/> Still in the 1960s, immediately after Algeria's independence from France, the Italian community had a consistency of about 18,000 people, almost all residing in the capital, a number that dropped to 500-600 people in a short time.<ref name="icsaicstoria"/>

Italian settlers also stayed in [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese colonies]] in Africa ([[Angola]] and [[Mozambique]]) after World War II. As the Portuguese government had sought to enlarge the small [[Portuguese people|Portuguese population]] settled there through emigration from Europe,<ref name="Portugal - Emigration">[http://countrystudies.us/portugal/48.htm Portugal - Emigration], Eric Solsten, ed. Portugal: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1993.</ref> the Italian migrants gradually assimilated into the [[Portuguese Angolans|Angolan]] and [[Portuguese Mozambicans|Mozambican]] Portuguese community.

===Americas===
<!-- "Italian Nicaraguans" redirects here. -->
{{Main|Italian Americans|Italian Argentines|Italian Bolivians|Italian Brazilians|Italian Canadians|Italian Chileans|Italian Colombians|Italian Costa Ricans|Italian Cubans|Italian Dominicans|Italian Ecuadorians|Italian Guatemalans|Italian Haitians|Italian Hondurans|Italian Mexicans|Italian Panamanians|Italian Paraguayans|Italian Peruvians|Italian Puerto Ricans|Italian Salvadorans|Italian Uruguayans|Italian Venezuelans}}
{{Further|Sicilian American|Calabrian diaspora|List of Italian-American neighborhoods|Italian Americans in New York City|History of the Italian Americans in Philadelphia|Italian Americans in Boston|Italians in Chicago|Italians in New Orleans|History of the Italians in Baltimore|History of the Italian Americans in Metro Detroit|History of the Italians in Mississippi|Italians in Syracuse, New York|Utah Italians|Italian Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area|Italian Canadians in Greater Montreal}}
{{see also|Italians in the United States before 1880}}
{{Split section|date=June 2025|discuss=Talk:Italian diaspora#Split needed|Italian diaspora in the Americas}}
{{multiple image
| width1            = 170
| width2            = 160
| image1            = Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio - Ritratto di Cristoforo Colombo (1520).jpg
| caption1          = [[Christopher Columbus]] ({{langx|it|Cristoforo Colombo}}), the Italian explorer who opened the way for the widespread European [[Age of Discovery|exploration]] and [[European colonization of the Americas|colonization]] of the Americas
| image2            = Amerigo Vespucci (with turban) - cropped.jpg
| caption2          = [[Amerigo Vespucci]], the Italian explorer from whose name the term "[[Naming of the Americas|America]]" is derived<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/42510-amerigo-vespucci.html|title=Amerigo Vespucci: Facts, Biography & Naming of America|first1=Callum|last1=McKelvie|first2=Jessie Szalay|last2=published|date=8 February 2022|website=livescience.com}}</ref>
}}

Italian<ref>Though the modern state of Italy had yet to be established, the Latin equivalent of the [[Italians#Name|term Italian]] had been in use for natives of [[Italian geographical region|the region]] since antiquity. See [[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Epistulae (Pliny)|Letters]]'' 9.23.</ref> navigators and explorers played a key role in the exploration and settlement of the Americas by [[Europeans]]. [[Genoa|Genoese]] explorer [[Christopher Columbus]] ({{langx|it|Cristoforo Colombo}} {{IPA|it|kriˈstɔːforo koˈlombo|}}) completed [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus|four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean]] for the [[Catholic Monarchs of Spain]], opening the way for the widespread European [[Age of Discovery|exploration]] and [[European colonization of the Americas|colonization]] of the Americas. Another Italian, [[John Cabot]] ({{langx|it|Giovanni Caboto}} {{IPA|it|dʒoˈvanni kaˈbɔːto|}}), together with his son [[Sebastian Cabot (explorer)|Sebastian]], explored the [[East Coast of the United States|eastern seaboard of North America]] for [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] in the early 16th century. [[Amerigo Vespucci]], sailing for Portugal, who first demonstrated in about 1501 that the New World (in particular Brazil) was not Asia as initially conjectured, but a fourth continent previously unknown to people of the Old World: [[Naming of the Americas|America]] is named after him.<ref>{{cite book|author=Eric Martone|title=Italian Americans: The History and Culture of a People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHJ1DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA109|year=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=504|isbn=9781610699952}}</ref> In 1524 the [[Florence|Florentine]] explorer [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]] was the first European to map the Atlantic coast of today's United States, and to enter [[New York Bay]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Connell|first1=William J.|title=Italians in the Early Atlantic World|journal=Routledge History of Italian Americans|date=2018|pages=17–41}}</ref> A number of Italian navigators and explorers in the employ of Spain and France were involved in exploring and mapping their territories, and in establishing settlements; but this did not lead to the permanent presence of Italians in America.

The first Italians that headed to the Americas settled in the territories of the [[Spanish Empire]] as early as the 16th century. They were mainly [[Liguria]]ns from the [[Republic of Genoa]], who worked in activities and businesses related to transoceanic maritime navigation. The flow in the [[Río de la Plata]] region grew in the 1830s, when substantial Italian colonies arose in the cities of [[Buenos Aires]] and [[Montevideo]]. 

The [[Italian Argentine|Italian immigration to Argentina]] and [[Italian Uruguayans|Uruguay]], along with the [[Spanish Argentine|Spaniards]], formed the backbone of the [[Argentina|Argentine]] and [[Uruguay|Uruguayan]] societies. Minor groups of Italians started to emigrate to Argentina and Uruguay as early as the second half of the 17th century.<ref name="INET">{{cite web |title=Colectividad Italiana |url=http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi98/BajarondelosBarcos/Colectividades/Italia/itaprin.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140612125453/http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi98/BajarondelosBarcos/Colectividades/Italia/itaprin.htm |archive-date=12 June 2014 |access-date=19 September 2011}}</ref> However, the stream of Italian immigration became a mass phenomenon between 1880 and 1920 when Italy was facing social and economic disturbances. Platinean culture has significant connections to Italian culture in terms of language, customs and traditions.<ref>{{cite web |title=O.N.I.-Department of Education of Argentina |url=http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi98/BajarondelosBarcos/frames.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915043427/http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi98/BajarondelosBarcos/frames.htm |archive-date=15 September 2008 |language=es}}</ref> It is estimated that up to 62.5% of the population, or 25 million Argentines, have full or partial Italian ancestry, whereas a study in 1976 estimated that 1,500,000 Uruguayans, or 44% of the population, are of Italian descent.<ref name="Asteriscos.tv">[http://www.esperanzamia.it/informaciones/ciudadania/main.htm Esperanza Mía] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060313123740/http://www.esperanzamia.it/informaciones/ciudadania/main.htm|date=13 March 2006}}; [http://www.asteriscos.tv/dossier-3.html ''Some 20 million people living in Argentina have some degree of Italian descent'', Asteriscos. (Spanish)]</ref><ref name="migranti.torino.it">{{cite web |title=Diaspora italiana in cifre |url=http://www.migranti.torino.it/Documenti%20%20PDF/italianial%20ster05.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227022729/http://www.migranti.torino.it/Documenti%20%20PDF/italianial%20ster05.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2008 |access-date=22 September 2012}}</ref><ref name="factum2">{{cite web |title=Los árboles sin raíces, mueren |url=http://www2.factum.edu.uy/estpol/analisis/2001/ana01035.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093807/http://www2.factum.edu.uy/estpol/analisis/2001/ana01035.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=19 June 2014 |language=es}}</ref> Italian is the largest single ethnic origin of modern Argentines,<ref name="coleccion">In 2005, the [http://coleccion.educ.ar/coleccion/CD9/contenidos/sobre/pon3/index.html Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genéticas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820151737/http://coleccion.educ.ar/coleccion/CD9/contenidos/sobre/pon3/index.html|date=20 August 2011}} of the [[Universidad de Buenos Aires]] concluded an investigation directed by the Argentinean geneticist [[Daniel Corach]]. The study was done over genetic markers in a sample of 320&nbsp; male subjects, taken at random of a group of 12&nbsp;000 individuals from 9 provinces. {{blockquote|Más del cincuenta por ciento de las muestras exhiben haplogrupos mitocondriales característicos de las poblaciones originarias, 52&nbsp;% en la muestra de la región centro, 56&nbsp;% en la muestra del sur-suroeste y 66&nbsp;% en la región nor-noreste. Por otro lado, el 20&nbsp;% exhibe la variante "T" característica de las poblaciones originarias en el locus DYS199. La detección de ambos linajes originarios, tanto por vía paterna como por vía materna se restringe a un 10&nbsp;%. El componente poblacional que no presenta contribución amerindia alguna en la región del centro es de 43&nbsp;%, en la región Sur-SurOeste es de 37&nbsp;% y en la región Nor-NorEste de 27&nbsp;%. En promedio, menos del 40&nbsp;% (36,4&nbsp;%) de la población exhibe ambos linajes no amerindios; pudiendo ser europeo, asiático o africano.}}</ref> surpassing even the descendants of [[Spanish Argentines|Spanish immigrants]].<ref name="Colectividad Italiana" /><ref name="Diáspora italiana en cifras">{{Cite web |title=Diaspora italiana in cifre |url=http://www.migranti.torino.it/Documenti%20%20PDF/italianial%20ster05.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509081555/http://www.migranti.torino.it/Documenti%20%20PDF/italianial%20ster05.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2006 |access-date=28 August 2009 |page=2 |language=it}}</ref> According to the [[Ministry of Interior (Italy)|Ministry of the Interior of Italy]], there are 527,570 Italian citizens living in the Argentine Republic, including Argentines with dual citizenship.<ref>{{cite web |date=25 November 2016 |title=Ministero dell'Interno |url=http://infoaire.interno.it/statistiche2007/stat_americam_circ.html |access-date=11 January 2018 |website=Infoaire.interno.it}}</ref> After the [[unification of Italy]], Uruguay saw over 110,000 Italian emigrants, reaching its peak in the last decades of the 19th century. In the early 20th century, the migratory flow began to run out. The maximum concentration is found, as well as in [[Montevideo]], in the city of [[Paysandú]] (where almost 65% of the inhabitants are of Italian origin).<ref>Favero, Luigi e Tassello, Graziano. ''Cent'anni di emigrazione italiana (1876-1976)'' p.86</ref><ref name="factum" />
[[File:Mulberry Street NYC c1900 LOC 3g04637u edit.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mulberry Street (Manhattan)|Mulberry Street]], along which New York City's [[Little Italy, Manhattan|Little Italy]] is centered, circa 1900, [[United States]]]]

The symbolic starting date of Italian emigration to the Americas is considered to be 28 June 1854 when, after a twenty-six day journey from [[Palermo]], the steamship ''Sicilia'' arrived in the port of [[New York City]]. For the first time, a steamship flying the flag of a state on the Italian peninsula, in this case the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]], reached the US coasts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilportaledelsud.org/ss_sicilia.htm|title=Brigantino - il portale del Sud - Il piroscafo Sicilia|access-date=22 October 2021|language=it}}</ref> Two years earlier, the ''Transatlantic Steam Navigation Company with the New World'' had been founded in [[Genoa]], the main shareholder of which was King [[Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia]]. The aforementioned association commissioned the large twin steamships ''Genova'' and ''Torino'' to the [[Blackwall, London|Blackwall]] shipyards, launched respectively on 12 April and 21 May 1856, both destined for the maritime connection between Italy and the Americas.<ref>Alfredo Comandini, ''L'Italia nei cento anni del secolo XIX'', Tomo III 1850-1860, Antonio Vallardi Editore, Milano, 1907-1918 (In Italian)</ref> Emigration to the Americas was of considerable size from the second half of the 19th century to the first decades of the 20th century. It nearly ran out during [[Fascism]], but had a small revival soon after the end of [[World War II]]. Mass Italian emigration to the Americas ended in the 1960s, after the [[Italian economic miracle]], although it continued until the 1980s in Canada and the United States.
[[File:Italian labourers in Toronto.png|thumb|right|Italian immigrants lay cobblestones on [[King Street (Toronto)|King Street]] in [[Toronto]], [[Canada]], 1903.]][[File:Italians Sao Paulo - original.jpg|thumb|right|[[Italian Brazilian|Italian]] immigrants arriving in [[São Paulo]], circa 1890, [[Brazil]]. The South American country has the largest number of people with full or partial Italian ancestry outside Italy, with São Paulo as the most populous city with Italian ancestry in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brazil.org.uk/resources/documents/bs-primary03.pdf |title=Brazil - the Country and its People |publisher=www.brazil.org.uk |access-date=December 20, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021152752/http://www.brazil.org.uk/resources/documents/bs-primary03.pdf |archive-date=October 21, 2014 }}</ref>]]
[[File:Conventillo1.jpg|thumb|Italian immigrants in a ''[[conventillo]]'' in [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]]. Italian is the largest single ethnic origin of modern Argentines (62.5% of the country's population),<ref name="coleccion"/> surpassing even the descendants of [[Spanish Argentines|Spanish immigrants]].<ref name="Colectividad Italiana" /><ref name="Diáspora italiana en cifras" />]]

[[Italian Brazilian]]s are the largest number of people with full or partial Italian ancestry outside Italy, with [[São Paulo]] as the most populous city with Italian ancestry in the world. Nowadays, it is possible to find millions of descendants of Italians, from the [[Southeast Region, Brazil|southeastern]] [[States of Brazil|state]] of [[Minas Gerais]] to the [[South Region, Brazil|southernmost]] state of [[Rio Grande do Sul]], with the majority living in [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo state]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://milpovos.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/interna.php?com=1&lang=1&id=324|title=Italians - History of the Community|website=Milpovos.prefeitura.sp.gov.br|access-date=11 January 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112080656/http://milpovos.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/interna.php?com=1&lang=1&id=324|archive-date=12 January 2009}}</ref> and the highest percentage in the southeastern state of [[Espírito Santo]] (60-75%).<ref>Cilmar Franceschetto. [http://www.ape.es.gov.br/newsletters/veneti_nel_mondo_cilmar_junho_2001.htm Espírito Santo, lo stato più veneto del Brasile (in Italian)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814075752/http://www.ape.es.gov.br/newsletters/veneti_nel_mondo_cilmar_junho_2001.htm |date=14 August 2007}}, Retrieved 31 May 2016.</ref><ref>José Carlos Mattedi. [http://aplic.vitoria.es.gov.br/pmv/calandra.nsf/0/8688D942E5AB6F7783256FBF006E63CD?OpenDocument&pub=T&proj=internet&gen=Doc+Diario2 Consulado italiano vai abrir dois escritórios em Vitória para agilizar pedidos de cidadania (in Portuguese)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810085315/http://aplic.vitoria.es.gov.br/pmv/calandra.nsf/0/8688D942E5AB6F7783256FBF006E63CD?OpenDocument&pub=T&proj=internet&gen=Doc+Diario2 |date=10 August 2011}}</ref> Small southern Brazilian towns, such as [[Nova Veneza, Santa Catarina|Nova Veneza]], have as much as 95% of their population as people with Italian descent.<ref name="Nova Veneza">{{Cite web|url=http://www.portalveneza.com.br/a_cidade.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819191657/http://www.portalveneza.com.br/a_cidade.php|url-status=dead|title=Nova Veneza (in Portuguese)|archive-date=19 August 2008}}</ref>

