Italian language in Croatia

File:Italians in Istria 2001.png

The 2011 Census in Croatia reported 17,807 ethnic Italians in the country (some 0.42% of the total population).{{Croatian Census 2011|E}} Ethnologue reported 70,000 persons whose first language is Italian or Venetian in 1998 (referring to Eugen Marinov's 1998 data). This population was composed of 30,000 ethnic Italians[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=HR Ethnologue] Ethnologue report for Croatia and 40,000 ethnic Croats and persons declared regionally ("as Istrians"). Native Italian speakers are largely concentrated along the western coast of Istria, and many Croats have some knowledge of the language (mostly in the service and tourist industries).

In Istrian contexts the word "Italian" can just as easily refer to autochthonous speakers of the Venetian language, who were present in the region before the inception of the Venetian Republic and of the Istriot language, the oldest spoken language in Istria, dating back to the Romans and now spoken in the south west of Istria in Rovigno, Valle, Dignano, Gallesano, Fasana, Valbandon, Sissano and the surroundings of Pola.

The term may sometimes refer to a descendant of colonized persons during the Benito Mussolini period (during that period immigration in Istria, Zadar/Zara and northern Adriatic islands, given to Italy after World War I, was promoted, 44,000 according to Žerjavić,{{cite web | url=http://www.vjesnik.hr/html/2003/05/28/Clanak.asp?r=kul&c=8 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20030918162334/http://www.vjesnik.hr/html/2003/05/28/Clanak.asp?r=kul&c=8 | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 18, 2003 | title=Prešućivanje s poznatom namjerom | date=May 28, 2003 | language=Croatian | work=Vjesnik}}). It can also refer to Istrian Slavs who adopted Italian culture as they moved from rural to urban areas, or from the farms into the bourgeoisie.

Image:Groznjan Perspective.jpg/Grisignana is the only municipality in Croatia with a majority Italian speaking population.]]

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.Alvise Zorzi, La Repubblica del Leone. Storia di Venezia, Milano, Bompiani, 2001, ISBN 978-88-452-9136-4., pp. 53-55 (in italian) Pula/Pola was an important centre of art and culture during the Italian Renaissance.[http://www.istrianet.org/istria/illustri/index.htm Prominent Istrians] 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.istra-istra.hr/index.php?id=860 |title=Historic overview-more details |website=Istra-Istria.hr |publisher=Istria County |access-date=19 December 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} On 15 February 1267, Poreč was formally incorporated with the Venetian state.John Mason Neale, [https://archive.org/details/notese00neal/page/76 Notes Ecclesiological & Picturesque on Dalmatia, Croatia, Istria, Styria, with a visit to Montenegro], pg. 76, J.T. Hayes - London (1861) 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. Dalmatia was first and finally sold to the Republic of Venice in 1409 but Venetian Dalmatia wasn't fully consolidated from 1420.{{cite web|url=http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/balkans/xdalmatia.html|title=Dalmatia history|access-date=10 July 2022}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.demog.berkeley.edu/~gene/migr.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=23 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609212454/http://demog.berkeley.edu/~gene/migr.html |archive-date=9 June 2010 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.istra-istria.hr/index.php?id=860|title=Region of Istria: Historic overview-more details|website=Istra-istria.hr|access-date=9 June 2016|archive-date=11 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611033243/http://www.istra-istria.hr/index.php?id=860|url-status=dead}} This led to Italic people becoming ever more confined to urban areas, while the countryside was populated by Slavs, with certain isolated exceptions.{{cite web|title=The Olive Grove Revolution|author=Jaka Bartolj|work=Transdiffusion|url=http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/intertel/features/the_olive_grove.php|quote=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.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918031325/http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/intertel/features/the_olive_grove.php|archive-date=18 September 2010}} 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."Italian islands in a Slavic sea". Arrigo Petacco, Konrad Eisenbichler, A tragedy revealed, p. 9. 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.{{cite web| url = http://xoomer.alice.it/histria/storiaecultura/testiedocumenti/articoligiornali/artadriatico.htm| title = "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| access-date = 10 May 2021| language = it| archive-date = 22 February 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210222025553/https://xoom.virgilio.it/jump.html| url-status = dead}}

