African emigrants to Italy include Italian citizens and residents originally from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Immigrants from Africa officially residing in Italy in 2015 numbered about 1,000,000 residents. Afro-Italians (''Afroitaliani'') are born and are raised in Italy, citizen of African descent or of mixed African and Italian roots. In 2014 over 170,000 migrants arrived which represented the biggest influx of people into one country in

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

history. A large percentage of them arrive via Africa. African migrants specifically use Libyan coasts to travel across the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

in large numbers, hoping to land on Italian shores. Although departing from

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, most are from

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

. The route is dangerous and often unsuccessful; in 2015, 2,000 people died crossing the Mediterranean and the Libyan coast guard intercepted many of the boats transporting the migrants from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. As this route has gained more and more attention throughout the years, smugglers have started to use alternate routes such as

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, the Balkan route from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, and a very risky route from mountain passes in Albania. In 2016, Italy's finance minister pushed for financial compensation from the European Union for his country's financial losses because of mass migration. As of 2016, the European Union had put forth 1.8 billion euros for the entirety of Africa's refugee efforts in Europe.

Countries of origin

North Africa

The largest group of immigrants from Africa are Arabs/Berbers from

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, numbering 641,085 official residents in 2016. By country of origin, most of these recent arrivals are from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

(437,485),

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

(95,645),

(109,871) and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

(71,765). Italy also has a number of immigrants from

(1,819), territories where Italian expatriates had a presence during the colonial period.

Sub-Saharan Africans

Compared to Maghrebis/Berbers from North Africa, the percentage of Sub-Saharan Africans (most of them Christians) as a proportion of immigrants to Italy from Africa is 35.7% (370,068 official residents in 2015). Most come from

(98,176),

(77,264) and

(48,637). There are also smaller numbers from

(9,579), from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

(8,000) and from

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

(7,903).

Notable immigrants to Italy

The following is a list of notable people of African birth who later immigrated to Italy and resided there, either wholly or at least part time.

Sports

Politicians

Magdi Allam Magdi Cristiano Allam ( ar, مجدي علام Majdī ʿAllām; born 22 April 1952), is an Egyptian-Italian journalist and politician, noted for his criticism of Islam and his articles on the relations between Western culture and the Islamic wor ...

- Former member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

(born in Egypt) *

Toni Iwobi Tony Chike Iwobi (born 26 April 1955),CV
Commune.spirano. Retrieved 6 March 2018 ...

- Former member of the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic ( it, Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate ( it, Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral sy ...

(born in Nigeria) *

Cécile Kyenge Cécile Kashetu Kyenge (; born Kashetu Kyenge, 28 August 1964) is an Italian politician and ophthalmologist. She was the Minister for Integration in the 2013–14 Letta Cabinet. From 2014 until 2019, she was a Member of the European Parliament (M ...

- Former Minister of Integration and former member of the

(born in

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

) *

Souad Sbai Souad Sbai (; born 1961) is a Moroccan-born Italian politician and writer. She was born in Settat, Morocco, on 5 February 1961. She has lived in Italy since about 1979. She was a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013, and ...

- Former member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

(born in Morocco) * Jean-Léonard Touadi - Former member of the

(born in the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

) * Aboubakar Soumahoro - Member of the

(born in Ivory Coast) *

Dacia Valent Dacia Soraya Valent (12 February 1963 – 22 January 2015) was a Somali-born Italian politician and former Member of the European Parliament. Biography Dacia Valent was born in Mogadishu to an Italian father and a Somali mother. She traveled ex ...

- Former member of the European Parliament (born in Somalia)

Music

Saba Anglana Saba Anglana (born November 17, 1970) is a Somali-Italian actress and international singer. Biography Saba was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, during the country's socialist period. Her mother was the daughter of an exiled Somali li ...

- singer and actress born in

Bello FiGo Paul Yeboah (born 4 August 1992), known online by his nicknames Bello FiGo and Bello FiGo Gu and in the past also as Bello FiGo Gucci and Gucci Boy, is a Ghanaian-Italian YouTuber and singer, known in Italy for his numerous songs in which he ...