A substantial influx of [[Italian Canadian|Italian immigrants to Canada]] began in the early 20th century when over 60,000 Italians moved to Canada between 1900 and 1913.<ref name=pier>{{cite web|url=http://www.pier21.ca/culture-trunks/italy/history|title=History - Pier 21|website=www.pier21.ca}}</ref> Approximately 40,000 Italians came to Canada during the interwar period between 1914 and 1918, predominantly from [[southern Italy]] where an economic depression and overpopulation had left many families in poverty.<ref name=pier/> Between the early-1950s and the mid-1960s, approximately 20,000 to 30,000 Italians emigrated to Canada each year.<ref name=pier/> [[Pier 21]] in [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], was an influential port of Italian immigration between 1928 until it ceased operations in 1971, where 471,940 individuals came to Canada from Italy making them the third-largest ethnic group to emigrate to Canada during that time period.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pier21.ca/wp-content/uploads/files/First_75_Years/research_italians.pdf |title=Italian Immigration at Pier 21 |access-date=2018-03-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816000332/https://www.pier21.ca/wp-content/uploads/files/First_75_Years/research_italians.pdf |archive-date=2017-08-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Almost 1,000,000 Italians reside in the Province of [[Ontario]], making it a strong global representation of the Italian diaspora.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/imm/PRTerr-eng.cfm?Lang=E&T=31|title=Province or territory|website=[[Statistics Canada]]}}</ref> For example, [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]], Ontario, has around 24,000 residents with ties to its sister city [[Racalmuto]] in [[Sicily]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/soccer-can-t-stop-religious-racalmuto-celebration-1.1220563| title=Soccer can't stop religious Racalmuto celebration| first=Samantha| last=Craggs| date=24 June 2012| work=CBC}}</ref> The city of [[Vaughan]], just north of [[Toronto]], and the town of [[King, Ontario|King]], just north of Vaughan, have the two largest concentrations of Italians in Canada at 26.5% and 35.1% of the total population of each community respectively.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000203&geocode=A000235 | title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Ontario | publisher=[[Statistics Canada]] | date=9 February 2022 | access-date=27 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=king&DGUIDlist=2021A00053519049&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1&HEADERlist=0|title=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population Profile table|last=Canada|first=Government of Canada, Statistics|date=26 October 2022|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|language=en|access-date=26 October 2022}}</ref>

From the late 19th century until the 1930s, the [[Italian American|United States was a main destination for Italian immigrants]], with most first settling in the [[New York metropolitan area]], but with other major Italian American communities developing in [[Boston]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Chicago]], [[Cleveland]], [[Detroit]], [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], [[Pittsburgh]], [[History of the Italians in Baltimore|Baltimore]], [[San Francisco]], [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]], and [[New Orleans]]. Most Italian immigrants to the United States came from the Southern regions of Italy, namely [[Campania]], [[Apulia]], [[Basilicata]], [[Calabria]], and [[Sicily]]. Many of them coming to the United States were also small landowners.<ref name="Italy's Many Diasporas"/> Between 1880 and 1914, more than 4 million Italians immigrated to the United States.<ref name="mtholyoke.edu">{{cite web|url=https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~molna22a/classweb/politics/images/italian%20population%20chart%20001.jpg|title=Table 1: ITALIAN IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES BY YEARS|website=Mtholyoke.edu|access-date=7 October 2017|archive-date=25 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025111330/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~molna22a/classweb/politics/images/italian%20population%20chart%20001.jpg|url-status=dead}}</ref> Italian Americans are known for their tight-knit communities and ethnic pride, and have been highly influential in the development of modern U.S. culture, particularly in the [[Northeastern United States|Northeastern region]] of the country. Italian American communities have often been depicted in U.S. film and television, with distinct Italian-influenced dialects of [[English language|English]] prominently spoken by many characters. Although many do not speak Italian fluently, over a million still speak Italian at home, according to the 2000 US Census.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-reg=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201:543;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR:543;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T:543;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR:543&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-TABLE_NAMEX=&-ci_type=A&-redoLog=false&-charIterations=031&-geo_id=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en|title=American FactFinder - Results|publisher=United States Census Bureau|website=Factfinder.census.gov|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212040150/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-reg=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201:543;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR:543;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T:543;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR:543&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-TABLE_NAMEX=&-ci_type=A&-redoLog=false&-charIterations=031&-geo_id=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en|archive-date=12 February 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to the Italian American Studies Association, the population of the Italian Americans is about 18 million, corresponding to about 5.4% of the total population of the [[United States]].<ref name="italianamericanstudies">{{cite web|url=https://www.italianamericanstudies.net/blogs/welcome-to-the-most-italian-place-in-the-united-states-its-in-new-jersey|title=Welcome to the most Italian place in the United States. It's in New Jersey|access-date=18 April 2023}}</ref>
[[File:Immigrazione.jpg|thumb|[[Italians]] arriving in [[Colombia]].]]
The presence of Italians in Colombia began from the times of [[Christopher Columbus]] and [[Amerigo Vespucci]]. [[Martín Galeano|Martino Galeano]] (member of the noble Galeano Family of Genoa) was one of the most important conquerors of the territory of present-day Colombia ([[New Kingdom of Granada]]). These early Italians have left their mark in many lines of the Colombian colonial society, creating national symbols like the country map, the National Hymn and the Capitol, and were present in almost all higher levels of Colombian society, like Juan Dionisio Gamba, the son of a merchant from [[Genoa]] who was president of Colombia in 1812. In the mid-19th century, many [[Italian Colombian|Italians arrived in Colombia]] from South Italy (especially from the province of Salerno, and the areas of Basilicata and Calabria), and arrived on the north coast of Colombia: Barranquilla was the first center affected by this mass migration.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cappelli |first1=Vittorio |date=2006 |title=Entre "Macondo" y Barranquilla. Los italianos en la Colombia caribeña. De finales del Siglo XIX hasta la Segunda Guerra Mundial* |url=http://www.javeriana.edu.co/Facultades/C_Sociales/memoria/MEMORIA20/CAPELLI.pdf |journal=Memoria & Sociedad |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728105214/http://www.javeriana.edu.co/Facultades/C_Sociales/memoria/MEMORIA20/CAPELLI.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2011 |access-date=26 March 2022}}</ref> One of the first complete maps of Colombia, adopted today with some modifications, was prepared earlier by another Italian, Agustino Codazzi, who arrived in Bogota in 1849. The Colonel [[Agustin Codazzi]] also proposed the establishment of an agricultural colony of Italians, on model of what was done with the Colonia Tovar in Venezuela, but some factors prevented it.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Tomás Fernández |author2=Elena Tamaro |date=2004 |title=Biografia de Agustín Codazzi (Biography of Agustín Codazzi) |url=https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/c/codazzi.htm |access-date=26 March 2022 |website=Biografías y Vidas. La enciclopedia biográfica en línea |language=es |location=Barcelona, Spain}}</ref> Prior to World War I, Italians were concentrated in the Caribbean coast surrounding Barranquilla, Cartagena and Santa Marta as well as in Bogotá, many of which had married women of the Colombian high society and of Spanish lineage.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-07 |title=L'emigrazione degli italiani in Colombia, del ricercatore Roberto Violi — Lombardi nel Mondo |url=http://portale.lombardinelmondo.org/nazioni/americalatina/articoli/storiaemigrazione/biacome |access-date=2024-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181207045617/http://portale.lombardinelmondo.org/nazioni/americalatina/articoli/storiaemigrazione/biacome |archive-date=7 December 2018 }}</ref> Following World War II, Italian migration shifted towards the capital, Cali and Medellín, and was mostly made up of North Italian origin ([[Liguria]], [[Piedmont]], [[Tuscany]] and [[Lombardy]]). It is estimated that more than 2 million Colombians are of direct Italian ancestry, corresponding to about 4% of the total population.<ref name=":0" /> 

Another very conspicuous [[Italian Venezuelans|Italian community is in Venezuela]], which developed especially after World War II. There are about 5 million Venezuelans with at least one Italian ancestor, corresponding to more than 6% of the total population.<ref name="ilgazzettino">{{cite news |last1=Scalzotto |first1=Davide |title=Noi veneti del Venezuela, siamo i nuovi profughi fantasma |trans-title=We Venetians from Venezuela are the new ghost refugees |language=it |url=https://www.ilgazzettino.it/nordest/venezia/veneti_venezuela_profughi_fantasma-5025889.html |work=Il Gazzettino |date=3 February 2020 }}</ref> [[Italo-Venezuelans]] have achieved significant results in modern Venezuelan society. The Italian embassy estimates that a quarter of Venezuelan industries not related to the oil sector are directly or indirectly owned and/or operated by Italo-Venezuelans.
[[File:Neg. 04. Acto de Garibaldinos por muerte de Garibaldi.jpg|thumb|Italian immigrants in Uruguay]]Many [[Italian-Mexicans]] live in cities founded by their ancestors in the states of [[Veracruz]] (Huatusco) and San Luis Potosí. Smaller numbers of Italian-Mexicans live in [[Guanajuato]] and the [[State of Mexico]], and the former [[hacienda]]s (now cities) of [[Nueva Italia, Michoacán]] and Lombardia, [[Michoacán]], both founded by Dante Cusi from Gambar in [[Brescia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://worldnationnews.com/more-than-100-years-old-house-still-known-as-paseo-de-la-reforma-can-be-seen-on/|title=More than 100 years old house still known as Paseo de la Reforma|date=17 July 2022 |access-date=24 February 2023}}</ref> [[Playa del Carmen]], [[Mahahual]] and [[Cancun]] in the state of [[Quintana Roo]] have also received a significant number of immigrants from Italy. Several families of Italian-Mexican descent were granted citizenship in the United States under the [[Bracero program]] to address a labor shortage of labor. Italian companies have invested in Mexico, primarily in the tourism and hospitality industries. These ventures have sometimes resulted in settlements, but residents primarily live in the resort areas of the [[Riviera Maya]], [[Baja California]], [[Puerto Vallarta]] and [[Cancun]].

[[Italian Paraguayans|Italian immigration to Paraguay]] has been one of the largest migration flows this [[South America]]n country has received.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.italiaparatodos.com/conozca.php?start=5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112201719/http://www.italiaparatodos.com/conozca.php?start=5|title=Italianos vinculados con el proceso de desarrollo en Paraguay|archive-date=12 January 2011}}</ref> Italians in Paraguay are the second-largest immigrant group in the country after the Spaniards. The Italian embassy calculates that nearly 40% of the Paraguayans have recent and distant Italian roots: about 2,500,000 Paraguayans are descendants of Italian emigrants to Paraguay.<ref name="ABC Color"/><ref name="ABC Color2"/><ref name="Última Hora, 37%"/> Over the years, many descendants of Italian immigrants came to occupy important positions in the public life of the country, such as the presidency of the republic, the vice-presidency, local administrations and [[Congress of Paraguay|congress]].<ref>Verón, L., (2009). Enciclopedia Paraguaya. Asunción: Editorial Mercurio. p. 504.</ref>
[[File:Italianoscr.jpg|thumb|Some Italian immigrants in Costa Rica in the first half of the 20th century]]

Most of [[Italian Costa Ricans]] reside in [[San Vito (Costa Rica)|San Vito]], the capital city of the [[Coto Brus Canton]]. Both Italians and their descendants are referred to in the country as ''tútiles''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Agüero Chaves |first1=Arturo |title=Diccionario de costarriqueñismos |date=1996 |publisher=[[Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica]] |location=San José, Costa Rica |isbn=9977-916-55-1 |page=322 |url=http://www.asamblea.go.cr/sd/Otras_publicaciones/Diccionario%20de%20costarrique%C3%B1ismos.pdf |access-date=24 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mejía Mejía |first1=Francisco |title=Francisco Mejía Mejía: La autobiografía de un campesino costarricense, 1923-1981 |date=2019 |publisher=[[University of Costa Rica]] |location=San José |isbn=978-9930-9585-1-3 |page=264 |url=https://ciep.ucr.ac.cr/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Libro-Francisco-Mejia.pdf |access-date=24 November 2021}}</ref> In the 1920s and 1930s, the Italian community grew in importance, even because some Italo-Costa Ricans reached top levels in the political arena. [[Julio Acosta García]], a descendant from a Genoese family in San Jose since colonial times, served as President of Costa Rica from 1920 to 1924.
[[File:Balconies.jpg|thumb|[[Cascina a corte|Lombard style Italian houses]] in [[Chacas]], [[Department of Ancash|Ancash]], [[Peru]]]]

Among European Peruvians, [[Italian Peruvians]] were the second largest group of immigrants to settle in the country.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pera |first1=Mario |title=Fare l'America or Learn to Live in it? Italian Immigration in Peru |journal=Diasporas |date=31 December 2011 |volume=19 |issue=19 |pages=62–71 |doi=10.4000/diasporas.1809 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The first wave of Italian immigration to an independent Peru occurred during the period 1840–1866 (the "Guano" Era): not less than 15,000 Italians arrived to Peru during this period (without counting the non-registered Italians) and established mainly in the coastal cities, especially, in [[Lima]] and [[Callao]]. They came, mostly, from the northern states ([[Liguria]], [[Piedmont]], [[Tuscany]] and [[Lombardy]]). [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] arrived to Peru in 1851, as well as other Italians who participated in the [[Five Days of Milan|Milan rebellion]] like Giuseppe Eboli, Steban Siccoli, [[Antonio Raimondi]], Arrigoni, etc.

