Italian people

The Italians are a Western European Latin ethnic group primarily associated with Italy and the Italian language.

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, dutchies, 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 the kingdoms 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.

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