Italian language in Croatia
The Italian language is an official minority language in Croatia, with many schools and public announcements published in both languages. Croatia's proximity and cultural connections to Italy have led to a relatively large presence of Italians in Croatia.
Italians were recognized as a state minority in the Croatian Constitution in two sections: Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians. Their numbers drastically decreased following the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus (1943–1960). Even though today only 0.43% of the total population is Italian by citizenship, many more are ethnically Italian and a large percentage of Croatians speak Italian, in addition to Croatian.
As of 2009, the Italian language is officially used in twenty cities and municipalities and ten other settlements in Croatia, according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.[1] It is an officially recognized minority language in Istria County, where it is spoken by 6.83% of the population on the aggregate and closer to 50% of the population in certain subdivisions.[2] An estimated 14% of Croats speak Italian as a second language, which is one of the highest percentages in the European Union.[3]
Italian-speaking population
The 2011 Census in Croatia reported 17,807
In Istrian contexts the word "Italian" can just as easily refer to
.The term may sometimes refer to a descendant of colonized persons during the
History
Via conquests, the Republic of Venice, from the 9th century until 1797, when it was conquered by Napoleon, extended its dominion to coastal parts of Istria and Dalmatia.[7] Pula/Pola was an important centre of art and culture during the Italian Renaissance.[8] The coastal areas and cities of Istria came under Venetian Influence in the 9th century. In 1145, the cities of Pula, Koper and Izola rose against the Republic of Venice but were defeated, and were since further controlled by Venice.[9] On 15 February 1267, Poreč was formally incorporated with the Venetian state.[10] Other coastal towns followed shortly thereafter. The Republic of Venice gradually dominated the whole coastal area of western Istria and the area to Plomin on the eastern part of the peninsula.[9] Dalmatia was first and finally sold to the Republic of Venice in 1409 but Venetian Dalmatia wasn't fully consolidated from 1420.[11]
From the Middle Ages onwards numbers of Slavic people near and on the Adriatic coast were ever increasing, due to their expanding population and due to pressure from the Ottomans pushing them from the south and east.[12][13] This led to Italic people becoming ever more confined to urban areas, while the countryside was populated by Slavs, with certain isolated exceptions.[14] In particular, the population was divided into urban-coastal communities (mainly Romance speakers) and rural communities (mainly Slavic speakers), with small minorities of Morlachs and Istro-Romanians.[15] From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, Italian and Slavic communities in Istria and Dalmatia had lived peacefully side by side because they did not know the national identification, given that they generically defined themselves as "Istrians" and "Dalmatians", of "Romance" or "Slavic" culture.[16]
After the fall of
During the meeting of the Council of Ministers of 12 November 1866, Emperor
His Majesty expressed the precise order that action be taken decisively against the influence of the Italian elements still present in some regions of the Crown and, appropriately occupying the posts of public, judicial, masters employees as well as with the influence of the press, work in South Tyrol, Dalmatia and Littoral for the Germanization and Slavization of these territories according to the circumstances, with energy and without any regard. His Majesty calls the central offices to the strong duty to proceed in this way to what has been established.
The Italian population in Dalmatia was concentrated in the major cities. In the city of Split in 1890 there were 1,969 Dalmatian Italians (12.5% of the population), in Zadar 7,423 (64.6%), in Šibenik 1,018 (14.5%) and in Dubrovnik 331 (4.6%).[34] In other Dalmatian localities, according to Austrian censuses, Dalmatian Italians experienced a sudden decrease: in the twenty years 1890-1910, in Rab they went from 225 to 151, in Vis from 352 to 92, in Pag from 787 to 23, completely disappearing in almost all the inland locations.
After
Furthermore, after World War I and the fall of the
In 1939 Italy conducted a covert census of the non-Italian population (
For various reasons—mainly related to
In 2001 about 500 Dalmatian Italians were counted in Dalmatia. In particular, according to the official Croatian census of 2011, there are 83 Dalmatian Italians in Split (equal to 0.05% of the total population), 16 in Šibenik (0.03%) and 27 in Dubrovnik (0.06%).[38] According to the official Croatian census of 2021, there are 63 Dalmatian Italians in Zadar (equal to 0.09% of the total population).[39]
Geographic distribution and population
In many municipalities in the Istrian region (Croatia) there are bilingual statutes, and the Italian language is considered to be a co-official language. The proposal to raise Italian to a co-official language, as in the Istrian Region, has been under discussion for years.