[[Italian Chileans|Italian immigrants to Chile]] settled especially in [[Capitán Pastene]], [[Angol, Chile|Angol]], [[Lumaco]], and [[Temuco, Chile|Temuco]] but also in [[Valparaiso]], [[Concepción, Chile|Concepción]], [[Chillán, Chile|Chillán]], [[Valdivia, Chile|Valdivia]], and [[Osorno, Chile|Osorno]]. One of the notable Italian influences in Chile is, for example, the sizable number of Italian surnames of a proportion of Chilean politicians, businessmen, and intellectuals, many of whom intermarried into the [[Castilian-Basque aristocracy|Castilian-Basque elites]]. Italian Chileans contributed to the development, cultivation and ownership of the world-famous [[Chilean wines]] from [[haciendas]] in the [[Central Valley of Chile|Central Valley]], since the first wave of Italians arrived in colonial Chile in the early 19th century.
[[File:Italians in The Central Park of Guatemala City.jpg|thumb|Italians in the central park of [[Guatemala City]] (1900)]]

The [[Italian Guatemalans|Italian immigration in Guatemala]] began in a consistent way only in the early Republican era. One of the first Italians to come to Guatemala was Geronimo Mancinelli, an Italian coffee farmer who lived in San Marcos (Guatemala) in 1847.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wagner|first1=Regina|title=Historia del café de Guatemala|date=November 2001|publisher=Anacafe|location=Bogota, D,C, Colombia|isbn=958-96982-8-X|pages=203, 207|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8GpZWsAjXsC&q=history+of+the+coffee+in+guatemala|access-date=27 October 2014}}</ref>  However, the first wave of Italian immigrants came in 1873, under the government of [[Justo Rufino Barrios]], these immigrants were mostly farmers attracted by the wealth of natural and spacious [[highland]]s of Guatemala. Most of them settled in [[Quetzaltenango]] and [[Guatemala City]].<ref>[http://www.url.edu.gt/PortalURL/Archivos/49/Archivos/ca4.pdf Los múltiples rostros de la diversidad] p.61. Informe Nacional de Desarrollo Humano, Guatemala 2005.</ref>

[[Italian Cubans|Italian emigration into Cuba]] was minor (a few thousand emigrates) in comparison with other waves of Italian emigration to the Americas (millions went to [[Argentina]], [[Venezuela]], [[Brazil]] and the United States). Only in the mid-19th century did there develop a small Italian community in Cuba: they were mostly people of culture, architects, engineers, painters and artists and their families.

[[Italian Dominicans]] have left its mark on the history of the Caribbean country. The foundation of the oldest Dominican newspaper in 1889 was the work of an Italian, while the establishment of the [[Navy of the Dominican Republic]] was the work of the Genoese merchant [[Giovanni Battista Cambiaso]].<ref name="museidigenova2">{{cite web|url=https://www.museidigenova.it/it/la-presenza-italiana-santo-domingo-dalla-meta-dellottocento-ad-oggi|title=La presenza italiana a Santo Domingo dalla metà dell'Ottocento ad oggi|access-date=24 March 2023|language=it}}</ref> Finally, the design of the [[National Palace (Dominican Republic)|Palace of the President of the Dominican Republic]], both aesthetically and structurally, was the work of an Italian engineer, Guido D'Alessandro.<ref name="museidigenova2"/> In 2010, Dominicans of Italian descent numbered around 300,000 (corresponding to about 3% of the total population of the Dominican Republic), while Italian citizens residing in the Caribbean nation numbered around 50,000, mainly concentrated in [[Boca Chica]], [[Santiago de los Caballeros]], [[La Romana, Dominican Republic|La Romana]] and in the capital [[Santo Domingo]].<ref name="notizieitalodominicane">{{cite web|url=https://notizieitalodominicane.net/italiani-nella-repubblica-dominicana-una-storia-di-successo-da-oltre-due-secoli/|title=Italiani nella Repubblica Dominicana: una storia di successo da oltre due secoli|date=24 April 2022 |access-date=24 March 2023|language=it}}</ref><ref name="italiaestera">{{Cite web|url=http://www.italiaestera.net/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=251|title=Italia estera: Italiani nella Repubblica Dominicana nel 2002 (In Italian)|access-date=1 April 2023|archive-date=22 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822075504/http://www.italiaestera.net/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=251|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Italian community in the Dominican Republic, considering both people of Italian ancestry and Italian birth, is the largest in the [[Caribbean region]].<ref name="notizieitalodominicane"/> 
[[File:Italianosenelsalvadorpng.png|thumb|[[Italian Salvadorans]] at the beginning of the 20th century]]

[[Italian Salvadorans]] are one of the largest European communities in El Salvador, and one of the largest in [[Central America]] and the [[Caribbean]], as well as one of those with the greatest social and cultural weight of America.<ref name="issuu">{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/libriitaliani/docs/libro100a__os|title=Libri 100 anni|date=15 June 2016 |access-date=16 July 2021|language=it}}</ref> Italians have strongly influenced Salvadoran society and participated in the construction of the country's identity. Italian culture is distinguished by infrastructure, gastronomy, education, dance, and other distinctions, there being several notable Salvadorans of Italian descent.<ref name="issuu" /><ref name="ues">{{Cite web|url=http://ri.ues.edu.sv/id/eprint/7735/1/Aporte%20del%20Arq.%20Augusto%20Cesar%20Baratta%20del%20Vecchio%20al%20desarrollo%20de%20la%20arquitectura%20en%20El%20Salvador.pdf|title=Aporte del Arq. Augusto Cesar Baratta del Vecchio al desarrollo de la arquitectura en El Salvador|access-date=16 July 2021|last=Ortiz Jiménez|first=Carolina Astrid|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archivo.elsalvador.com/noticias/2004/07/07/escenarios/esc7.asp|title=Mucho mas que Pizza|access-date=16 July 2021|last=Montalvo|first=Adda|year=2004|language=es|archive-date=16 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716061332/http://archivo.elsalvador.com/noticias/2004/07/07/escenarios/esc7.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Alfredo Massi, el hombre que revolucionó el entretenimiento cinemetográfico salvadoreño|url=https://www.ujmd.edu.sv/alfredo-massi-el-hombre-que-revoluciono-el-entretenimiento-cinemetografico-salvadoreno/|language=es|access-date=6 April 2022}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> As of 2009, the Italian community in El Salvador is officially made up of 2,300 Italian citizens, while Salvadoran citizens with Italian descent exceed 200,000.<ref name="Presencia Italiana">{{Cite web|url=https://ia601403.us.archive.org/33/items/presencia-italiana-en-el-salvador_202107/Presencia%20Italiana%20en%20El%20Salvador.pdf|title=Presencia Italiana en El Salvador|access-date=13 July 2021|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.esteri.it/mae/pubblicazioni/annuariostatistico/capitolo2_annuario2009.pdf|title=Annuario Stastico 2009 - Capitolo 2 Attività e Servizi|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref>
[[File:Casa de los Genoveses en Panamá Viejo.jpg|thumb|The "''Casa de los Genoveses''" ("house of [[Genoa]]ns") in [[Panama Viejo]]]]

[[Italian Panamanians]] are mainly descendant of Italians attracted by the construction of the [[Panama Canal]], between the 19th and 20th century. The wave of Italian immigration occurred around 1880. With the construction of the Canal by the Universal Panama Canal Company came the arrival of up to 2,000 Italians. Actually there it is an agreement/treaty between the Italian and Panamanian governments, that facilitates since 1966 the Italian immigration to Panama for investments<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thevisitorpanama.com/2012/04/oh-to-be-italian-the-little-known-treaty-with-italy/|title=Little known Treaty|access-date=2 March 2023}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 2010, there were over 15,000 Bolivians of Italian descent, while there were around 2,700 Italian citizens.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://infoaire.interno.it/statistiche2010/stat_americam_circ.html|title=Estadísticas oficiales de los italianos en América del sur|access-date=20 March 2023|language=es}}</ref> One of the most famous [[Italian Bolivians|Italian Bolivian]] is the writer and poet [[Óscar Cerruto]], considered one of the great authors of [[Bolivian literature]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boliviaweb.com/poetry/cerruto.htm|title=Bolivia Web - Bolivian Poets - Oscar Cerruto|website=www.boliviaweb.com}}</ref> There are currently almost 56,000 [[Italian Ecuadorians|descendants of Italians in Ecuador]], being one of the lowest rates of migrant ancestry in Ecuador, where Arabs and Spaniards play a more prominent role.<ref name="desc">{{Cite web|url=http://portale.lombardinelmondo.org/nazioni/americalatina/articoli/storiaemigrazione/leecua|title=Le comunità italiane in Cile ed Ecuador — Lombardi nel Mondo|access-date=14 September 2018|language=it|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416191805/http://portale.lombardinelmondo.org/nazioni/americalatina/articoli/storiaemigrazione/leecua|archive-date=16 April 2014}}</ref> However, Argentine and Colombian immigrants who have entered the country since the end of the last century (80% and 50% respectively were made up of Italian descendants).<ref name="desc"/>

The business sector of Haiti, was controlled by German and [[Italian Haitians|Italian immigrants]] in the mid-19th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://infosurhoy.com/en_GB/articles/saii/features/main/2010/01/29/feature-01 |title=History of immigration to Haiti dates to the 19th century |access-date=31 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202231744/http://infosurhoy.com/en_GB/articles/saii/features/main/2010/01/29/feature-01 |archive-date=2 February 2014 }}</ref> In 1908 there were 160 Italians residing in Haiti, according to the Italian consul De Matteis, of whom 128 lived in the capital Port-au-Prince.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6o9AAAAYAAJ&dq=emigrazione+italiana+in+haiti&pg=RA1-PA343|title=Emigrazione e colonie: raccolta di rapporti dei rr. agenti diplomatici e consolari|first=Italy Commissariato|last=dell'emigrazione|date=5 April 1908|publisher=Tipografia nazionale di G. Bertero & c.|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 2011, according to the Italian census, there were 134 Italians who were resident in Haiti, nearly all of them living in the capital. However, there were nearly 5,000 Haitians with recent & distant Italians roots (according to the Italian embassy). In 2010, [[Italian Puerto Ricans|Puerto Ricans of Italian descent]] numbered around 10,000, while Italian citizens residing in Puerto Rico are 344, concentrated in Ponce and [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://infoaire.interno.it/statistiche2010/stat_americasc_circ.html|title=Statistiche ufficiali di italiani in America nel 2010}}</ref> In addition, there is also an Italian Honorary Consulate in San Juan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://embassy-finder.com/es/italy_in_san-juan-puerto-rico_usa|title=Consulado Honorario de Italia en San Juan, Puerto Rico, Estados Unidos|website=embassy-finder.com}}</ref>
[[File:Tegucigalpa Presidential Palace.jpg|thumb|Former Presidential House of Honduras from 1924 to 1989, built by [[Italian Hondurans|Italian Honduran]] architect Augusto Bressani]]

The influx of [[Italian Hondurans|Italian citizens to settle in the Republic of Honduras]] became evident within the first three decades of the 20th century. Among them stood out businessmen, architects, aviators, engineers, artists in various fields, etc. In 1911 the participation of immigrants in the development of the country began to be evident, especially families from Europe (Germany, Italy, France). The main marketing items were coffee, bananas, precious woods, gold and silver.<ref>Murga Frassinetti, Antonio. ''Enclave y Sociedad en Honduras''. UNAH, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 1978 (In Spanish).</ref> In 2014, there were about 14,000 Hondurans of Italian descent, while there were around 400 Italian citizens.<ref name="El Heraldo, 2014">{{cite web|url=https://www.elheraldo.hn/pais/575489-214/29-mil-extranjeros-viven-el-sueno-hondureno|publisher=El Heraldo|title=29 mil extranjeros viven el sueño hondureño|date=7 April 2014|access-date=7 March 2021|language=es}}</ref>

Italian emigration to [[Nicaragua]] occurred from the 1880s until [[World War II]].<ref name="cser">{{cite web|url=https://www.cser.it/studi-emigrazione-marzo-1991-n-101/|title=Studi Emigrazione – marzo-1991 – n.101|date=March 1991 |access-date=12 May 2023|language=it}}</ref> Emigration was not consistent as there were only several hundred Italians who emigrated to Nicaragua, therefore with much lower numbers than the Italian emigration to other countries.<ref name="cser"/> However, Italian emigration to Nicaragua was substantial if the other ethnic groups who emigrated to the South American country is considered, as well as the direct migratory flow to other Central American countries.<ref name="cser"/> Another aspect to consider was the density of the Nicaraguan population of the time with respect to its territory, which was not very high, thus making the Italian presence, and more generally the presence of foreign citizens in Nicaragua, more significant.<ref name="cser"/>

===Asia===
{{main|Italians in India|Italians in Japan|Italians in Lebanon|Italians in the United Arab Emirates}}
{{Split section|date=June 2025|discuss=Talk:Italian diaspora#Split needed|Italian diaspora in Asia}}
[[File:Taiba pies.jpg|thumb|upright|Takeaway pizzeria in India]]

There is a small [[Italians in India|Italian community in India]] consisting mainly of [[India]]n citizens of [[Italian people|Italian]] heritage as well with expatriates and migrants from [[Italy]] who reside in [[India]]. Since the 16th century, many of these Italian Jesuits came to [[South India]], mainly [[Goa]], [[Kerala]] and [[Tamil Nadu]]. Some of the most well known Jesuits in India include [[Antonio Moscheni]], [[Constanzo Beschi]], [[Roberto de Nobili]] and [[Rodolfo Acquaviva]]. In the 1940s, during [[World War II]], the British brought Italian [[prisoners of war]], who were captured in either [[Europe]] or [[North Africa]], to [[Bangalore]] and [[Madras]]. They were put up at the Garrison Grounds, today's Parade Grounds-Cubbon Road area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/times-of-india-the/mi_8012/is_20100614/enduring-passion-bangalore/ai_n54063816/|title=Enduring passion - Bangalore}}</ref> In February 1941, about 2,200 Italian prisoners of war arrived in Bangalore by a special train and marched to internment camps at Byramangala, 20 miles from Bangalore.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bangalorebuzz.blogspot.com/2005/10/bangalore-played-significant-role-in.html|title=Sights, sounds and smells from Bangalore: Bangalore played a significant role in both the World Wars}}</ref> In recent years, many Italians have been coming to India for business purposes. Today, Italy is India's fifth largest trading partner in the [[European Union]]. There are currently between 15,000 and 20,000 Italian nationals in India<ref name="it">{{Cite web|url=http://www.italplanet.it/interna.asp?sez=303&info=7406|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005081714/http://www.italplanet.it/interna.asp?sez=303&info=7406|title=Sonia Gandhi, an Italian lady at the head of the Indian government|archive-date=5 October 2011}}</ref> based mostly in [[South India]].<ref name="italo">{{Cite web |url=http://www.italoeuropeo.com/interviews-/interviews-/an-interview-with-counsul-of-italy-sarah-eti-castellani:-from-the-pearl-of-the-empire-to-the-capital-of-the-empire.---/ |title=An interview with Counsul of Italy Sarah Eti Castellani: from the pearl of the Empire to the capital of the Empire |access-date=24 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524021807/http://www.italoeuropeo.com/interviews-/interviews-/an-interview-with-counsul-of-italy-sarah-eti-castellani:-from-the-pearl-of-the-empire-to-the-capital-of-the-empire.---/ |archive-date=24 May 2011|url-status=dead }}</ref> The city of Mumbai itself has a sizeable number of Italians and some in [[Chennai]].<ref>[http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_italians-praise-mumbai-and-its-curious-denizens_1204186 Italians praise Mumbai & its curious denizens], DNA India</ref>

