Italian people and their descendants living outside Italy

Italian diaspora

Italian diaspora

The Italian diaspora (<a href="/en/Italian_language" title="Italian language" class="wl">Italian</a>: emigrazione italiana, <small about="#mwt23" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw="{&quot;parts&quot;:[{&quot;template&quot;:{&quot;target&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;IPA-it&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;./Template:IPA-it&quot;},&quot;params&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;emiɡraˈtsjone itaˈljaːna&quot;},&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;pron&quot;}},&quot;i&quot;:0}}]}">pronounced&nbsp;<a href="/en/Help:IPA/Italian" title="Help:IPA/Italian" class="wl">[emiɡraˈtsjone itaˈljaːna]</a>) is the large-scale emigration of <a href="/en/Italians" title="Italians" class="wl">Italians</a> from <a href="/en/Italy" title="Italy" class="wl">Italy</a>. There were two major Italian <a href="/en/Diaspora" title="Diaspora" class="wl">diasporas</a> in <a href="/en/Italian_history" title="Italian history" class="mw-redirect wl">Italian history</a>. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the <a href="/en/Risorgimento" title="Risorgimento" class="mw-redirect wl">Unification of Italy</a>, and ended in the 1920s to the early 1940s with the rise of <a href="/en/Kingdom_of_Italy_under_Fascism_(1922–1943)" title="Kingdom of Italy under Fascism (1922–1943)" class="mw-redirect wl">Fascist Italy</a>.<a href="#cite_note-Pozzetta,_George_E._1992-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;">[3]</a> Poverty was the main reason for emigration, specifically the lack of land as <a href="/en/Mezzadria" title="Mezzadria" class="mw-redirect wl">mezzadria</a> <a href="/en/Sharecropping" title="Sharecropping" class="wl">sharecropping</a> flourished in Italy, especially in the South, and property became subdivided over generations. Especially in <a href="/en/Southern_Italy" title="Southern Italy" class="wl">Southern Italy</a>, conditions were harsh.<a href="#cite_note-Pozzetta,_George_E._1992-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;">[3]</a> Until the 1860s to 1950s, most of Italy was a <a href="/en/Rural_society" title="Rural society" class="mw-redirect wl">rural society</a> with many small towns and cities and almost no modern industry in which land management practices, especially in the South and the <a href="/en/Northeastern_Italy" title="Northeastern Italy" class="mw-redirect wl">Northeast</a>, did not easily convince farmers to stay on the land and to work the soil.<a href="#cite_note-MacDonald-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;">[4]</a>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Italian people and their descendants living outside Italy</div>

<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn">Quick facts: Emigrazione italiana&nbsp;(Italian), Total po... ▼</header> <table class="infobox vcard mobile-collapse-element"><caption class="infobox-title fn org">Italian diaspora</caption><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above nickname" style="font-size:115%; font-weight:normal;"><div>Emigrazione italiana&nbsp;(<a href="/en/Italian_language" title="Italian language" class="wl">Italian</a>)</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><a href="/en/File:Map_of_the_Italian_Diaspora_in_the_World.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Map_of_the_Italian_Diaspora_in_the_World.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Map_of_the_Italian_Diaspora_in_the_World.svg/220px-Map_of_the_Italian_Diaspora_in_the_World.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="2192" data-file-height="1135" data-file-type="drawing" height="114" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Map_of_the_Italian_Diaspora_in_the_World.svg/330px-Map_of_the_Italian_Diaspora_in_the_World.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Map_of_the_Italian_Diaspora_in_the_World.svg/440px-Map_of_the_Italian_Diaspora_in_the_World.svg.png 2x" alt="Map_of_the_Italian_Diaspora_in_the_World.svg"></a><div class="infobox-caption">Map of the Italian diaspora in the world</div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color:#b0c4de;">Total population</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><abbr>c.</abbr> 80 million worldwide<a href="#cite_note-askanews-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;">[1]</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color:#b0c4de;">Regions with significant populations</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><a href="/en/Brazil" title="Brazil" class="wl">Brazil</a>, <a href="/en/Argentina" title="Argentina" class="wl">Argentina</a>, <a href="/en/United_States" title="United States" class="wl">United States</a>, <a href="/en/France" title="France" class="wl">France</a>, <a href="/en/Colombia" title="Colombia" class="wl">Colombia</a>, <a href="/en/Canada" title="Canada" class="wl">Canada</a>, <a href="/en/Peru" title="Peru" class="wl">Peru</a>, <a href="/en/Uruguay" title="Uruguay" class="wl">Uruguay</a>, <a href="/en/Australia" title="Australia" class="wl">Australia</a>, <a href="/en/Venezuela" title="Venezuela" class="wl">Venezuela</a>, <a href="/en/Germany" title="Germany" class="wl">Germany</a>, <a href="/en/Switzerland" title="Switzerland" class="wl">Switzerland</a>, <a href="/en/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom" class="wl">United Kingdom</a>, <a href="/en/Belgium" title="Belgium" class="wl">Belgium</a>, <a href="/en/Chile" title="Chile" class="wl">Chile</a> and <a href="/en/Paraguay" title="Paraguay" class="wl">Paraguay</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color:#b0c4de;">Languages</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><a href="/en/Italian_language" title="Italian language" class="wl">Italian</a>, other <a href="/en/Languages_of_Italy" title="Languages of Italy" class="wl">languages of Italy</a>, <a href="/en/English_language" title="English language" class="wl">English</a>, <a href="/en/French_language" title="French language" class="wl">French</a>, <a href="/en/Spanish_language" title="Spanish language" class="wl">Spanish</a>, <a href="/en/Portuguese_language" title="Portuguese language" class="wl">Portuguese</a> and <a href="/en/German_language" title="German language" class="wl">German</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color:#b0c4de;">Religion</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><a href="/en/Christianity" title="Christianity" class="wl">Christianity</a> (predominantly <a href="/en/Catholicism" title="Catholicism" class="mw-redirect wl">Catholicism</a>)<a href="#cite_note-Riforma-Eurispes-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;">[2]</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color:#b0c4de;">Related ethnic groups</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data">Other <a href="/en/Romance_peoples" title="Romance peoples" class="mw-redirect wl">Romance peoples</a> </td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'>Close ▲</footer></div>
Another factor was related to the overpopulation of Southern Italy as a result of the improvements in socioeconomic conditions after <a href="/en/Unification_of_Italy" title="Unification of Italy" class="wl">Unification</a>.<a href="#cite_note-5" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 5;">[5]</a> 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 <a href="/en/Americas" title="Americas" class="wl">Americas</a>.<a href="#cite_note-Italy's_Many_Diasporas-6" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 6;">[6]</a> 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 "work and bread".<a href="#cite_note-7" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 7;">[7]</a>

