Italian and
Italian dialects
(Sicilian&_160;· Southern Italian languages&_160;· Corsican&_160;· Sardinian&_160;· Northern Italian languages&_160;· Friulian)
languages of resident countriespredominantly Roman Catholic, Minority Religions include Protestantism, Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism
The Italian people (Italian italiani) are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common Italian culture, descent, and speaking the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence, and are distinguished from people of Italian descent, and historically, from ethnic Italians living in the unredeemed territories of the Italian peninsula.
Because of wide-ranging and long-lasting diaspora, over 70 million people of Italian or part Italian ancestry live outside of Italy. Nearly two-thirds of Italian descendants live in South America (primarily Brazil and Argentina). About 20 million live in North America and nearly 1 million live in Oceania. In the Americas, most descendants' origins go back several generations and they have assimilated into their respective national identities. Most do not speak the Italian language.
