Italy Ethnic Groups

Italian ethnic groups can be a very sensitive subject to individuals from Italy. Italians outside of Italy are often classified as part of a single ethnic group. Inside Italy only minorities and immigrants are considered "ethnic groups". Some Italians consider their nation to be a multi-ethnic one. Others tend to look at Italy as a single-ethnic nation. Many do not address the issue.

Following differences in language and folk culture, scholars have offered different ethnic classifications of Italians from different geographical areas within Italy. One possible ethnic classification can be find in Felipe Fernández-Armesto´s "Guide to the Peoples of Europe", The Times Book, London, 1994:

Piedmontese

Valdaostans and Waldensias

Lombards

Friulians

Triestines

Slovenes

Corsicans

Sardinians

Ligurians

Veneti

Central Italians

Sammarinesi

South Italians

Sicilians

Maltese