Italy

Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. It comprises a boot-shaped peninsula and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia, and shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent countries of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Italy

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Italy is largely homogeneous in language and religion but is diverse culturally, economically, and politically. The country has the fifth-highest population density in Europe at 196 persons per square kilometre. Indigenous minority groups are small. For a country of 58 million people, Italy has a smaller number of migrants, comparing to Spain, France, and Germany. According to ISTAT, the national statistical office, Italy has 2 million (3.5%) foreigners, including legal immigrants and their children. The largest immigrant groups are Romanian, 445,812, Albanian, 270,383, Moroccan, 253,362, and Chinese 86,738. The are many other ethnic groups, like Filipinos, Tunisians, Serbians, and Ukrainians, but they make very small numbers.

Related Topics:
Romanian - Albanian - Moroccan - Chinese

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Although Roman Catholicism is the majority religion (85% of native-born citizens are nominally Catholic) there are mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim (see: Islam in Italy) immigrant community, as many come from Albania, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic - Protestant - Jewish - Muslim - Islam in Italy

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