Italy Languages

Currently, the number of living spoken languages in Italy is approximated to be 34. Most of these are classified as Romance languages. However, the most widely spoken language and official language is Italian. Italian is also a Romance language, which means it evolved from a Vulgar Latin language.

97.41% of the population of Italy can speak Italian, 13.74% speak English, 8.46% speak French, 6.56% speak Spanish, and 2.06% speak German.

Italy is the fifth most studied foreign language in the world, with English being first, French second, German third and Spanish fourth. There is nearly a different dialect in each Italian city, although the Standard Italian language is based on Tuscan Italian. Some of the dialects include Molisano, Laziale, Umbrian, Apuliese, Abruzzese, Marchigiano, Romanesque and Cicolan-Reatin-Acquitan.

Apart from Italian and other foreign languages, there are other minority languages spoken in Italy. Some of these languages belong to other Indo-European branches like Climbrian, Arberesh (Albanian), Griko and Slavic. Other languages that are in the minority include Albanian, Catalan, German, Greek, Slovene, Croatian, French, Franco-Provencal, Friulian, Occitan, Ladin and Sardinian. Others are spoken by immigrants, like Romanian and Hungarian.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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Published on 2019-11-06


Capital	Rome
Languages	Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
Ethnic Groups	Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)
Religion	Christian 80% (overwhelmingly Roman Catholic with very small groups of Jehovah's Witnesses and Protestants), Muslim (about 800,000 to 1 million), atheist and agnostic 20%
Government	Parliamentary republic
Independance	17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally unified until 1871)
Area	301,340.00 km²
Water Area	7,200.00 km²
Land Area	294,140.00 km²
Population	62,007,540.00 Despite a distinctive pattern with an industrial north and an agrarian south, a fairly even population distribution exists throughout most of the country, with coastal areas, the Po River Valley, and urban centers (particularly Milan, Rome, and Naples), attracting larger and denser populations
Location	Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
No. Bordering Countries	6
Bordering Countries	Austria 404 km, France 476 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.4 km, San Marino 37 km, Slovenia 218 km, Switzerland 698 km
GDP(PPP)	$2,220,000,000,000.00 (USD)
GDP (Per Capita)	$36,300.00 (USD)
Export Partners	Its major export partners are Germany, France, and the United States.
Export Commodities	Its main exports are engineering products, textiles and clothing, and production machinery.
Import Partners	Its major import partners are Germany, France, and China.
Import Commodities	Its major imports include engineering products, chemicals, and transport equipment.
Climate	Predominantly Mediterranean; alpine in far north; hot, dry in south
Terrain	Mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands
Learn More	Italy

Italy Languages

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