[[Italians in Japan]] consists of Italian migrants that come to Japan, as well as the descendants. In December 2023, there were 5,243 [[Italians]] living in Japan.<ref>[https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/files?page=1&layout=datalist&toukei=00250012&tstat=000001018034&cycle=1&year=20230&month=24101212&tclass1=000001060399&result_back=1&tclass2val=0&metadata=1&data=1 2023年末在留外国人統計]</ref> The first settlements of Italians began in the 19th century when the [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] missionaries came to Japan.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.acistampa.com/story/i-cristiani-nascosti-del-giappone-e-i-loro-missionari-come-giovanni-battista-sidotti-12769#:~:text=Il%2012%20ottobre%201708%2C%20uno,o%20la%20condanna%20a%20morte | title=I cristiani nascosti del Giappone e i loro missionari come Giovanni Battista Sidotti }}</ref> Since the late 20th century many Italian workers came to Japan as a student, businessman or as a factory worker. There are also many Italians who work for Italian restaurants, but many Italian restaurants in Japan are led by Japanese chefs and cooks and some Italians works as an assistant for them. The Italian population in Japan is currently increasing due to the popularity of [[Culture of Japan|Japanese culture]] and is one of the fastest growing European community in Japan. There are also many Italian institutions for the Italian community and few Italian language schools for Japanese people.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.italiajapan.net/italiani-in-giappone/#:~:text=Gli%20italiani%20residenti%20in%20Giappone,anni%20%C3%A8%20in%20forte%20aumento | title=Italiani in Giappone | date=7 June 2018 }}</ref>

[[Italians in Lebanon]] (or Italian Lebanese) are a community in [[Lebanon]] with a history that goes back to [[Rome|Roman]] times. In more recent times the [[Italians]] came to Lebanon in small groups during the [[World War I]] and [[World War II]], trying to escape the wars at that time in Europe.
Some of the first Italians who choose Lebanon as a place to settle and find a refuge were Italian soldiers from the [[Italo-Turkish War]] in 1911 to 1912. Also most of the Italians chose to settle in [[Beirut]], because of its [[Culture of Europe|European]] style of life. Only a few Italians left Lebanon for [[France]] after independence. The Italian community in Lebanon is very small (about 4,300 people) and it is mostly assimilated into the [[Catholic Church in Lebanon|Lebanese Catholic]] community.

There are up to 10,000 [[Italians in the United Arab Emirates]], approximately two-thirds of whom are in [[Dubai]], and the rest in [[Abu Dhabi]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://gulfnews.com/business/economy/growing-business-made-in-italy-1.652737|title=Growing business made in Italy|author=Dina El Shammaam|work=[[Gulf News]]|date=11 July 2010}}</ref><ref name="FOL">{{cite news|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Culture+and+lifestyle,+the+Italian+way-a0190818591|title=Culture and lifestyle, the Italian way|work=[[Al Nisr Publishing]]|year=2007}}</ref> The UAE in recent years has attained the status of a favourite destination for Italian immigrants, with the rate of Italians moving into the country having increased by forty percent between 2005 and 2007.<ref name="FOL"/> Italians make up one of the largest European groups in the UAE. The community is structured through numerous social circles and organisations such as the Italian Cultural and Recreational Circle (now known as "Cicer"),<ref name="FOL"/> the Italian Industry and Commerce Office (UAE) and the Italian Business Council Dubai. Social activities like outdoor excursions, gastronomy evenings, language courses, activities for children, exhibitions and concerts are frequent; there have been talks of setting up a permanent Italian cultural centre in Abu Dhabi which would act as a venue for activities.<ref name="FOL"/> [[Italian cuisine]], culture, and fashion are widespread throughout Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with a large number of native Italians running restaurants.

===Europe===
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{{Main article|Italian colonists in Albania|Italian immigration to Belgium|Italians in France|Italian colonists in the Dodecanese|Italians in Germany|Italians in Romania|Italians in Spain|Italian Swedes|Italian immigration to Switzerland|Italians in the United Kingdom|Welsh Italians|Italian Scots}}
{{Split section|date=June 2025|discuss=Talk:Italian diaspora#Split needed|Italian diaspora in Europe}}

The [[Italian colonists in Albania]] were [[Italians]] who, [[Interwar period|between the two World Wars]], moved to [[Albania]] to colonize the [[Balkan]] country for the [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Kingdom of Italy]]. When [[Benito Mussolini]] [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|took power in Italy]], he turned with renewed interest to Albania. Italy began penetrating [[Economy of Albania|Albania's economy]] in 1925, when Albania agreed to allow it to exploit its mineral resources.<ref name="LoC">{{cite web |title=Albania - Italian Penetration |url=http://countrystudies.us/albania/28.htm |access-date=27 December 2015}}</ref> That was followed by the [[First Treaty of Tirana]] in 1926 and the [[Second Treaty of Tirana]] in 1927, whereby Italy and Albania entered into a defensive alliance.<ref name="LoC" /> Italian loans subsidized the [[Government of Albania|Albanian government]] and economy, and [[Italian military]] instructors trained the [[Albanian army]]. Italian colonial settlement was encouraged and the first 300 Italian colonists settled in Albania.<ref>{{Cite web |title="La storia economica albanese 1912-1939 e lo stabilirsi dell' egemonia italiana", page 24: First Italian settlers in Albania (in Italian) |url=http://merlino.unimo.it/web_dep/materiali_discussione/0339.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122152257/http://merlino.unimo.it/web_dep/materiali_discussione/0339.pdf |archive-date=22 November 2009}}</ref> Fascist Italy increased pressure on Albania in the 1930s and, on 7 April 1939, [[Italian invasion of Albania|invaded Albania]],<ref name="isbn0-395-41685-X">{{cite book |author1=Keegan, John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0_3Nrc8D0wC&pg=PA314 |title=The Second World War (Six Volume Boxed Set) |author2=Churchill, Winston |publisher=Mariner Books |year=1986 |isbn=0-395-41685-X |location=Boston |pages=314}}</ref> five months before the [[Invasion of Poland|start]] of the [[World War II]]. After the occupation of Albania in April 1939, Mussolini sent nearly 11,000 Italian colonists to Albania. Most of them were from the [[Veneto]] region and [[Sicily]]. They settled primarily in the areas of [[Durrës]], Vlorë, [[Shkodër]], [[Bay of Porto Palermo|Porto Palermo]], [[Elbasan]], and [[Sarandë]]. They were the first settlers of a huge group of Italians to be moved to Albania.<ref>Lamb, Richard. ''Mussolini as Diplomat'' p. 142</ref> In addition to these colonists, 22,000 Italian casual laborers went to Albania in April 1940 to construct roads, railways and infrastructure.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |last1=Pearson |first1=Owen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P3knunC7z_oC&pg=PA433 |title=Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History |date=27 January 2006 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781845111045 |access-date=27 December 2015}}</ref> After the World War II, no Italian colonists remain in Albania. The few who remained under the [[Communist Albania|communist regime]] of Enver Hoxha fled (with their descendants) to Italy in 1992,<ref>{{cite web |date=19 March 1992 |title=SONO TORNATE A CASA LE ITALIANE D' ALBANIA |url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1992/03/19/sono-tornate-casa-le-italiane-albania.html |access-date=27 December 2015 |work=Archivio - la Repubblica.it}}</ref> and actually are represented by the association "ANCIFRA".<ref>{{cite web |date=28 March 2008 |title=Chi siamo? |url=http://ancifra.wordpress.com/chi-sono/ |access-date=27 December 2015 |work=A N C I F R A}}</ref>

The most important migratory flows of Italians to [[Austria]] began after 1870, when the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] was still in existence. Between 1876 and 1900, Austria-Hungary was the second European country after France to absorb the largest number of Italian emigrants.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=iJS4zYSJCHgC&q=austria&pg=PA215 P. Bevilacqua (2002), "Partenze", p. 215]</ref> These migratory phenomena were of an economic nature, mainly of a temporary nature, and involved agricultural labourers, workers and bricklayers. After 1907, due to the decline in requests for Italian labor by the Austro-Hungarian authorities, the rise of inter-ethnic clashes between the Italian ethnic community and the Slavic ethnic community present in the Habsburg empire (moreover fomented by the Vienna government),<ref>''Die Protokolle des Österreichischen Ministerrates 1848/1867. V Abteilung: Die Ministerien Rainer und Mensdorff. VI Abteilung: Das Ministerium Belcredi'', Wien, Österreichischer Bundesverlag für Unterricht, Wissenschaft und Kunst 1971</ref> there was a drop in migratory flows of Italians to the country, going from over 50,000 annual entries recorded in 1901 to around 35,000 in 1912.<ref>[https://archive.today/20121217035741/http://www.liceoquadri.it/gricordo/Slavi'800.doc La giornata del ricordo attira il nostro sguardo e il nostro pensiero sulle vittime delle foibe barbarie che si consumò in due]</ref> The phenomenon of Italian emigration to Austria ended after 1918, with the [[Dissolution of Austria-Hungary|dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire]]. According to official AIRE data for 2007, there were 15,765 Italian citizens residing in Austria.<ref>[http://infoaire.interno.it/statistiche2007/stat_europa_circ.html Dati AIRE del 2007 su italiani residenti in Europa]</ref>
[[File:Federazione Carbonifera Belga.jpg|thumb|upright|Belgian poster posted in Italy to encourage Italian immigration to Belgium]]

The [[Italian immigration to Belgium|Italian community in Belgium]] is very well integrated into Belgian society. The Italo-Belgians occupy roles of the utmost importance; the [[Queen of Belgium]] [[Paola Ruffo di Calabria]] or the former Prime Minister [[Elio Di Rupo]] are examples. According to official statistics from AIRE (Register of Italians residing abroad), in 2012 there were approximately 255,000 Italian citizens residing in Belgium (including Belgians with dual citizenship).<ref name="aire">{{cite web |title=Numero iscritti suddivisi per ripartizioni estere |url=http://infoaire.interno.it/statistiche2012/statisticheanno2012.htm |access-date=13 February 2018 |language=it}}</ref> According to data from the Italian consular registers, it appears that almost 50,000 Italians in Belgium (i.e. more than 25%) come from [[Sicily]], followed by [[Apulia]] (9.5%), [[Abruzzo]] (7%), [[Campania]] (6.5%), and [[Veneto]] (6%).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Statistiche ufficiali italiane |url=http://infoaire.interno.it/statistiche2007/stat_europa_circ.html}}</ref> There are about 450,000 (about 4% of the total Belgian population) people of Italian origin in Belgium.<ref name="npdata.be">{{cite web |title=Vreemde afkomst 01/01/2012 |url=http://www.npdata.be/BuG/155-Vreemde-afkomst/Vreemde-afkomst.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711094340/http://www.npdata.be/BuG/155-Vreemde-afkomst/Vreemde-afkomst.htm |archive-date=11 July 2012 |access-date=29 March 2015 |website=Npdata.be}}</ref> The community of Belgians of Italian descent is said to be 85% concentrated in [[Wallonia]] and in [[Brussels]]. More precisely, 65% of Belgians of Italian descent live in Wallonia, 20% in Brussels and 15% in the [[Flemish Region]].<ref>{{cite web |title=70 ans d'immigration italienne... et plus ! |url=http://www.myria.be/files/MYRIATRICS_5_FR.pdf |access-date=20 March 2023 |language=fr}}</ref>
[[File:Италијани у Штивору.jpg|thumb|The first Italian immigrants to [[Štivor]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], 1883|left]]

[[Štivor]], in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], is almost exclusively inhabited by descendants of Italian emigrants, which are about 92% of the total population of the village.<ref name="rai">{{cite web |title=UNA PICCOLA ITALIA IN BOSNIA-ERZEGOVINA |url=https://www.rai.it/dl/portali/site/articolo/ContentItem-5226325e-024d-431f-a769-a5a72e988f0b.html?refresh_ce |access-date=22 May 2023 |language=it}}</ref> Their number amounts to 270 people, all of [[Trentino]] origin.<ref name="rai" /> The [[Italian language]] is also taught in the village schools, and the 270 Italian Bosnians of Štivor have Italian passports, read Italian newspapers and live on Italian pensions.<ref name="rai" /> Three quarters of them still speak the Trentino dialect.<ref name="rai" /> The presence of Italian-Bosnians in Štivor can be explained by a flood caused by the [[Brenta (river)|Brenta]] river which hit the [[Valsugana]] in 1882.<ref name="rai" /> Trentino at the time was part of the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]], which had recently annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. In order to help the people of Trentino devastated by the flood, and to repopulate Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Austrian authorities encouraged the emigration of Trentino people to the Balkan country.<ref name="rai" /> The Trentino immigrants were distributed throughout the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but mainly only those in Štivor kept their identity, while the others were absorbed by the local population.<ref name="rai" /> The Trentino immigrants brought an important tradition to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the cultivation of [[Vitis|grapevines]] and the production of [[wine]], a tradition that is still practiced in the Balkan country.<ref name="rai" />

[[Italians in France|Italian migration to France]] has occurred, in different migrating cycles since the end of the 19th century to the present day.<ref name="france">{{cite book |author1=Cohen, Robin |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgesurveyo00robi |title=Cambridge Survey |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780521444057 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgesurveyo00robi/page/143 143] |quote=5 million italians in france. |access-date=2009-05-11 |url-access=registration}}</ref> In addition, [[Corsica]] passed from the [[Republic of Genoa]] to France in 1770, and the area around [[Nice]] and [[Savoy]] from the [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]] to France in 1860. Initially, Italian immigration to modern France (late 18th to the early 20th centuries) came predominantly from northern Italy ([[Piedmont]], [[Veneto]]), then from central Italy ([[Marche]], [[Umbria]]), mostly to the bordering southeastern region of [[Provence]].<ref name="france" /> It was not until after World War II that large numbers of immigrants from [[southern Italy]] emigrated to France, usually settling in industrialized areas of France such as [[Lorraine (region)|Lorraine]], [[Paris]] and [[Lyon]].<ref name="france" /> Today, it is estimated that as many as 5,000,000 [[French people|French nationals]] have Italian ancestry going as far back as three generations.<ref name="france" />

