Italians_of_Romanian_descent
Romanians in Italy
Ethnic Romanians in Italy
Romanians in Italy (Romanian: românii din Italia; Italian: romeni in Italia or rumeni in Italia) became a significant population after 1999, due to a large wave of emigration known in Romania as Fenomenul migrației către UE (the phenomenon of migration toward the European Union). A large part of Romanian emigrants went to Spain or Italy, whose national languages are Romance languages like Romanian. They were followed by another wave beginning in 2002, when Romanian citizens obtained the right to move to any Schengen Zone country without a visa. In 2007 Romania joined the European Union, further increasing the economic and political ties between the countries.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 1,081,836 Romanian citizens (2023)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Rome, Turin, Milan, Bologna, Padua, Verona, Florence, Guidonia Montecelio, Aprilia, Venice[2] | |
| Languages | |
| Italian, Romanian | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Orthodox Christianity; also Roman Catholicism[3] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Romanian people, Romanian diaspora, Romanian Britons, Romanian Australians, Romanian Americans, Romanian Canadians, Romanian French people, Romanian Spanish people |
As of 2023[update], there were 1,081,836 Romanian citizens living in Italy, the largest Romanian immigrant population in any country as well as the largest immigrant group within Italy.[4]
Between 2008 and 2020, 98,499 Romanians acquired Italian citizenship.[5]
Romanians in Italy live in the following regions of Italy (as of 2022):[6]
- Lazio 18,1%
- Lombardy 15,8%
- Piedmont 12,3%
- Veneto 11,7%
- Emilia-Romagna 8,8%
- Tuscany 6,8%
- Sicily 4,2%
- Campania 3,1%
- Apulia 2,7%
- Calabria 2,4%
- Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2,4%
- Marche 2,2%
- Umbria 2,1%
- Abruzzo 2,0%
- Liguria 2,0%
- Trentino-Alto Adige 1,3%
- Sardinia 1,0%
- Basilicata 0,7%
- Molise 0,3%
- Valle d'Aosta 0,2%
Rome and Turin are by far the cities hosting the largest communities of Romanians in Italy; in 2016, there were over 90,000 Romanians in Rome, and over 50,000 Romanians in Turin.[2] The next city with a significant population of Romanians is Milan, with over 14,000 Romanians.[2]
About 60% of Romanians in Italy come from the Romanian region of Western Moldavia.[7]
Population
| Romanian citizens resident in Italy, 2001-2023 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 (Census) | 74,885 | — | [8] |
| 2002 | 95,039 | 26.9% | [9] |
| 2003 | 177,812 | 87.1% | [10] |
| 2004 | 248,849 | 40.0% | [11] |
| 2005 | 297,570 | 19.6% | [12] |
| 2006 | 342,200 | 15.0% | [13] |
| 2007 | 625,278 | 82.7% | [14] |
| 2008 | 796,477 | 27.4% | [15] |
| 2009 | 887,763 | 11.5% | [16] |
| 2010 | 968,576 | 9.1% | [17] |
| 2011 (Census) | 823,100 | -17.7% | [18] |
| 2012 | 933,354 | 13.4% | [19] |
| 2013 | 1,081,400 | 15.9% | [20] |
| 2014 | 1,131,839 | 4.7% | [21] |
| 2015 | 1,151,395 | 1.7% | [22] |
| 2016 | 1,168,552 | 1.5% | |
| 2017 | 1,190,091 | 1.8% | |
| 2018 | 1,143,859 | -3,9% | |
| 2019 | 1,145,718 | 0.2% | |
| 2020 | 1,076,412 | [23] | |
| 2021 | 1,083,771 | [23] | |
| 2022 | 1,072,001 | [1] | |
| 2023 | 1,081,836 | [24] | |
Religion
In the years 2011 and 2012 the ISTAT made a survey regarding the religious affiliation among the immigrants in Italy, the religion of the Romanian people in Italy were as follows:[25]
- Orthodox Christians: 79.0%
- Catholics: 13.9%
- Protestants: 2.2%
- Muslims: 0.1%
- Non religious: 2.7%
- Other religions: 2.2%
In 2023, the vice president of the local council of Prato, the Romanian-born Claudiu Stănășel, announced that he started the proceedings for the Romanians to be recognized as an official national minority of Italy.[26][27]
- This list includes people of Romanian origin born in Italy or people born in Romania but mainly active in Italy.
- Dinu Adameșteanu (1913–2004), archaeologist
- Alexandra Agiurgiuculese (b. 2001), rhythmic gymnast
- Chris Avram (1931–1989), actor
- Ramona Bădescu (b. 1968), actress and television host
- Paolo Bonolis (b. 1961), television host
- Cristian Chivu (b. 1980), football player
- Fritz Dennerlein (1936–1992), freestyle swimmer
- Iosif Drăgan (1917–2008), businessman and historian
- Nicolao Dumitru (b. 1991), football player
- Loredana Errore (b. 1984), singer-songwriter
- Mădălina Ghenea (b. 1987), actress and model
- Alessandro Haber (b. 1947), actor, film director and singer
- Claudia Koll (b. 1965), actress and missionary
- Veronica Lazăr (1938–2014), actress
- Marius Mitrea (b. 1982), rugby union referee
- Ana Caterina Morariu (b. 1980), actress
- Gabriele Oriali (b. 1952), football player
- Cristina Pîrv (b. 1972), volleyball player
- Bogdan Rath (b. 1972), water polo player
- Andreea Stefanescu (b. 1993), rhythmic gymnast
- Adrian Stoica, dog trainer
- Cristian Stoica (b. 1976), rugby union footballer
- Linda Valori (b. 1978), singer
- Roman Vlad (1919–2013), composer and pianist
- Virginia Zeani (1925–2023), soprano
- "Stranieri residenti al 1° gennaio" [Foreigners resident on January 1st]. dati.istat.it (in Italian).
- "Appartenenza e pratica religiosa tra i cittadini stranieri". 4 September 2019.
- "Acquisizioni di cittadinanza". dati.istat.it (in Italian).
- "Romeni in Italia - statistiche e distribuzione per regione". Tuttitalia.it (in Italian). Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- Cohal (2014). Mutamenti nel romeno di immigrati in Italia (in Italian). FrancoAngeli. ISBN 978-88-917-0625-6.
- ISTAT, ed. (16 June 2004). "14º Censimento della popolazione: dati definitivi. Stranieri residenti in famiglia e in convivenza" (PDF).
- ISTAT (ed.). "Gli stranieri al 15º Censimento della popolazione" (PDF).
- "Popolazione residente e dinamica demografica" (PDF). istat.it (in Italian). 15 December 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
- "Appartenenza e pratica religiosa tra i cittadini stranieri". www.istat.it (in Italian). 30 October 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- "Românii din Italia vor să fie recunoscuți oficial drept minoritate națională". euronews (in Romanian). Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- "Românii din Italia ar putea deveni minoritate naţională, anunţă vicepreşedintele Consiliului local din Prato". agerpres.ro (in Romanian). 11 January 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- La comunità romena in Italia website