Italian culture is steeped in the arts, architecture, music and food. Home of the Roman Empire and a major center of the Renaissance, culture on the Italian peninsula has flourished for centuries. Here is a brief overview of Italian customs and traditions.
Population of Italy
The major ethnic group is Italians, who make up about 96 percent of the population. North African Arab, Italo-Albanian, Albanian, German, Austrian, and some other European groups fill out the remainder of the population.
The population is most dense in Northern Italy, where almost one-half the population lives in one-third of the country. Bordering countries — France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia to the north — have influenced Italian culture, as have the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Sicily and Sardinia.
Languages of Italy
The official language of the country is Italian. There are a number of dialects of the language spoken in the country, including Sardinian, Friulian, Neapolitan, Sicilian, Ligurian, Piedmontese, Venetian and Calabrian. Milanese is also spoken in Milan.
Other languages spoken by native Italians include Albanian, Bavarian, Catalan, Cimbrian, Corsican, Croatian, French, German, Greek, Slovenian and Walser.
Religion in Italy
The major religion in Italy is Roman Catholicism. This is not surprising, as Vatican City is the hub of Roman Catholicism and where the Pope resides. However, the second largest religion in Italy is Islam. Immigrants and the children of immigrants make up the majority of the Muslim population.
Other Christian denominations have a small representation, with Jehovah’s Witnesses being the largest contingent of non-Catholic Christians.
Jews have been present in Rome since before the birth of Christ, and many Jewish refugees fled to Italy from Nazi Germany. Heavy emigration since World War II has left only a small community of Jews in Italy today.
Art and architecture In Italy
Until the mid-17th century, the Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church put Italy on the map as the hub of Western culture. Famous painters, sculptors and architects thrived, especially in Rome.
Italy has given rise to a number of architectural styles, including classical Roman, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical. Italy is home to some of the most famous structures in the world, including Colosseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The concept of a basilica — which was originally used to describe an open public court building and evolved to mean a Catholic pilgrimage site — was born in Italy.
Florence, Venice and Rome are home to many museums, but art can be viewed in churches and public buildings. Most notable is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo sometime between 1508 and 1512.
Opera has its roots in Italy and many famous operas — including "Aida" and "La Traviata, " both by Giuseppe Verdi, and "Pagliacci" by Ruggero Leoncavallo — were written in Italian and are still performed in the native language. More recently, Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti made opera more accessible to the masses as part of the Three Tenors.
Italy is home to a number of world-renowned fashion houses, including Armani, Gucci, Benetton, Versace and Prada.