[[Italian colonists in the Dodecanese|Italian colonists were settled in the Dodecanese Islands]] of the [[Aegean Sea]] in the 1930s by the [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist Italian]] government of [[Benito Mussolini]], Italy having been in occupation of the Islands since the [[Italian-Turkish War]] of 1911. By 1940, the number of Italians settled in the Dodecanese was almost 8,000, concentrated mainly in [[Rhodes]]. In 1947, after the [[World War II|Second World War]], the islands came into the possession of [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]]: as a consequence  most of the Italians were forced to emigrate and all of the Italian schools were closed. Some of the Italian colonists remained in Rhodes and were quickly assimilated. Currently, only a few dozen old colonists remain, but the influence of their legacy is evident in the relative diffusion of the [[Italian language]] mainly in [[Rhodes]] and [[Leros]]. However, their architectural legacy is still evident, especially in Rhodes and Leros. The citadel of [[Rhodes, Greece|Rhodes city]] is a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] thanks in great part to the large-scale restoration work carried out by the Italian authorities.<ref>{{cite web |title=Architettura |url=http://www.dodecaneso.org/arch.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521005642/http://www.dodecaneso.org/arch.htm |archive-date=2011-05-21 |access-date=2008-12-05 |publisher=Dodecaneso |language=it}}</ref>
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F013069-0004, Walsum, Kohlebergbau, Gastarbeiter.jpg|thumb|Italian worker in a mine near [[Duisburg]], in Germany, in 1962]]

In the 1890s, [[Germany]] transformed from a country of emigration to a country of immigration. Starting from this period the [[Italians in Germany|migratory flows from Italy expanded]] (mostly coming from [[Friuli]], [[Lombardy]], [[Veneto]] and [[Emilia-Romagna]]), and with them the numerical consistency of the Italian communities increased. In fact, it went from 4,000 Italians in 1871 to over 120,000 registered in 1910. Italian immigration to Germany resumed after the rise to power of [[Nazism]] in 1933. This time, however, it was not a voluntary migration, but a forced recruitment of Italian workers, based on an agreement stipulated in 1937 between [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Benito Mussolini]], to satisfy the need to find cheap labor for German factories in exchange for the supply of coal to Italy. On 20 December 1955, a bilateral agreement was signed between Italy and West Germany for the recruitment and placement of Italian labor in German companies. From that date there was a boom in migratory flows towards West Germany, which were much more conspicuous than those that had occurred between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It is estimated that from 1956 to 1976 over 4 million Italians entered [[West Germany]], 3.5 million of whom later returned to Italy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Documento del CESTIM sull'emigrazione italiana nel secondo dopoguerra |url=http://www.cestim.org/argomenti/07emigrazione/da-marcinelle-a-marcinelle_panorama-storico.doc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180144/http://www.cestim.it/argomenti/07emigrazione/da-marcinelle-a-marcinelle_panorama-storico.doc |archive-date=10 February 2018 |access-date=22 October 2021 |language=it}}</ref>

The first Italians in [[Luxembourg]] arrived in 1892, and at the end of the 19th century the Italian community numbered only 439 people, but already in 1900 the Italian community rose to 7,000 people and then to 10,000 only ten years later. The Italian emigrants worked above all in the mines and in the steel industry of the country (as in neighboring Belgium) until their closure, while today the Italian community is employed in the tertiary sector, especially banks.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130415222406/http://www.santantonio.org/messaggero_emi/pagina_stampa.asp?R=&ID=885 Aria di gioventù in Lussemburgo]</ref> In 1960, Italians constituted 37.8% of all foreign residents in Luxembourg (against only 8.2% in 2011).<ref name="Italians">[https://statistiques.public.lu/en/news/population/population/2013/05/20130530/index . html Italians in Luxembourg]{{Dead link|date=July 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}})</ref> The historical peak of the Italian community was in 1970, when the Italians in Luxembourg numbered 23,490, or as much as 6.9% of the entire population of the Grand Duchy.<ref name="Italians" /> The most important Italian-Luxembourg was the politician and trade unionist Luigi Reich who, from 1985 to 1993, was mayor of Dudelange and national vice-president of the Confédération générale du travail luxembourgeoise (CGT-L).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120117010958/http://www.passaparola.info/2012/01/10/luigirechprimosindacoitalianodudelange/ Omaggio a Luigi Reich]</ref> On 1 January 2011, according to AIRE, there were 22,965 Italians in Luxembourg (equal to 4.8% of the Luxembourg population) and almost a quarter of the emigrants are of [[Apulia]]n origin.<ref>[http://www.italiani.lu/mmp/online/website/menu_left/associations/2760/84/2559_IT.html Italiani in Lussemburgo] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425180335/http://www.italiani.lu/mmp/online/website/menu_left/associations/2760/84/2559_IT.html|date=25 April 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Italian volunteers memorial - Old cemetery in Olkusz.JPG|thumb|Memorial to Italian volunteers who fought in the Polish [[January Uprising]] of 1863–1864, [[Olkusz]], Poland]]

The first Italians came to Poland in the Middle Ages, however, substantial migration of Italians to Poland began in the 16th century.<ref name=wt>{{cite book|last=Tygielski|first=Wojciech|editor-last1=Kopczyński|editor-first1=Michał|editor-last2=Tygielski|editor-first2=Wojciech|year=2010|title=Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Muzeum Historii Polski, Bellona|chapter=Włosi|page=184|isbn=978-83-11-11724-2}}</ref> Those included merchants, craftsmen, architects, artists, physicians, inventors, engineers, diplomats, chefs.<ref>Tygielski, pp. 183, 188–189</ref> Famous Italians in Poland included inventors [[Tito Livio Burattini]], [[Paolo del Buono]], architects [[Bartolommeo Berrecci]], [[Bernardo Morando]], painters [[Tommaso Dolabella]], [[Bernardo Bellotto]], [[Marcello Bacciarelli]], scholar [[Filippo Buonaccorsi]], and religious reformer [[Fausto Sozzini]].<ref>Tygielski, pp. 185–188</ref> The largest number of Italians lived in [[Kraków]], while other significant concentrations were in [[Gdańsk]], [[Lwów]], [[Poznań]], [[Warsaw]] and [[Wilno]].<ref>Tygielski, p. 190</ref> According to the 1921 Polish census, the largest Italian populations lived in the cities of [[Warsaw]] and [[Lwów]] with 100 and 22 people, respectively.<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej|volume=I|year=1925|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny|pages=4–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej|volume=XIII|year=1924|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny|page=24}}</ref> In the [[2011 Polish census]], 8,641 people declared Italian nationality, of which 7,548 declared both [[Polish people|Polish]] and Italian nationality.<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|url=https://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/LUD_ludnosc_stan_str_dem_spo_NSP2011.pdf|title=Ludność. Stan i struktura demograficzno-społeczna. Narodowy Spis Powszechny Ludności i Mieszkań 2011|year=2013|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny|page=260|isbn=978-83-7027-521-1}}</ref>

In recent years a growing Italian community has also emerged in [[Portugal]]. Now the country hosts more than 34,000 Italian nationals<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 January 2023 |title=Número de estrangeiros em Portugal aumentou em 2022 pelo sétimo ano consecutivo: são agora mais de 750 mil |url=https://expresso.pt/sociedade/migracoes/2023-01-16-Numero-de-estrangeiros-em-Portugal-aumentou-em-2022-pelo-setimo-ano-consecutivo-sao-agora-mais-de-750-mil-29980b26 |access-date=28 May 2023 |website=Expresso |language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sefstat 2022 |url=https://www.sef.pt/pt/Documents/RIFA2022%20vF2a.pdf}}</ref> and almost 400 Italians have acquires the [[Portuguese nationality law|Portuguese citizenship]] since 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Acquisition of citizenship statistics |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Acquisition_of_citizenship_statistics |access-date=28 May 2023 |website=ec.europa.eu |language=en}}</ref> Many of the Italians living in Portugal are [[Italian Brazilians|Italian-Brazilians]] who have taken advantage of their [[European Union citizenship|EU citizenship]] and subsequently settled in a country where they already spoke the [[Portuguese language|language]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 August 2021 |title=Quase 30% dos residentes italianos em Portugal são naturais do Brasil |url=https://italianismo.com.br/quase-30-dos-residentes-italianos-em-portugal-sao-naturais-do-brasil/ |access-date=28 May 2023 |website=Italianismo |language=pt-BR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Saiba como morar em Portugal com cidadania italiana |url=https://www.nostrali.com.br/blog/curiosidades/saiba-como-morar-em-portugal-com-cidadania-italiana |access-date=28 May 2023 |website=www.nostrali.com.br |language=pt-br}}</ref>

[[Italians in Romania]] are people of [[Italians|Italian descent]] who reside, or have moved to [[Romania]]. During the 19th and 20th centuries, many Italians from Western Austria-Hungary settled in Transylvania. During the interwar period, some Italians settled in [[Dobruja]]. After 1880, [[Italians]] from [[Friuli]] and [[Veneto]] settled in [[Greci, Tulcea|Greci]], Cataloi and [[Măcin]] in Northern Dobruja. Most of them worked in the granite quarries in the [[Măcin Mountains]], some became farmers<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mihalcea |first=Alexandru |date=2005-01-21 |title=150 de ani de istorie comuna. Italienii din Dobrogea -mica Italie a unor mesteri mari |url=http://www.alef-fvg.it/emigrazione/approfondimenti/romania2005.htm |journal=[[România Liberă]] |language=ro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060607103203/http://www.alef-fvg.it/emigrazione/approfondimenti/romania2005.htm |archive-date=7 June 2006 |access-date=2007-04-29}}</ref> and others worked in road building.<ref>{{Citation |last=Stratilesco |first=Tereza |title=From Carpathian to Pindus |publication-date=1907 |publication-place=Boston |publisher=J. W. Luce |oclc=4837380}}</ref> As an officially recognised ethnic minority, Italians have [[Romanian ethnic minorities parties|one seat]] reserved in the Romanian [[Chamber of Deputies of Romania|Chamber of Deputies]].

[[Italians in Spain]] are one of the largest communities of immigrant groups in [[Spain]], with {{nts|257.256}} Italian citizens in the country;<ref name="ineextranjeros">{{Cite web |title=Población extranjera por Nacionalidad, comunidades, Sexo y Año. |url=http://www.ine.es/jaxi/Tabla.htm?path=/t20/e245/p08/l0/&file=02005.px&L=0 |access-date=5 April 2019 |publisher=[[Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain)|Instituto Nacional de Estadística]] |language=es}}</ref> conversely, {{nts|142401}} residents in Spain were born in [[Italy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Población (españoles/extranjeros) por País de Nacimiento, sexo y año |url=https://www.ine.es/jaxi/Tabla.htm?path=/t20/e245/p08/l0/&file=01006.px&L=01 |publisher=[[Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain)|Instituto Nacional de Estadística]]}}</ref> A significant part of the Italian citizens in Spain are not born in [[Italy]] but emigrate from [[Argentina]] or [[Uruguay]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-16 |title='Little Italy': los italianos se hacen notar en España |url=https://www.ideal.es/sociedad/little-italy-celtiberica-20190616090452-ntvo.html |access-date=2020-02-05 |website=Ideal |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=redazione |date=2021-07-05 |title=Dove emigrano gli italo-argentini? |url=https://thedailycases.com/dove-emigrano-gli-italo-argentini/ |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=The Dailycases |language=it-IT}}</ref> 

[[Swedish Italians]] are [[Sweden|Swedish]] citizens or residents of [[Italians|Italian]] ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage or [[Identity (social science)|identity]]. There are approximately 8,126 people born in [[Italy]] living in Sweden today, as well as 10,961 people born in Sweden with at least one parent born in Italy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/viewFile/8006/5998 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627021251/http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/viewFile/8006/5998 |archive-date=2018-06-27 |access-date=2012-11-12}}</ref> 
[[File:Gotthardbahn04.jpg|thumb|right|Monument to the workers—mostly Italian—who died in [[Switzerland]] during the construction of the [[Gotthard Tunnel]]]]

[[Italian immigration to Switzerland|In Switzerland, Italian immigrants]] (not to be confused with a large autochthonous population of [[Italophone]]s in [[Ticino]] and [[Grigioni]])<ref>{{cite book |title=Ethnic groups worldwide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwi-rv3VV6cC |year=1998 |first=David |last=Levinson |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |pages=88–90 |access-date=2009-06-27 |isbn=9781573560191}}</ref> reached the country starting in the late 19th century, most of whom eventually returned to Italy after the rise of [[Italian Fascism]]. 
Future Fascist leader [[Benito Mussolini]] emigrated to Switzerland in 1902, only to be [[deportation|deported]] after becoming involved in the socialist movement.<ref name="mediterranean3">Mediterranean Fascism 1919-1945 Edited by Charles F. Delzel, Harper Rowe 1970, page 3</ref> A new migratory wave began after 1945, favored by the lax immigration laws then in force.<ref name="che">{{cite web|url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/ita/index.html?siteSect=105&sid=4885000|title=La lunga storia dell'immigrazione in Svizzera|website=Swissinfo.ch|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=1 January 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101102904/http://www.swissinfo.ch/ita/index.html?siteSect=105&sid=4885000|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Italians in Finland|Finnish Italians]] are Finns who speak [[Italian language|Italian]], were born in [[Italy]] or are children of Italian immigrants. The number of Italians can only be measured in the number of Italian speakers, people born in Italy and their children, since Finland doesn't collect statistics on ethnicity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stat.fi/artikkelit/2013/art_2013-09-23_003.html?s=0|title=Tilastokeskus - Etnisyystiedon merkitys kasvaa maahanmuuton lisääntyessä|first=Kaisa|last=Saarenmaa|website=www.stat.fi}}</ref>
[[File:Italian Cultural Centre, Little Horton Lane, Bradford (18218903593).jpg|thumb|Italian Cultural Centre, [[City of Bradford]], England]]

The English towns of [[Bedford]] and [[Hoddesdon]] have sizeable Italian populations. A [[Italians in the United Kingdom|significant number of Italians]] came to Bedford in the 1950s due to the [[London Brick Company]] finding itself short of workers in the wake of the post-war reconstruction boom. As a result, Bedford has the largest concentration of Italian families in the UK, and the third-highest number of Italian immigrants overall with around one-fifth of its overall population being of Italian descent.<ref>[[Italians in the United Kingdom#Since 1945]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jan/23/britishidentity.features113|title=Italians in Bedford|date=23 January 2006|access-date=11 January 2018|website=The Guardian}}</ref> In Hoddesdon, many Italians, mostly descending from Sicily, migrated there and across the [[Lea Valley]] in the 1950s due to opportunities working in local garden nurseries. They were drawn to the area by the rich agricultural landscape and better pay in comparison to back home. Today, the town's Italian community has had such a significant impact that an Italian consul, Carmelo Nicastro, was even elected for the area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hertfordshirelife.co.uk/out-about/places/lee_valley_little_sicily_1_3977026|title=Lee Valley little Sicily|website=Hertfordshirelife.co.uk|date=3 March 2015|access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref> Also due to immigration in the 1800s there is a [[Little Italy, London|Little Italy in Clerkenwell, Islington, London]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Italians in Islington |url=https://islingtonlife.london/discover-islington/local-history/italians-in-islington/ |website=Islington life|date=26 July 2019 }}</ref>

===Oceania===
{{Main|Italian Australian|Italian community of Melbourne|Italian New Zealander}}
{{Split section|date=June 2025|discuss=Talk:Italian diaspora#Split needed|Italian diaspora in Oceania}}
[[File:Italian Cultural Centre, Canberra 02.JPG|thumb|Italian Cultural Centre, [[Canberra]], Australia]]

Italians first arrived in [[Australia]] in the decades immediately following the [[Unification of Italy]], but the most significant wave was after World War II ended in 1945, particularly from 1950 to 1965. Italian Australians had a significant impact on Australia's culture, society and economy. At the 2021 census, 1,108,364 Australian residents nominated Italian ancestry (whether alone or in combination with another ancestry),<ref name="abs.gov.au">{{cite web|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/community-profiles/2021/AUS/download/GCP_AUS.xlsx|title=Australian Bureau of Statistics|access-date=7 December 2022}}</ref> representing 4.4% of the Australian population. The 2021 census found that 171,520 were born in [[Italy]].<ref name="abs.gov.au"/> As of 2021, there are 228,042 Australian residents who speak [[Italian language|Italian]] or [[Languages of Italy|Italian dialects]] at home.<ref name="abs.gov.au"/> The [[Italo-Australian dialect]] is prominent among Italian Australians who use the Italian language.

