The Italians in Romania are people of Italian descent who reside, or have moved to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Characteristics

They are an ethnic minority in

, numbering 3,203 people according to the 2011 census. Italians are fairly dispersed throughout the country, even though there is a higher number of them in some parts of the country (particularly Suceava County,

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county the ...

, Galați County,

Iași County Iași County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with the administrative seat at Iași. It is the most populous county in Romania, after the Municipality of Bucharest (which has the same administrative level as that of a c ...

Constanța County Constanța () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 684,082 and the population density was 96/km2. The degr ...

Brașov County Brașov County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania. Its capital city is Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" (''țări'') Burzenland and Făgăraș. Name In Hungarian, it is kno ...

, Prahova County,

Vâlcea County Vâlcea County (also spelt ''Vîlcea''; ) is a county (județ) of Romania. Located in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (which are separated by the Olt River), it is also part of the wider Wallachia region. Its capital city is Râ ...

and

Timiș County Timiș () is a county ('' județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Romania in terms of land area. T ...

), and in the

Municipality of Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. As an officially recognised ethnic minority, Italians have one seat reserved in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies. This was held by the

Italian Community of Romania The Italian Community of Romania ( ro, Comunitatea Italiana din Romania, CIR) was an ethnic minority political party in Romania representing the Italian community. History The CIR contested the 1992 general elections, and despite receiving ...

between 1992 and 2004, and the

Association of Italians of Romania The Association of Italians of Romania – RO.AS.IT. ( ro, Asociația Italienilor din România – RO.AS.IT.; it, Associazione degli Italiani di Romania – RO.AS.IT.) is an ethnic minority political party in Romania representing the Italian ...

since 2004. In recent years, the number of foreign-born Italians living in Romania has increased substantially. As of November 2007, there are some 12,000 foreign-born Italians in and around

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

. Mirel Bran
"La Roumanie, ses Italiens, ses Chinois..."
''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', November 28, 2007 About 3,000 square kilometres of land (2% of the agricultural land of Romania) have been bought by Italians. Many are married to Romanians that they met in Italy, which now has the largest Romanian population in the world outside of Romania and Moldova. According to Eurostat, in 2015 there were 38,580 persons born in Italy living in Romania.

History

The territory of today's Romania has been part of the Italians' (especially Genoese and Venetians) trade routes on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

since at least the 13th century. They founded several ports on the Danube, including '' Vicina'' (near

Isaccea Isaccea (; tr, İshakçı) is a small town in Tulcea County, in Northern Dobruja, Romania, on the right bank of the Danube, 35 km north-west of Tulcea. According to the 2011 census, it has a population of 4,955. The town has been inhabite ...

Sfântu Gheorghe Sfântu Gheorghe (; hu, Sepsiszentgyörgy or ''Szentgyörgy'' ; yi, סנט דזשארדזש; English lit.: ''Saint George'') is the capital city of Covasna County, Romania. Located in the central part of the country and in the historical regio ...

, ''San Giorgio'' ( Giurgiu) and

Calafat Calafat () is a city in Dolj County, southern Romania, in the region of Oltenia. It lies on the river Danube, opposite the Bulgarian city of Vidin, to which it is linked by the Calafat-Vidin Bridge, opened in 2013. After the destruction of the br ...

. During the 19th and 20th centuries, many Italians from Western Austria-Hungary settled in Transylvania. During the interwar period, some Italians settled in

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

. After 1880,

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

from

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giuli ...

and

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

settled in Greci, Cataloi and

Măcin Măcin () is a town in Tulcea County, in the Northern Dobruja region of Romania. Location Măcin is located in the north-western part of the Northern Dobruja region, in Tulcea County. The city is located at the intersection of the DN22 ( E87) ...

in Northern Dobruja. Most of them worked in the granite quarries in the

Măcin Mountains The Măcin Mountains () is a mountain range in Tulcea County, Romania. Part of the Northern Dobruja Massif, they are located between Danube River to the north and west, Taița River and ''Culmea Niculițelului'' to the east and Casimcea Platea ...

, some became farmers and others worked in road building.

Genoese lighthouse of Constanța

Soaring , a lighthouse called ''Farul Genovez'' - the Genoese Lighthouse - was built in 1860 by the "Danubius and Black Sea Company" to honor Genoese merchants who established a flourishing sea trade community in Constanța in the 13th century.

Notable Italians of Romania

Gaspar Graziani Gaspar (or Gaşpar, Gasparo) Graziani (also credited as Grazziani, Gratiani and Graţiani; ''Kasper Gratiani'' in Polish; ca. 1575/1580–1620) was Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia between February 4OS/February 14 NS 1619 and September 19 OS/Sept ...

, ruler of Moldavia *

Mansi Barberis Mansi (Clemensa) Barberis (March 12, 1899–October 11, 1986) was a Romanian violinist, music educator, conductor, and composer. Life Clemensa Barberis was born in Iași, the daughter of Giuseppe Barberis and Marguerita Cazaban. She began to imp ...

(1899–1986), music composer * Livio Bellegante * Florin Bogardo * (1921–2007), movie director * *

Mircea Grosaru Mircea Grosaru (June 30, 1952 – February 3, 2014) was a Romanian politician, MP (2000–2014), and lawyer. Born in Buhuși, he was a 1974 graduate in mathematics and physics from the Pedagogical Institute of Bacău He earned a law degree from ...

(1952–2014), politician, lawyer, professor * * Horia Moculescu * Alexandru Pesamosca *

Andi Gabriel Grosaru Andi or ANDI may refer to: People and fictional characters * Andy (given name), including people and fictional characters with the name Andi * Andi people, an ethnic group of Dagestan, Russia Places * Andi, Guizhou, a town in Jinsha County, Gui ...

, Lawyer, Deputy * Simone Tempestini, Romanian rally champion

References

External links

Associazione degli Italiani della Romania (in Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Italians Of Romania