The second diaspora started after the end of <a href="/en/World_War_II" title="World War II" class="wl">World War II</a> and concluded roughly in the 1970s. Between 1880 and 1980, about 15,000,000 Italians left the country permanently.<a href="#cite_note-8" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 8;">[8]</a> By 1980, it was estimated that about 25,000,000 Italians were residing outside Italy.<a href="#cite_note-9" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 9;">[9]</a> Between 1861 and 1985, 29,036,000 Italians emigrated to other countries; of whom 16,000,000 (55%) arrived before the outbreak of <a href="/en/World_War_I" title="World War I" class="wl">World War I</a>. About 10,275,000 returned to Italy (35%), and 18,761,000 permanently settled overseas (65%).<a href="#cite_note-10" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 10;">[10]</a> 

A third wave, primarily affecting young people, 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.<a href="#cite_note-11" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 11;">[11]</a> There are over 5 million Italian citizens living outside Italy,<a href="#cite_note-12" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 12;">[12]</a> and <abbr about="#mwt57" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw="{&quot;parts&quot;:[{&quot;template&quot;:{&quot;target&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;Circa&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;./Template:Circa&quot;},&quot;params&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;80 million&quot;}},&quot;i&quot;:0}}]}">c.</abbr> 80 million people around the world claim full or partial Italian ancestry.<a href="#cite_note-askanews-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;">[1]</a>

Internal migration within the <a href="/en/Italian_geographical_region" title="Italian geographical region" class="mw-redirect wl">Italian geographical borders</a> also occurred for similar reasons;<a href="#cite_note-salogentis-13" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 13;">[13]</a> its largest wave consisted in 4 million people moving from <a href="/en/Southern_Italy" title="Southern Italy" class="wl">Southern Italy</a> to <a href="/en/Northern_Italy" title="Northern Italy" class="wl">Northern Italy</a> (and mostly to Northern Italian industrial cities), between the 1950s and 1970s.<a href="#cite_note-uniud-14" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 14;">[14]</a> Today there is the National Museum of Italian Emigration (<a href="/en/Italian_language" title="Italian language" class="wl">Italian</a>: Museo Nazionale dell'Emigrazione Italiana, "MEI"), located in <a href="/en/Genoa" title="Genoa" class="wl">Genoa</a>, Italy.<a href="#cite_note-museidigenova-15" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 15;">[15]</a> 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.<a href="#cite_note-museidigenova-15" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 15;">[15]</a> 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.<a href="#cite_note-museidigenova-15" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 15;">[15]</a>

The Italian diaspora is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Unification of Italy, and ended in the 1920s to the early 1940s with the rise of Fascist Italy. Another factor was related to the overpopulation of Southern Italy as a result of the improvements in socioeconomic conditions after Unification. 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. 