Unlike Australia, New Zealand did not receive much immigration from Italy. Several hundreds of them, mostly fishermen, immigrated in the late-1890s. The 2013 Census counted 3,795 New Zealanders of Italian descent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/ethnic-profiles.aspx?request_value=24670&parent_id=24650&tabname=#24670|title=2013 Census ethnic group profiles: Italian|access-date=7 December 2022}}</ref>

==Statistics==
[[File:Railway and locomotive engineering - a practical journal of railway motive power and rolling stock (1918) (14738489896).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Italian emigrants employed in the construction of a [[railway]] in the United States (1918)]]
After 1890, Italian contribution to the emigration flow to the [[New World]] was significant. By 1870, Italy had about 25,000,000 inhabitants (compared to 40,000,000 in Germany and 30,000,000 in the United Kingdom).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/italy.htm|title=Population of Italy|website=Tacitus.nu|access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref>

A preliminary census done in 1861, after the annexation of the South, claimed that there were a mere 100,000 Italians living abroad.<ref name="Monticelli">{{cite journal |last1=Monticelli |first1=Giuseppe Lucrezio |title=Italian Emigration: Basic Characteristic and Trends with Special Reference to the Last Twenty Years |journal=International Migration Review |date=1967 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=10–24 |doi=10.2307/3002737 |jstor=3002737 }}</ref> The General Directorate of Statistics did not start compiling official emigration statistics until 1876.<ref name="Cometti">{{cite journal |last1=Cometti |first1=Elizabeth |title=Trends in Italian Emigration |journal=The Western Political Quarterly |date=December 1958 |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=820–834 |doi=10.2307/443655 |jstor=443655 }}</ref> Accurate figures on the decades between 1870 and World War I show how emigration increased dramatically during that period:

Italian emigrants per 1,000 population:<ref>Hatton. Cited from I. Ferenczi and W.F. Wilcox (1929). ''International Migrations'', vol. 1, ''Statistics''. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.</ref>

*1870–1879: 4.29
*1880–1889: 6.09
*1890–1899: 8.65
*1900–1913: 17.97

The high point of Italian emigration was in 1913, when 872,598 people left Italy.<ref name="Monticelli"/>

By extrapolating from the 25,000,000 inhabitants of Italy at the time of unification, natural birth and death rates, without emigration, there would have been a population of about 65,000,000 by 1970. Instead, because of emigration earlier in the century, there were only 54,000,000.<ref>*{{cite book | last = Sori | first = Ercole | title = Guida all'Italia Contemporanea, vol 4. Comportamenti Sociali e Cultura: "Demografia e Movimenti di Popolazione" | year = 1999 |pages= 32–38 | publisher = Garzanti |place = Milan | id = ISBN}}</ref>

Italian emigrants in the period following the unification of Italy until the 1970s, a period that saw the Italians as protagonists of the greatest exodus in modern history, were more than 29 million. The statistical history of this Italian emigration can be divided into four temporal phases (according to L. Favero<ref>Favero Luigi.(1978). Cent'anni di emigrazione italiana (1876-1976). Rome: Cser</ref>):

The first, from 1876 (first official survey) to 1900, is due to socio-economic factors, at first it was directed mainly towards France and Germany, then towards South America and, to a lesser extent, North America. Through mainly spontaneous and clandestine movements, about 5.3 million people expatriated, especially from northern Italy. We are talking about a huge share of the population, which at that time fluctuated around 30 million inhabitants. In practice, over 15% of the population.
[[File:Map Italy in the world 1989 - Italians abroad in 1930 - Touring Club Italiano CART-TEM-001.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Italians abroad in 1930]]

The second was the great wave of Italian emigrants, that continued from 1900 to 1914. This second phase sees the protagonists above all emigrants from central-southern Italy, expelled from the agricultural sector and from rural areas without finding an alternative in a still shaky industrial sector. This phase, called the Great Emigration, was mainly extra-European, even if France and Germany remained privileged European destinations, to which Switzerland was added. The outbreak of the First World War and the consequent dangerousness of travel put an end to this phase, in which more than 9.5 million people left Italy, equal to a quarter of the total population.

The third was between the two world wars - and was a phase of decline in Italian emigration due to the legislative restrictions adopted by the landing states, the economic crisis of '29 and the restrictive and anti-emigration policy pursued by the fascism. In this period, the decrease in non-European immigration led to an increase in European flows, towards France (the favorite destination of the opponents of the regime) and Germany (after the signing of the Pact of Steel). The movements towards colonial Africa were added, an attempt at imperial expansionism (in Libya, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia). More than 3.5 million Italians emigrated in those 20 years.

Finally, the fourth phase is that of the postwar period: from 1945 to 1970 - a period of profound economic, social and political changes - migratory flows returned to be particularly large, especially from the south of the country. The main transoceanic destinations were Brazil and Argentina and Australia, while in Europe they aimed in particular towards France, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. The Italian emigrants were about 7.3 million.

The overall description of the phenomenon is as follows:<ref name="statistiche">{{cite web|url=http://fc.retecivica.milano.it/rcmweb/rssweb/Geopolitica/Indice%20Geopolitica/Emigrazione%20italiana/Ricerche/S01EC51C5.1/emitot.htm|title=Emigrati italiani: dove e quanti in 140 anni|access-date=6 February 2017|language=it|archive-date=22 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022221712/http://fc.retecivica.milano.it/rcmweb/rssweb/Geopolitica/Indice%20Geopolitica/Emigrazione%20italiana/Ricerche/S01EC51C5.1/emitot.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width:90%; margin:auto; clear:both"
|- 
|colspan="9"| '''Number of Italian emigrants by decade and by country of destination'''
|-
!Years||{{FRA}}||{{DEU}}||{{CHE}}||{{USA}}<br />{{CAN}}||{{ARG}}||{{BRA}}||{{AUS}}||Other countries
|-
| 1861–1870 || 288,000 || 44,000 || 38,000 || - || - || - || - || 91,000
|-
| 1871–1880 || 347,000 || 105,000 || 132,000 || 26,000 || 86,000 || 37,000 || 460 || 265,000
|-
| 1881–1890 || 374,000 ||86,000 || 71,000 || 251,000 || 391,000 || 215,000 || 1,590 || 302,000
|-
| 1891–1900 || 259,000 || 230,000 || 189,000 || 520,000 || 367,000 || 580,000 || 3,440 || 390,000
|-
| 1901–1910 || 572,000 || 591,000 || 655,000 || 2,394,000 || 734,000 || 303,000 || 7,540 || 388,000 
|-
| 1911–1920 || 664,000 || 285,000 || 433,000 || 1,650,000 || 315,000 || 125,000 || 7,480 || 429,000
|-
| 1921–1930 || 1,010,000 || 11,490 || 157,000 || 450,000 || 535,000 || 76,000 || 33,000 || 298,000 
|-
| 1931–1940  || 741,000 || 7,900 || 258,000 || 170,000 || 190,000 || 15,000 || 6,950 || 362,000 
|-
| 1946–1950 || 175,000 || 2,155 || 330,000 || 158,000 || 278,000 || 45,915 || 87,265 || 219,000 
|-
| 1951–1960 || 491,000 || 1,140,000 || 1,420,000 || 297,000 || 24,800 || 22,200 || 163,000 || 381,000
|-
| 1961–1970 || 898,000 || 541,000 || 593,000 || 208,000 || 9,800 || 5,570 || 61,280 || 316,000 
|-
| 1971–1980 || 492,000 || 310,000 || 243,000 || 61,500 || 8,310 || 6,380 || 18,980 || 178,000
|-
| 1981–1985 || 20,000 || 105,000 || 85,000 || 16,000 || 4,000 || 2,200 || 6,000 || 63,000
|-
| '''Emigrated''' || '''6,322,000''' || '''3,458,000''' || '''4,604,000''' || '''6,201,000''' || '''2,941,000''' || '''1,432,000''' || '''396,000''' || '''3,682,000''' 
|-
| '''Came back to Italy''' || '''2,972,000''' || '''1,045,000''' || '''2,058,000''' || '''721,000''' || '''750,000''' || '''162,000''' || '''92,000''' || '''2,475,000'''
|-
| '''Remained abroad''' || '''3,350,000''' || '''2,413,000''' || '''2,546,000''' || '''5,480,000''' || '''2,191,000''' || '''1,270,000''' || '''304,000''' || '''1,207,000'''
|- 
|colspan="9"| '''''Total emigrated: 29,000,000'''''{{·}}'''''Total came back to Italy: 10,275,000'''''{{·}}'''''Total remained abroad: 18,725,000'''''
|- 
|}

The [[2016 Italian constitutional referendum]] provided data on the number of registered Italian citizens living outside Italy by country. The highest number is in Argentina, with 673,238 registered Italians residing in the country in 2016, followed by Germany with 581,433, Switzerland with 482,539, France with 329,202, Brazil with 325,555, the UK with 232,932, Belgium 225,801, the United States with 218,407, Canada with 122,262, Australia with 120,791, and Spain with 118,879.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.repubblica.it/static/speciale/2016/referendum/costituzionale/estero.html|title=Riepilogo estero - Risultati Referendum Costituzionale – 4 dicembre 2016|website=Repubblica.it|access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref>

==Italian language and its dialects==
{{main|Italian language}}
{{see also|Geographical distribution of Italian speakers|Languages of Italy}}
[[File:Italian USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Italian language in the United States]]]]
[[File:Talian.svg|right|thumb|Municipalities where [[Talian dialect|Talian]] is co-official in [[Rio Grande do Sul]], Brazil]]

[[Italian language]] is spoken by large immigrant and expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia.<ref name=e25>{{cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/25/language/ita|title=Italian|publisher=[[Ethnologue]]|access-date=5 April 2023}}</ref> Although over 17 million [[Italian American|Americans are of Italian descent]], only a little over one million people in the United States speak Italian at home.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_00_SF3_QTP16&prodType=table | archive-url = https://archive.today/20200212212514/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_00_SF3_QTP16&prodType=table | url-status = dead | archive-date = 12 February 2020 | title = Language Spoken at Home: 2000 | publisher = [[United States Bureau of the Census]] | access-date = 8 August 2012}}</ref> Nevertheless, an Italian language media market does exist in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://netcapricorn.com/newsletter/italian_ethnic_market.html |title=Newsletter |publisher=Netcapricorn.com |access-date=22 October 2015}}</ref> [[Italian language in Canada|In Canada]], Italian is the second most spoken non-official language when [[varieties of Chinese]] are not grouped together, with 375,645 claiming Italian as their [[Demolinguistic descriptors used in Canada#Mother tongue|mother tongue]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=109977&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2016&THEME=118&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|title=Data tables, 2016 Census|website=[[Statistics Canada]]|date=2 August 2017 |access-date=26 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011045848/http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=109977&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2016&THEME=118&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|archive-date=11 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Italian immigrants to South America have also brought a presence of the language to that continent. According to some sources, Italian is the second most spoken language in [[Argentina]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americaeconomia.com/politica-sociedad/sociedad/los-segundos-idiomas-mas-hablados-de-sudamerica |title=Los segundos idiomas más hablados de Sudamérica &#124; AméricaEconomía – El sitio de los negocios globales de América Latina |publisher=Americaeconomia.com |date=16 July 2015 |access-date=22 October 2015}}</ref> after the official language of Spanish, although its number of speakers, mainly of the older generation, is decreasing. Italian bilingual speakers can be found scattered across the Southeast of Brazil as well as in the South,<ref name=e25/> In [[Venezuela]], Italian is the most spoken language after Spanish and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], with around 200,000 speakers.<ref name="L’ITALIANO IN VENEZUELA">{{cite journal |last1=Bernasconi |first1=Giulia |title=L'Italiano in Venezuela |journal=Italiano LinguaDue |date=30 January 2012 |volume=3 |pages=218 Paginazione |doi=10.13130/2037-3597/1921 |doi-broken-date=24 December 2024 |language=it |quote=L'italiano come lingua acquisita o riacquisita è largamente diffuso in Venezuela: recenti studi stimano circa 200.000 studenti di italiano nel Paese }}</ref> In [[Uruguay]], people that speak Italian as their home language is 1.1% of the total population of the country.<ref>{{Cite web|year=2019|title=Encuesta Telefónica de Idiomas (ETI) 2019|url=https://www.ine.gub.uy/web/guest/eti2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028151823/https://www.ine.gub.uy/web/guest/eti2019|archive-date=28 October 2020|website=Instituto Nacional de Estadística Instituto Nacional de Estadística – Uruguay}}</ref> In Australia, Italian is the second most spoken foreign language after Chinese, with 1.4% of the population speaking it as their home language.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0 |title=2011 Census QuickStats: Australia |publisher=Censusdata.abs.gov.au |access-date=22 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106221006/http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0 |archive-date=6 November 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

From the late 19th to the mid-20th century, millions of Italians settled in Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Brazil and Venezuela, as well as in Canada and the United States, where they formed a physical and cultural presence. In some cases, colonies were established where variants of regional [[languages of Italy]] were used, and some continue to use this regional language. Examples are [[Rio Grande do Sul]], Brazil, where [[Talian dialect|Talian]] is used, and the town of [[Chipilo]] near Puebla, Mexico; each continues to use a derived form of [[Venetian language|Venetian]] dating back to the nineteenth century. Other examples are [[Cocoliche]], an Italian–Spanish [[pidgin]] once spoken in [[Argentina]] and especially in [[Buenos Aires]], and [[Lunfardo]]. The [[Rioplatense Spanish]] dialect of Argentina and Uruguay today has thus been heavily influenced by both standard Italian and Italian regional languages as a result.