By recognizing and respecting its cultural and historical legacy, the City of Rijeka ensures the use of its language and writing to the Italian indigenous national minority in public affairs relating to the sphere of self-government of the City of Rijeka. The City of Fiume, within the scope of its possibilities, ensures and supports the educational and cultural activity of the members of the indigenous Italian minority and its institutions.[40]
In various municipalities, census data shows that significant numbers of Italians still live in Istria, such as 51% of the population of Grožnjan/Grisignana, 37% at Brtonigla/Verteneglio, and nearly 30% in Buje/Buie.[41] In the village there, it is an important section of the "Comunità degli Italiani" in Croatia.[42] Italian is co-official with Croatian in nineteen municipalities in the Croatian portion of Istria: Buje (Italian: Buie), Novigrad (Italian: Cittanova), Izola (Italian: Isola d'Istria), Vodnjan (Italian: Dignano), Poreč (Italian: Parenzo, Pula (Italian: Pola, Rovinj (Italian: Rovigno, Umag (Italian: Umago, Bale (Italian: Valle d'Istria, Brtonigla (Italian: Verteneglio, Fažana (Italian: Fasana, Grožnjan (Italian: Grisignana), Kaštelir-Labinci (Italian: Castellier-Santa Domenica), Ližnjan (Italian: Lisignano), Motovun (Italian: Montona), Oprtalj (Italian: Portole), Višnjan (Italian: Visignano), Vižinada (Italian: Visinada) and Vrsar (Italian: Orsera).[43] The daily newspaper La Voce del Popolo, the main newspaper for Italian Croatians, is published in Rijeka/Fiume.
Education and Italian language
Beside Croat language schools, in
The city of
In Zadar, in Dalmatia/Dalmazia region, the local Community of Italians has requested the creation of an Italian kindergarten since 2009. After considerable government opposition,[45][46] with the imposition of a national filter that imposed the obligation to possess Italian citizenship for registration, in the end in 2013 it was opened hosting the first 25 children.[47] This kindergarten is the first Italian educational institution opened in Dalmatia after the closure of the last Italian school, which operated there until 1953.
Since 2017, a Croatian primary school has been offering the study of the Italian language as a foreign language. Italian courses have also been activated in a secondary school and at the faculty of literature and philosophy.[48]
See also
- Minority languages of Croatia
- Italian language in Slovenia
- Dalmatian Italians
- Istrian Italians
- Istrian–Dalmatian exodus
References
- Ministry of Justice (Croatia). 2011-04-12. Archived from the originalon December 27, 2013. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
- ^ "Population by Mother Tongue, by Towns/Municipalities, 2011 Census". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
- ^ Directorate General for Education and Culture; Directorate General Press and Communication (2006). Europeans and their Languages (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
- ^ "Population by Ethnicity, by Towns/Municipalities, 2011 Census". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
- ^ Ethnologue Ethnologue report for Croatia
- ^ "Prešućivanje s poznatom namjerom". Vjesnik (in Croatian). May 28, 2003. Archived from the original on September 18, 2003.
- ^ Alvise Zorzi, La Repubblica del Leone. Storia di Venezia, Milano, Bompiani, 2001, ISBN 978-88-452-9136-4., pp. 53-55 (in italian)
- ^ Prominent Istrians
- ^ a b "Historic overview-more details". Istra-Istria.hr. Istria County. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- ^ John Mason Neale, Notes Ecclesiological & Picturesque on Dalmatia, Croatia, Istria, Styria, with a visit to Montenegro, pg. 76, J.T. Hayes - London (1861)
- ^ "Dalmatia history". Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 June 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Region of Istria: Historic overview-more details". Istra-istria.hr. Archived from the original on 11 June 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ Jaka Bartolj. "The Olive Grove Revolution". Transdiffusion. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010.
