Where is Italian spoken? A guide to Italian speaking countreis

Italy

Naturally, Italy is the main country where the Italian language is spoken. It’s not only the birthplace of Italian but also home to the largest number of speakers, around 60 million. Italian is the official language of the country and is used in government, media, and education.

Italy’s neighbor to the north, Switzerland, has four official languages, one of which is Italian. Italian in Switzerland is spoken mainly in the southern canton of Ticino, where it is the sole official language, and in some southern valleys of Grisons, near the Italian border. In total, only 11% of the country speaks it as a native language, though many people learn it as a second language.

But why is Italian spoken in Switzerland? This is due to the 15th-century Swiss conquest of Ticino from Milan during the Italian Wars, a series of conflicts in which foreign powers fought for control of the Italian Peninsula. Ticino has remained Swiss ever since.

Swiss Italian has some distinct characteristics compared to standard Italian. For example, the word for roundabout in Italian is rotatoria, but in Switzerland, it is piazza da giro (square to turn), which often makes Italians laugh. Another example is the word rango, used instead of the standard Italian classifica (ranking).

Moreover, people in Ticino also speak a local dialect, Ticinese, which shares many similarities with the Lombard language. You can learn more about Lombard in this post.

Located entirely within Italy, the Republic of San Marino is a small independent state with Italian as its official language. It shares many cultural ties with Italy, including the language. Residents speak Italian, but also use the local dialect, similar to Emiliano-Romagnolo, in their daily lives.

Vatican City

As the smallest country in the world and the spiritual center of the Roman Catholic Church, Vatican City also uses Italian as its official language. While Latin holds a significant role in Vatican religious practices, Italian is the everyday language used by the few people living and working in this unique city-state.

Croatia and Slovenia

In certain regions of Croatia and Slovenia, particularly along the Adriatic coast, Italian is recognized as a co-official language. This is due to the historical Italian presence in the region, dating back to the time when these areas belonged to the Republic of Venice. Moreover, during Mussolini’s fascist regime, there was also Italian migration, but many were forced to return to Italy after the war. Nevertheless, local Italian communities still exist and use the language today.

In Slovenia, Italian is spoken by about 3,000 people in the Capodistria area, where education is available in Italian and all official signs are bilingual. In Croatia, about 20,000 Italians live mostly in northern Istria and parts of Dalmatia.

Malta

Many Maltese people are fluent in Italian, and Italians visiting Malta can communicate easily due to the shared history and widespread use of the language. Italian television channels are accessible, and around 60% of Maltese people can understand and speak Italian to varying degrees.

Albania

In Albania, Italian is not an official language, but it is widely understood and spoken by a significant portion of the population. Approximately 27.8% of Albanians aged 25 to 64 are proficient in Italian, according to a 2016 Eurostat survey. This is due to historical connections, geographical proximity, and the presence of Italian media in the country.

Monaco

Italian is also spoken by the Italian community in the Principality of Monaco, a small city-state between France and Italy. Although only about 20% of the population speaks Italian as a native language, the country is home to a famous Italian radio station. Moreover, the national language, Monégasque, is a dialect of Ligurian, spoken in the Italian region of Liguria.

Eritrea and Other Former Italian Colonies

In Eritrea, the number of people who can understand or speak Italian is relatively small, primarily concentrated among older generations and specific communities in the capital, Asmara. The same applies to other former Italian colonies such as Ethiopia, Somalia, and Libya, where only a few thousand people speak Italian today.

How Many Countries Speak Italian?

Now, you may be wondering: how many countries speak Italian? While the exact number depends on whether dialects or regional varieties are considered, there are seven main countries where Italian is either an official language or widely spoken. These include:

• Italy, where it is the mother tongue of 60 million people
• Switzerland, where it is spoken by about 720,000 people
• San Marino, where it is spoken by 34,042 people
• Vatican City, which has about 800–900 residents
• Croatia, where it is spoken by a minority of 20,000
• Slovenia, where it is spoken by a minority of 30,000
• Malta, not an official language, but many people understand it
• Albania, where it is spoken by 784,000 as a second language

Are There Any Other Regions Where Italian is Spoken?

Aside from these countries, Italian is spoken by diaspora communities in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Australia, and Brazil, where millions of Italians and their descendants continue to preserve the language. While Italian is not an official language in these countries, the Italian-speaking population remains significant and contributes to the global spread of the language.

Two famous examples include Little Italy in New York, a neighborhood often featured in movies, where people may still speak Italian generations after immigration—and southern Brazil, where Italian emigrants from Veneto settled over 200 years ago. Today, some communities there speak the Venetian dialect more fluently than standard Italian.

How Many People Speak Italian?

Approximately 85 million people worldwide speak Italian, encompassing both native and second-language speakers. This includes about 67 million native speakers.

Is Italy a Spanish-Speaking Country?

A common misconception among those unfamiliar with Romance languages is to confuse Italy with Spain. While both countries belong to the Romance language family, Italy is not a Spanish-speaking country. The two languages share a Latin origin and some similarities, but they are entirely distinct.