Italian People Total population: c. 124 million Significant populations in: Italy: 55,500,000 Brazil: 25,000,000 United States: 15,600,000 Argentina: 18,000,000 Venezuela: 3,200,000 Canada: 1,200,000 Uruguay: 1,200,000 France: 1,000,000 Australia: 1,000,000 Switzerland: 750,000 Germany: 550,000 Belgium: 280,000 Croatia: 30,000 San Marino: 25,000 Luxembourg: 20,000 Monaco: 5,000 Slovenia: 4,000 Language: Italian, Sardinian, Sicilian Ladin, Friulian Religion: Catholicism, some Atheists and Agnostics Related ethnic groups: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanians and the other Romance languages speaking people. The Italians are a Latin ethnic group primarily associated with Italy and the Italian language. There are almost 56 million autochthonous Italians in Italy, around 550,000 in Switzerland, around 25,000 in San Marino, as well as some smaller groups in Slovenia and Croatia. There is a notable Italian diaspora in the United States (Italian-Americans), Brazil (Italian Brazilians), Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, Canada (Italian Canadian), Belgium, Australia (Italian Australians), and France. Contents 1 Ethnic makeup 2 Physical appearance and characteristics 3 Ethnicities within Italy 4 Immigrants to Italy 5 See also Ethnic makeup The history of Italy shows that over the centuries, quite a few non-native ethnic groups have poured into the Italian peninsula and Sicily since Roman times. Most of these ethnicities were European with the notable exception of a small number of Arabs who invaded Sicily in the 9th century, only to be driven away by the Normans. The northern Italians of the Po Valley were historically recognized as Gauls (or Celts) by the Romans. Central Italy was a motley of many different people, of which the most important were the Latins and other linguistically related tribes on one side, and the Etruscans on the other. The main outsiders who came into Italy in the last 3000 years were probably the Greeks who heavily colonized the coasts of southern Italian Peninsula as well as Eastern Sicily before the 1st century BC. Then came the Ostrogoths in the 5th century AD, and finally the Lombards in the 6th century, which settled mainly in northern Italy but also settled in smaller numbers in southern Italy as well. Both of these groups were Germanic tribes who had come from northern Europe seeking land, wealth, and living space. Other later groups such as the Franks, Byzantines, Normans, and the French Angevins who ruled parts of Italy, settled in smaller numbers. Physical appearance and characteristics Some stereotype Italians as having tan coloured complexion and dark eyes, but this is not all true. While the Italian phenotype is European, they vary within this context. Sicilians tend to have the darkest complexions, but yet many native people with Nordic features can be found throughout the island. The peninsula contains people mainly descended from the prehistoric waves of migration from the north during the last ice age. These groups of stone-age Europeans gave rise to the indigenous populations such as the Latins and Etruscans. Successive waves of Greeks who partly populated the southern Peninsula and Sicily, were numerous to the point that southern Italy became known as Magna Graecia ("Greater Greece"). During the decline of the Roman Empire, invaders from northern Europe, mostly Germanic tribes plundered Italy, and then at least two massive waves of Germans during the medieval period. The resulting varied appearance of Italians shows that there is no typical Italian 'look' as some claim for other European countries. The shape of the Italian peninsula dictates that any land travel into the peninsula would have to come down from the main body of the European continent, which is exactly what happened during the last ice age. Later, sea travel facilitated contact and some migration around the Mediterranean. As a result of the thousands of years of migration, Italians come in all hair and eye colours. Those who are taller with fair skin with blonde hair, blue/green eyes tend to dominate north and central Italy including sizeable pockets in Sicily and the south. Those who are brown hair, brown eyes with darker complexions tend to dominate southern parts. Darker complexions common in Sicily are due to high sun exposure rather than genetics. It is also interesting to note that the most common hair colour after brown in Sicily is red, and this possibly due to the Norman conquest that occurred in the south. Current genetic studies are attempting to detect distinct foreign gene signatures. The results so far indicate that Italians are most closely related to their immediate European neighbours. Ethnicities within Italy From the end of the Roman Empire until the mid-nineteenth century, Italy was not the nation-state as we know it today. The landmass was fractured into various kingdoms, duchies, and domains. Over the centuries, dialects and customs evolved differently as a result of isolation of the kingdoms from one another, and their being influenced by foreign powers. While all these states were similar in that they retained basic elements of Roman language and culture, each one built upon this ancient culture to develop their own independent culture and ethnic identity. Even to this day, Italians living in their homeland define themselves by their home region, and most speak both local dialect and standard Italian. Immigrants to Italy Today, 2.4 million or 4% of Italy's population are recent immigrants mostly from Europe and Arabs from North Africa, but are not present in great numbers like they are in France. It is said by some that racism towards Arab and North African Muslim peoples is very intense in Italy, more than in other European countries, but this statement is disputed by many scholars.[citation needed