== Roots tourism ==
{{main|Tourism in Italy}}
Italian diaspora has led to an important flow of tourists of Italian origin [[Tourism in Italy|who visit Italy]] and discover their roots.<ref name="esteri">{{cite web|url=https://www.esteri.it/it/servizi-consolari-e-visti/italiani-all-estero/turismo-delle-radici/|title=Turismo delle Radici|access-date=17 April 2021|language=it}}</ref> The trip to Italy of these tourists is mainly about knowing the places, the language, the cuisine and the people to which their ancestors belonged.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cascinafarisengo.it/turismo-delle-radici-cos-e-esempi/|title=Turismo delle radici: cos'è e perché è importante|access-date=17 April 2021|language=it}}</ref> In 2018, about 10 million tourists of Italian origin went to the country to rediscover their roots.<ref name="esteri"/>

==Descendants of Italian immigrants==
{{see also|Oriundo}}
[[File:XXXIV Fiesta Nacional del Inmigrante - desfile - colectividad italiana.JPG|thumb|[[Italian Argentines]] wave the [[flag of Italy]] during the opening [[parade]] of the XXXIV [[Immigrant's Festival]].]]
[[File:Inmitalo py12.jpg|thumb|[[Italian Paraguayans]] originally from [[Campania]] during the 3rd edition of the ''Festa Italiana'' ("Italian Feast") in [[Asunción]]. Their stand is decorated with a flag of Italy and some [[Cockade of Italy|cockades of Italy]].]]
[[File:Columbus Day in New York City 2009 (4014723409).jpg|thumb|[[Columbus Day]] parade in [[New York City]], 2009]]
[[File:Placard piemontèis a San Fransesch an Argentin-a.jpg|thumb|Trilingual sign in [[San Francisco, Córdoba|San Francisco, Argentina]], in Spanish, Italian and [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]].]]

In the 19th and 20th centuries, nearly 33 million Italians left Italy to the Americas, Australia and [[Western Europe]] as their main destinations.<ref name=Migranti>{{cite web|url=http://www.migranti.torino.it/Documenti%20%20PDF/italianial%20ster05.pdf|access-date=19 May 2020|title=La diaspora italiana in cifre|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210203244/http://www.migranti.torino.it/Documenti%20%20PDF/italianial%20ster05.pdf|archive-date=10 February 2012}}</ref>

It is estimated that the number of their descendants, who are called "''[[oriundi]]''", is more than 80 million worldwide.<ref name="askanews"/> They are widespread in different countries around the world with the most numerous communities in [[Italian Brazilians|Brazil]], [[Italian Argentines|Argentina]], [[Italian Uruguayans|Uruguay]] and the [[Italian Americans|United States]].

Considering that a ''oriundo'' can have even only a distant ancestor born in Italy, the majority of ''oriundi'' have only an Italian surname (and often not even that) but not [[Italian citizenship]]. In some countries, especially in South America, the estimates are very approximate since there is no type of census on one's origins (as is the case in the United States or Canada).

Italian ''oriundi'' constitute a population of very conspicuous proportions. Only in Argentina, according to an estimate,<ref>Preface by [[Ludovico Incisa di Camerana]] to the book by Paola Cecchini, "''Mi Argentina querida''" ([http://www.cultura.marche.it/CMPrint.aspx?id=2279 see])</ref> there are tens of millions of Italian ''oriundi'' and no less nourished are the communities in the United States of America and Brazil, other main destinations of the aforementioned migratory flow at the turn of the 20th century. In many other European countries the Italian communities are widely distributed, but at least in the [[Schengen area]] the fall of many nationalistic barriers that made the problem of relations with the [[Motherland]] much less stringent. The concepts of multi-ethnicity and [[naturalization]] in [[association football|football]] have affected the whole world, so much so that at the [[2014 FIFA World Cup]]—in the squads of the 32 participating national teams—there were 83 ''oriundi''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio 2016|publisher=Panini Editore|year=2015|page=9|isbn=978-88-912-1986-2|language=it}}</ref>

In Italy, a nation in which the phenomenon of emigration abroad (especially between the 19th and 20th centuries) has developed in huge proportions, the recovery of the relationship with the communities of Italian origin formed in the world is enjoying growing attention. Regulations are beginning to be enacted, particularly in regional areas, which no longer provide assistance and not only for those who were born in Italy and who expatriated, but also for their descendants (precisely the ''oriundi''), so that the cultural identity bond can be consolidated. An example of this is the law of the [[Veneto]] region n°2 9 January 2003,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.consiglioveneto.it/crvportal/leggi/2003/03lr0002.html|title=Testo della legge n°2 del 9 gennaio 2003|access-date=14 February 2018|archive-date=29 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029013805/http://www.consiglioveneto.it/crvportal/leggi/2003/03lr0002.html|url-status=dead|language=it}}</ref> in which various actions are arranged in favor of the emigrant, the surviving spouse and descendants up to the third generation, in order to "guarantee the maintenance of the Venetian identity and improve the knowledge of the culture of origin".

The term ''oriundo'' is widely used to indicate an athlete, especially a [[Association football|football]], [[Rugby football|rugby]], [[futsal]], [[ice hockey]], [[Roller hockey (quad)|roller hockey]] and [[basketball]] player of Italian origin, equated in sports [[Italian nationality law|legislation to the citizens of Italian peninsula]] and therefore admitted to be part of the Italian national team; this is the case of the footballers [[Anfilogino Guarisi]], [[Atilio Demaría]], [[Luis Monti]], [[Enrique Guaita]] and [[Raimundo Orsi]] world champions with the national team [[1934 FIFA World Cup|in 1934]], [[Michele Andreolo]] world champion [[1938 FIFA World Cup|in 1938]], [[Mauro Camoranesi]], world champion [[2006 FIFA World Cup|in 2006]], [[Jorginho (footballer, born December 1991)|Jorginho]] and [[Emerson Palmieri]], European champions [[UEFA Euro 2020|in 2020]] and of several other footballers from the 1930s to today.

One of the events most felt by Italian ''oriundi'' in the United States is [[Columbus Day]], an event celebrated in many countries to commemorate the day of the arrival of [[Christopher Columbus]] ({{langx|it|Cristoforo Colombo}} {{IPA|it|kriˈstɔːforo koˈlombo|}}), an Italian<ref>Though the modern Republic of [[Italy]] had yet to be established, the Latin equivalent of the [[Italians#Name|term Italian]] had been in use for natives of [[Italian geographical region|the region]] since antiquity (see [[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Epistulae (Pliny)|Letters]]'' 9.23.).</ref> explorer and navigator born in [[Genoa]], to the [[New World]] on 12 October 1492. Columbus Day was first commemorated by Italians in [[San Francisco]] in 1869, followed by the many Italian-related celebrations held in New York City.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:90%; margin:auto; clear:both"
|+ Main communities of descendants of Italian immigrants in the world
!Country
!Population
!Community
!Notes
|-
| {{BRA}} || {{formatnum:32000000}} <small>(about 15% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Brazilians]] ||<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ambbrasilia.esteri.it/Ambasciata_Brasilia/Menu/I_rapporti_bilaterali/Cooperazione_politica/Storia/|title=Dati dell'ambasciata italiana in Brasile|access-date=10 February 2018|language=it|archive-date=15 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715015426/http://www.ambbrasilia.esteri.it/Ambasciata_Brasilia/Menu/I_rapporti_bilaterali/Cooperazione_politica/Storia/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.italplanet.it/interna.asp?sez=143&info=2344&ln=0|title=Italiani in Brasile|access-date=10 February 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203232051/http://www.italplanet.it/interna.asp?sez=143&info=2344&ln=0|archive-date=3 February 2009|language=it}}</ref>
|-
| {{ARG}} || {{formatnum:25000000}} <small>(about 62% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Argentines]] ||<ref name=LaMatanza>{{cite web|url =http://infouniversidades.siu.edu.ar/noticia.php?titulo=historias_de_inmigrantes_italianos_en_argentina&id=1432#.U2cKkYHa70s |title=Historias de inmigrantes italianos en Argentina  |date=14 November 2011 |author =Departamento de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas de la [[National University of La Matanza|Universidad Nacional de La Matanza]] |publisher=infouniversidades.siu.edu.ar |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715055112/http://argentinainvestiga.edu.ar/noticia.php?titulo=historias_de_inmigrantes_italianos_en_argentina&id=1432#.VaX01KR9VPw |archive-date=15 July 2015 |language=es |url-status=dead |quote=Se estima que en la actualidad, el 90% de la población argentina tiene alguna ascendencia europea y que al menos 25 millones están relacionados con algún inmigrante de Italia.}}</ref>
|-
| {{USA}} || {{formatnum:18000000}} <small>(about 5.4% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Americans]] ||<ref name="italianamericanstudies"/>
|-
| {{FRA}} || {{formatnum:5500000}} <small>(about 8% of the total population)</small> || [[Italians in France|Italian French]] ||<ref name = Migranti /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://circe.univ-paris3.fr/ITALIENS-sources.pdf|title=Documento "Italiens" del CIRCE dell'Università Sorbona - Parigi 3|access-date=10 February 2018|language=it}}</ref><br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.migrantes.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2019/10/Sintesi_RIM2019.pdf |title=Rapporto Italiano Nel Mondo 2019 : Diaspora italiana in cifre |accessdate=2019-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.migranti.torino.it/Documenti%20%20PDF/italianial%20ster05.pdf |title=Italiani Nel Mondo : Diaspora italiana in cifre |access-date=2015-09-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227022729/http://www.migranti.torino.it/Documenti%20%20PDF/italianial%20ster05.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2008 }}</ref><ref name="france"/>
|-
| {{VEN}} || {{formatnum:5000000}} <small>(about 16% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Venezuelans]] ||<ref name="ilgazzettino"/>
|-
| {{PRY}} || {{formatnum:2500000}} <small>(about 37% of the total population)</small> ||[[Italian Paraguayans]]|| <ref name="ABC Color">{{Cite web|url=http://www.abc.com.py/articulos/los-italianos-y-su-aporte-a-la-nacion-259396.html|title = Los italianos y su aporte a la nación - Articulos - ABC Color}}</ref><ref name="ABC Color2">{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/nacionalidad-italo-paraguaya-es-un-hecho-segun-embajador-italiano-1758782.html|title=Ya se puede sacar la nacionalidad italiana|access-date=29 May 2020|language=es}}</ref><ref name="Última Hora, 37%">{{cite web|url=https://www.ultimahora.com/destacan-influencia-migracion-italiana-la-sociedad-paraguaya-n1106382.html|title=Destacan influencia de migración italiana en la sociedad paraguaya|date=7 September 2017 |access-date=18 June 2020|language=es}}</ref>
|-
| {{COL}} || {{formatnum:2000000}} <small>(about 4% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Colombian]]s ||<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.ilmondo.tv/it/notizie-emigrazione/3410-convenzioni-inps-estere-fedi-sollecita-nuova-zelanda-ma-anche-cile-e-filippine.html|title=Convenzioni Inps estere, Fedi sollecita Nuova Zelanda ma anche Cile e Filippine|access-date=10 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209002829/http://www.ilmondo.tv/it/notizie-emigrazione/3410-convenzioni-inps-estere-fedi-sollecita-nuova-zelanda-ma-anche-cile-e-filippine.html|archive-date=9 February 2018|url-status=dead|language=it}}</ref>
|-
| {{URY}} || {{formatnum:1500000}} <small>(about 44% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Uruguayans]] ||<ref name=factum>{{cite web |url=http://www2.factum.edu.uy/estpol/analisis/2001/ana01035.html |title=Los árboles sin raíces, mueren |access-date=19 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093807/http://www2.factum.edu.uy/estpol/analisis/2001/ana01035.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|language=es}}</ref>
|-
| {{CAN}} || {{formatnum:1500000}} <small>(about 4% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Canadians]] ||<ref name="Italian Canadians">{{Cite web|url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810033801|title=Ethnic or cultural origin by generation status: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts|last=Government of Canada|first=Statistics Canada|date=2022-10-26|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|access-date=2022-10-26}}</ref>
|-
| {{DEU}} || {{formatnum:1200000}} <small>(about 1.4% of the total population)</small>|| [[Italians in Germany|Italian Germans]] ||<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Recchi|first1=Ettore|last2=Baglioni|first2=Lorenzo Gabrielli e Lorenzo G.|date=2021-04-16|title=Italiani d'Europa: Quanti sono, dove sono? Una nuova stima sulla base dei profili di Facebook|url=https://www.neodemos.info/2021/04/16/italiani-deuropa-quanti-sono-dove-sono-una-nuova-stima-sulla-base-dei-profili-di-facebook/|access-date=2022-01-31|website=Neodemos|language=it-IT}}</ref>
|-
| {{AUS}} || {{formatnum:1000000}} <small>(about 4% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Australians]] ||<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013 |title=ABS Ancestry |year=2012}}</ref>
|-
| {{MEX}} || {{formatnum:850000}} <small>(<1% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian immigration to Mexico|Italian Mexicans]] ||<ref name="regione.toscana">{{cite web|title=Storie mobili|url=https://www.regione.toscana.it/documents/10180/23640/Storie+mobili.pdf/3ccf3610-69f7-488d-8352-75e0e6b845b5|access-date=24 February 2023|page=83|language=it}}</ref>
|-
| {{CHL}} || {{formatnum:600000}} <small>(about 3.5% of the total population)</small> ||[[Italian Chileans]] ||<ref name="hommesmigrations">{{Cite journal|url=https://journals.openedition.org/hommesmigrations/2720|doi=10.4000/hommesmigrations.2720|title=Le Chili et les mouvements migratoires|year=2014|last1=Parvex|first1=Ricardo|journal=Hommes & Migrations|issue=1305|pages=71–76|doi-access=free}}</ref>
|-
| {{CHE}} || {{formatnum:530000}} <small>(about 7% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian immigration to Switzerland|Italian Swiss]] ||<ref name="Migrantes">{{cite web|date=December 2010|title=Gli italiani continuano a emigrare; un milione in fuga negli ultimi 4 anni|url=http://www.repubblica.it/solidarieta/immigrazione/2010/12/02/news/immigrazione_polchi-9746027/|access-date=6 February 2017|language=it}}</ref>
|-
| {{PER}} || {{formatnum:500000}} <small>(about 1.6% of the total population)</small>|| [[Italian Peruvians]]||<ref name="Embajada de Italia en Perú, 540,000">{{cite news|url=https://elcomercio.pe/mundo/europa/embajador-italia-aca-hay-muchas-oportunidades-empresas-noticia-461242-noticia/ | title=Embajador de Italia en Perú: Acá hay muchas oportunidades para nuestras empresas | date=27 September 2017 | newspaper=El Comercio | access-date=22 December 2019 | last1=Giner Vásquez | first1=Renzo }}</ref>
|-
| {{GBR}} || {{formatnum:500000}} <small>(<1% of the total population)</small> || [[Italians in the United Kingdom|Italian British]] || <ref name="regione.toscana"/>
|-
| {{BEL}} || {{formatnum:450000}} <small>(about 4% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian immigration to Belgium|Italian Belgians]]||<ref name="npdata.be"/>
|-
| {{CRI}} || {{formatnum:380000}} <small>(about 7.5% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Costa Ricans]] || <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uned.ac.cr/acontecer/a-diario/gestion-universitaria/1457-costa-rica-e-italia-paises-unidos-por-la-historia-y-la-cultura|title=Costa Rica e Italia: Países unidos por la historia y la cultura|access-date=16 March 2019|archive-date=8 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108002909/http://www.uned.ac.cr/acontecer/a-diario/gestion-universitaria/1457-costa-rica-e-italia-paises-unidos-por-la-historia-y-la-cultura|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=primera>{{cite web|title=La inmigración italiana en Costa Rica. Primera Parte: Prologo|url=http://www.prolades.com/cra/regions/cam/cri/italiana-1.htm|access-date=7 January 2017|archive-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011032234/http://www.prolades.com/cra/regions/cam/cri/italiana-1.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| {{DOM}} || {{formatnum:300000}} <small>(about 3% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Dominicans]] || <ref name="notizieitalodominicane"/>
|-
| {{ESP}} || {{formatnum:260000}} <small>(<1% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Spaniards]] || <ref name=ineextranjeros />
|-
| {{SLV}} || {{formatnum:200000}} <small>(about 3% of the total population)</small> || [[Italian Salvadorans]] || <ref name="Presencia Italiana" />
|- || 
|}