While most of the population in the towns, especially those on or near the coast, was Italian, Istria's interior was overwhelmingly Slavic – mostly Croatian, but with a sizeable Slovenian area as well.
- ^ "Italian islands in a Slavic sea". Arrigo Petacco, Konrad Eisenbichler, A tragedy revealed, p. 9.
- ^ ""L'Adriatico orientale e la sterile ricerca delle nazionalità delle persone" di Kristijan Knez; La Voce del Popolo (quotidiano di Fiume) del 2/10/2002" (in Italian). Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ "L'ottocento austriaco" (in Italian). 7 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "Trieste, Istria, Fiume e Dalmazia: una terra contesa" (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ a b Die Protokolle des Österreichischen Ministerrates 1848/1867. V Abteilung: Die Ministerien Rainer und Mensdorff. VI Abteilung: Das Ministerium Belcredi, Wien, Österreichischer Bundesverlag für Unterricht, Wissenschaft und Kunst 1971
- ^ Die Protokolle des Österreichischen Ministerrates 1848/1867. V Abteilung: Die Ministerien Rainer und Mensdorff. VI Abteilung: Das Ministerium Belcredi, Wien, Österreichischer Bundesverlag für Unterricht, Wissenschaft und Kunst 1971, vol. 2, p. 297. Citazione completa della fonte e traduzione in Luciano Monzali, Italiani di Dalmazia. Dal Risorgimento alla Grande Guerra, Le Lettere, Firenze 2004, p. 69.)
- ISBN 3484311347.
- ^ "Istrian Spring". Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 886–887. .
- ^ Bartoli, Matteo (1919). Le parlate italiane della Venezia Giulia e della Dalmazia (in Italian). Tipografia italo-orientale. p. 16.[ISBN unspecified]
- ISBN 9780416189407.
- ^ "Dalmazia", Dizionario enciclopedico italiano (in Italian), vol. III, Treccani, 1970, p. 729
- ^ Raimondo Deranez (1919). Particolari del martirio della Dalmazia (in Italian). Ancona: Stabilimento Tipografico dell'Ordine.
- University of Padova. p. 396.[ISBN unspecified]
- ISSN 1330-0474.
- ^ "Spezialortsrepertorium der österreichischen Länder I-XII, Wien, 1915–1919". Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ "Spezialortsrepertorium der österreichischen Länder I-XII, Wien, 1915–1919". Archived from the original on 2013-05-29.
- ^ "Dalmazia", Dizionario enciclopedico italiano (in Italian), vol. III, Treccani, 1970, p. 730
- ^ "Croatian Bureau of Statistics". Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ Guerrino Perselli, I censimenti della popolazione dell'Istria, con Fiume e Trieste e di alcune città della Dalmazia tra il 1850 e il 1936, Centro di Ricerche Storiche - Rovigno, Unione Italiana - Fiume, Università Popolare di Trieste, Trieste-Rovigno, 1993
- ISBN 9780521845151. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ Časopis za suvremenu povijest br. 3/2002. M. Manin: O povjerljivom popisivanju istarskih Hrvata provedenom 1939. godine (na temelju popisnoga materijala iz 1936. godine)
(Journal of Contemporary History: Secret Census of Istrian Croats held in 1939 based on 1936 Census Data), summary in English - ^ "SAS Output". dzs.hr. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Central Bureau of Statistics". Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ^ "Central Bureau of Statistics". Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ Government use of the Italian language in Rijeka
- ^ "SAS Output". dzs.hr. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Comunità Nazionale Italiana, Unione Italiana". www.unione-italiana.hr. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ^ "LA LINGUA ITALIANA E LE SCUOLE ITALIANE NEL TERRITORIO ISTRIANO" (in Italian). p. 161. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "Byron: the first language school in Istria". www.byronlang.net. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ^ Reazioni scandalizzate per il rifiuto governativo croato ad autorizzare un asilo italiano a Zara
- ^ Zara: ok all'apertura dell'asilo italiano
- ^ Aperto “Pinocchio”, primo asilo italiano nella città di Zara
- ^ "L'italiano con modello C a breve in una scuola di Zara". Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.