- singer born in Ghana *

Franco Califano Franco Califano (14 September 1938 – 30 March 2013) was an Italian lyricist, composer, singer-songwriter, author and actor. During his career he sold about 20 million records. Life and career Born in an airplane above Tripoli, Libya, Califan ...

- singer born in Libya * Nour Eddine - singer and filmmaker born in Morocco * Laïoung, rapper and music producer, (born 1992, in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

to) Italian father and British mother of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

an origin *

Bruno Lauzi Bruno Lauzi (; 8 August 1937 – 24 October 2006) was an Italian singer-songwriter, poet and writer. Biography Bruno Lauzi was born in Asmara, then part of the Italian Eastern Africa, to a Catholic father, Francesco Lauzi and a Jewish moth ...

- singer born in

* :it:Ma Rue or ''Maruego'' - rapper, (born 1992 in

), grew up in Milan, naturalized Italian

Communications and other media

Khaby Lame Khabane "Khaby" Lame (; born 9 March 2000) is a Senegalese-born Italian social media personality. He is known for his TikTok videos in which he silently mocks overly complicated life hack videos. As of January , Lame is the most-followed user ...

- prominent

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

er of

ese background

Acting, television and filmmaking

Remo Girone Remo Girone (born 1948 in Asmara, Eritrea) is an Italian film and stage actor. He is best known for the role of Tano Cariddi in the epic TV mini-series '' La piovra'' (''The Octopus''). He appeared as an Italian-American mob boss in ''Live by Ni ...

- actor born in

Sandra Milo Sandra Milo (born Salvatrice Elena Greco; 11 March 1933 in Tunis) is an Italian actress, television personality, author, and musician. She won a Silver Ribbon best supporting actress award for each of her roles in Federico Fellini's ''8½'' and ...

- actress born in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

- actress born in Tunisia *

Zeudi Araya Zeudi Araya (born 10 February 1951) is an Eritrean-Italian former actress, singer, model and film producer. Career On a journey to Italy in 1972, Araya recorded a commercial for coffee, where she was introduced to director Luigi Scattini, who ...

n-Italian actress *

Edwige Fenech Edwige Fenech (, ; born 24 December 1948) is an Algerian-born Maltese-Sicilian actress and film producer. She is mostly known as the star of a series of ''commedia sexy all'italiana'' and ''giallo'' films released in the 1970s, which turned her ...

- actress born in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

of Maltese father and Italian mother *

Youma Diakite Youma Diakite (born 1 May 1971), also known simply as Youma, is a Malian model, actress, television personality and showgirl, mainly active in Italy. She is internationally known also as "the other Naomi" because she is very similar to Naomi Cam ...

- model born in

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

Community activists

Josephine Bakhita Josephine Margaret Bakhita, (ca. 1869 – 8 February 1947), was a Sudanese-Italian Canossian religious sister who lived in Italy for 45 years, after having been a slave in Sudan. In 2000, she was declared a saint, the first Black woman to r ...

(c. 1869–1947), Catholic

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pr ...

, born in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

; declared a saint by the Catholic Church in 2000 *

Michele Amatore Captain Michele Amatore or ''Sulayman al-Nubi'' (1826 - 7 July 1883) was a Sudanese slave who became a captain in the Bersaglieri of the Italian army. He was decorated for unselfish acts during a cholera outbreak in Sicily. Biography The early l ...

(1826 - 1883), born in Sudan, enslaved in childhood, later freed and established in Italy; soldier and sharpshooter in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

ese army, attaining rank of captain. Decorated for distinguished service in Sicily during a

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic. *

Adel Smith Adel Smith (March 9, 1960 – August 22, 2014), born Emilio Smith in Alexandria, Egypt, was an Italian Muslim known for his radical stances and often accused of fundamentalism. He was the son of a Naples-born Italian architect of Scottish descent ...

(1960–2014), controversial Italian anti-Christian activist. Born Emilio Smith in

Alexandria, Egypt Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

to an Italian father and an Egyptian mother; raised in Italy as a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, he later converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

References

{{Immigration to Italy Ethnic groups in Italy Italian people of African descent

Countries of origin

North Africa

Sub-Saharan Africans

Notable immigrants to Italy

Sports

Politicians

Music

Communications and other media

Acting, television and filmmaking

Community activists

See also

References