==Little Italy==
{{main|Little Italy}}
[[File:Map of regions with Little Italys.svg|thumb|upright=2.5|World map of first level subdivisions (states, counties, provinces, etc.) that are home to [[Little Italy]]s or Italian neighbourhoods]]

[[Little Italy]] is a general name for an [[ethnic enclave]] populated primarily by [[Italians]] or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an [[Urban area|urban]] [[neighborhood]]. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the [[Italian culture]]. There are shops selling Italian goods as well as Italian restaurants lining the streets.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

A "Little Italy" strives essentially to have a version of the country of Italy placed in the middle of a large non-Italian city. This sort of enclave is often the result of periods of immigration in the past, during which people of the same culture settled together in certain areas. As cities modernized and grew, these areas became known for their ethnic associations, and ethnic neighborhoods like "Little Italy" blossomed, becoming the icons they are today.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

== National Museum of the Italian Emigration==
[[File:19092015-DSC 2843.JPG|thumb|The Commenda di San Giovanni di Prè in [[Genoa]], Italy, which houses the National Museum of the Italian Emigration]]
[[File:Aerial view - Harbour of Genoa, Italy - DSC01156.JPG|thumb|The [[Port of Genoa]], from which millions of Italian emigrants left for the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia<ref name=museidigenova />]]

The Commenda di San Giovanni di Prè in [[Genoa]], Italy, houses the National Museum of the Italian Emigration ({{langx|it|Museo Nazionale dell'Emigrazione Italiana}}, "MEI").<ref name=museidigenova>{{cite web|title=MEI Museo Nazionale dell'Emigrazione Italiana|url=https://www.museidigenova.it/it/mei-museo-dellemigrazione-italiana|access-date=10 March 2023|language=it}}</ref> 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.<ref name=museidigenova /> The National Museum of the Italian Emigration is part of the museum circuit of the Istituzione Musei del Mare e delle Migrazioni (Mu.MA, "Institution of Sea and Migration Museums"), established in 2005, which also includes the [[Galata - Museo del mare]], the naval museum of [[Pegli]] and the monumental complex of the [[Lighthouse of Genoa]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.museidigenova.it/muma-istituzione-musei-del-mare-e-delle-migrazioni|title=Mu.MA - Istituzione Musei del Mare e delle Migrazioni|access-date=30 May 2022|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.museidigenova.it/it/mei-museo-dellemigrazione-italiana|title=MEI - Museo Nazionale dell'Emigrazione Italiana|access-date=30 May 2022|language=it}}</ref>

The choice of Genoa as the site of the museum was not accidental as millions of Italians from all over Italy departed by ship from [[Port of Genoa|its port]] to the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia.<ref name=museidigenova /> The museum describes the stories through autobiographies, diaries, letters, photographs and newspaper articles of the time that dealt with the theme of Italian emigration.<ref name=museidigenova /> More precisely, the 16 areas that make up the museum describe Italian emigration both chronologically and from a thematic point of view.<ref name="percorso-espositivo">{{cite web|url=https://www.museomei.it/percorso-espositivo|title=Percorso espositivo|access-date=10 March 2023|language=it}}</ref> Each of the 16 areas is equipped with archive stations, interactive multimedia stations and video projections.<ref name="percorso-espositivo"/>

The National Museum of the Italian Emigration was officially established by the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Italy)|Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] on 3 December 2008, with its temporary headquarters in the internal spaces of the [[Altare della Patria]] in [[Rome]].<ref name="museo">{{cite web|url=https://www.museomei.it/museo|title=La storia del MEI|access-date=10 March 2023|language=it}}</ref> The collection and cataloging of the material to be exhibited in the museum was carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the [[Ministry of Culture (Italy)|Italian Ministry of Culture]] and numerous Italian research bodies.<ref name="museo"/> The museum was inaugurated at the Altare della Patria in 2009 and then temporarily closed in 2016, when procedures were started to find the definitive location of the museum, a choice that fell, in 2018, on the Commenda di San Giovanni di Prè in Genoa.<ref name="museo"/> The inauguration of the definitive location of the museum in Genoa took place in May 2022.<ref name="museo"/>

==Filmography==
[[File:Passaportorosso fotoscena.jpg|thumb|A scene from the film ''[[Red Passport]]'' (1935)]]
[[File:Il cammino della speranza.jpg|thumb|A scene from the film ''[[Path of Hope]]'' (1950)]]
[[File:Sordi-Cardinale-BelloOnesto.jpg|thumb|A scene from the film ''[[A Girl in Australia]]'' (1971)]]
[[File:Pane e cioccolata Manfredi.jpg|thumb|A scene from the film ''[[Bread and Chocolate]]'' (1974)]]

*''[[Red Passport]]'' (1935), directed by [[Guido Brignone]] and starring [[Isa Miranda]], [[Filippo Scelzo]] and [[Ugo Ceseri]].
*''[[Immigrants (1948 film)|Immigrants]]'' (1948), directed by [[Aldo Fabrizi]] and starring Aldo Fabrizi, [[Ave Ninchi]] and [[Nando Bruno]].
*''[[Path of Hope]]'' (1950), directed by [[Pietro Germi]] and starring [[Raf Vallone]], [[Elena Varzi]], [[Saro Urzì]] and [[Renato Terra]].
*''[[Neapolitans in Milan]]'' (1953), directed by [[Eduardo De Filippo]] and starring Eduardo De Filippo, [[Anna Maria Ferrero]] and [[Frank Latimore]].
*''[[The Magliari]]'' (1959), directed by [[Francesco Rosi]] and starring [[Alberto Sordi]], [[Belinda Lee]] and [[Renato Salvatori]].
*''[[Rocco and His Brothers]]'' (1960), directed by [[Luchino Visconti]] and starring [[Alain Delon]], [[Renato Salvatori]], [[Annie Girardot]] and [[Claudia Cardinale]]
*''[[Il Gaucho]]'' (1964), directed by [[Dino Risi]] and starring [[Vittorio Gassman]], [[Amedeo Nazzari]], [[Jorgelina Aranda]] and [[Umberto D'Orsi]].
*''[[A Girl in Australia]]'' (1971), directed by [[Luigi Zampa]] and starring Alberto Sordi, [[Claudia Cardinale]], [[Riccardo Garrone (actor)|Riccardo Garrone]] and [[Corrado Olmi]].
*''[[Sacco & Vanzetti (1971 film)|Sacco & Vanzetti]]'' (1971), directed by [[Giuliano Montaldo]] and starring [[Gian Maria Volonté]], [[Riccardo Cucciolla]] and [[Cyril Cusack]]
*''[[The Godfather]]'' (1972), directed by [[Francis Ford Coppola]] and starring [[Marlon Brando]], [[Al Pacino]], [[James Caan]], [[Richard Castellano]], [[Robert Duvall]], [[Sterling Hayden]], [[John Marley]], [[Richard Conte]] and [[Diane Keaton]].
*''[[The Godfather Part II]]'' (1974), directed by [[Francis Ford Coppola]] and starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, [[Robert De Niro]], [[Talia Shire]], [[Morgana King]], [[John Cazale]], [[Mariana Hill]], and [[Lee Strasberg]].
*''[[Bread and Chocolate]]'' (1974), directed by [[Franco Brusati]] and starring [[Nino Manfredi]], [[Johnny Dorelli]] and [[Anna Karina]].
*''[[The Swissmakers]]'' (1978), directed by [[Rolf Lyssy]] and starring [[Emil Steinberger (actor)|Emil Steinberger]], [[Walo Lüönd]] and [[Hilde Ziegler]].
*''[[China Girl (1987 film)|China Girl]]'' (1987), directed by [[Abel Ferrara]] and starring [[James Russo]], [[Russell Wong]]  and [[David Caruso]].
*''[[Do the Right Thing]]'' (1989), directed by [[Spike Lee]] and starring Spike Lee, [[Danny Aiello]], [[Ossie Davis]], [[Ruby Dee]], [[Richard Edson]], [[Giancarlo Esposito]] and [[John Turturro]].
*''[[O Quatrilho]]'' (1995), directed by [[Fábio Barreto]] and starring [[Patrícia Pillar]], [[Glória Pires]] and [[Bruno Campos]].
*''[[The Barber of Rio]]'' (1996), directed by [[Giovanni Veronesi]] and starring [[Diego Abatantuono]], [[Rocco Papaleo]] and [[Margaret Mazzantini]].
*''[[Big Night]]'' (1996), co-directed by [[Campbell Scott]] and [[Stanley Tucci]], and starring [[Tony Shalhoub]], [[Minnie Driver]], [[Ian Holm]], [[Isabella Rossellini]] and [[Allison Janney]].
*''[[Looking for Alibrandi (film)|Looking for Alibrandi]]'' (2000), directed by [[Kate Woods]] and starring [[Pia Miranda]], [[Kick Gurry]], [[Anthony LaPaglia]], [[Greta Scacchi]] and [[Elena Cotta]].
*''[[Azzurro (film)|Azzurro]]'' (2000), directed by [[Denis Rabaglia]] and starring [[Paolo Villaggio]], [[Marie-Christine Barrault]] and [[Jean-Luc Bideau]].
*''[[Love's Brother]]'' (2004), directed by [[Jan Sardi]] and starring [[Giovanni Ribisi]], [[Adam Garcia]], [[Joe Petruzzi]] and [[Amelia Warner]].
*''[[Nuovomondo|Golden Door]]'' (2006), directed by [[Emanuele Crialese]] and starring [[Charlotte Gainsbourg]], [[Vincenzo Amato]], [[Francesco Casisa]] and [[Vincent Schiavelli]].
*''[[A Quiet Life]]'' (2010), directed by [[Claudio Cupellini]] and starring [[Toni Servillo]], [[Marco D'Amore]], [[Juliane Köhler]], [[Maurizio Donadoni]] and [[Alice Dwyer]].
==See also==

*[[Internal migration in Italy]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book| last1 = Favero| first1 = Luigi | last2 = Tassello| first2 = Graziano| title = Cent'anni di emigrazione italiana (1876–1976)| year = 1978| publisher =Cser | location= Rome}}
* {{cite book| last = Sori| first = Ercole| title = L'emigrazione italiana dall'Unità alla seconda guerra mondiale| year = 1979| publisher =Il Mulino | location= Bologna}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Moretti |first1=Enrico |title=Social Networks and Migrations: Italy 1876-1913 |journal=The International Migration Review |date=1999 |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=640–657 |doi=10.2307/2547529 |jstor=2547529}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Tomasi |first1=Silvano M. |last2=Dore |first2=Grazia |title=La Democrazia Italiana e l'Emigrazione In America. |journal=International Migration Digest |date=1965 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=221 |doi=10.2307/3002874 |jstor=3002874 }}
* Delmedico, Sara; Di Franco, Manuela (2019-2020). "Fascism and ‘Italians abroad’: National Identity and the Building of the Fascist State". ''Chronica Mundi'', 14: 81-119

==External links==
{{Portal|Italy}}
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.european-emigration.com/it/ Italian Emigration: the Historical Records] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427122842/http://www.european-emigration.com/it/ |date=27 April 2021 }}
* [http://www.italianimmigrants.org Italian Immigration Records (19th century)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150118163549/http://www.roasit.ro/index_it.php Romanian Association of Italians - RO.AS.IT.] [https://web.archive.org/web/20150118163549/http://www.roasit.ro/index_it.php RO.AS.IT - Asociatia Italienilor din Romania]
* [https://maxwellhalsted.uic.edu/home/alien-colonies/italian-american-taylor-st University of Illinois at Chicago, Italians in Chicago, original documents]

{{Italian diaspora}}
{{Italian irredentism by region}}
{{European diasporas}}
{{Italy topics}}

[[Category:Italian diaspora| ]]
[[Category:European diasporas]]