File:Manin's abdication.jpg (1797): the abdication of the last Doge, Ludovico Manin]]

After the fall of Napoleon (1814), Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia were annexed to the Austrian Empire.{{cite web|url=http://www.coordinamentoadriatico.it/lottocento-austriaco/|title=L'ottocento austriaco|date=7 March 2016|access-date=11 May 2021|language=it}} Many Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians looked with sympathy towards the Risorgimento movement that fought for the unification of Italy.{{cite web|url=http://www.corsadelricordo.it/la-storia|title=Trieste, Istria, Fiume e Dalmazia: una terra contesa|access-date=2 June 2021|language=it}} However, after the Third Italian War of Independence (1866), when the Veneto and Friuli regions were ceded by the Austrians to the newly formed Kingdom Italy, Istria and Dalmatia remained part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, together with other Italian-speaking areas on the eastern Adriatic. This triggered the gradual rise of Italian irredentism among many Italians in Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia, who demanded the unification of the Julian March, Kvarner and Dalmatia with Italy. The Italians in Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia supported the Italian Risorgimento: as a consequence, the Austrians saw the Italians as enemies and favored the Slav communities of Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia,.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

During the meeting of the Council of Ministers of 12 November 1866, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria outlined a wide-ranging project aimed at the Germanization or Slavization of the areas of the empire with an Italian presence: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.)

{{blockquote|text=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.|author=|source=Franz Joseph I of Austria, Council of the Crown of 12 November 1866Die 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{{cite book |author=Jürgen Baurmann, Hartmut Gunther and Ulrich Knoop| title=Homo scribens : Perspektiven der Schriftlichkeitsforschung | year= 1993 |isbn= 3484311347|page=279| publisher=Walter de Gruyter |language=de|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3tCTXoeAysC&pg=279}}}}

File:VenetianDalmatia1797.jpg were the majority of the population, in orange the areas where Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians were the majority of the population. The boundaries of Venetian Dalmatia in 1797 are delimited with blue dots.]]

Istrian Italians made up about a third of the population in Istria in 1900.{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Istria | volume= 14 | pages = 886–887 |short= 1}} Dalmatia, especially its maritime cities, once had a substantial local ethnic Italian population (Dalmatian Italians). In Dalmatia there was a constant decline in the Italian population, in a context of repression that also took on violent connotations.{{cite book|author=Raimondo Deranez|url=http://xoomer.alice.it/histria/storiaecultura/testiedocumenti/bombardieritesti/particolari_dalmazia.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209103555/http://xoomer.alice.it/histria/storiaecultura/testiedocumenti/bombardieritesti/particolari_dalmazia.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 9, 2012|title=Particolari del martirio della Dalmazia|publisher=Stabilimento Tipografico dell'Ordine|location=Ancona|year=1919|language=it}} During this period, Austrians carried out an aggressive anti-Italian policy through a forced Slavization of Dalmatia.{{cite book|title= La campagna del 1866 nei documenti militari austriaci: operazioni terrestri|publisher= University of Padova |author= Angelo Filipuzzi|page=396|year=1966|language=it}}{{No ISBN}} According to Austrian census, the Dalmatian Italians formed 12.5% of the population in 1865.{{Cite journal|last=Peričić|first=Šime|date=2003-09-19|title=O broju Talijana/talijanaša u Dalmaciji XIX. stoljeća|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/12136|journal=Radovi Zavoda za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zadru|language=hr|issue=45|pages=342|issn=1330-0474}} In the 1910 Austro-Hungarian census, Istria had a population of 57.8% Slavic-speakers (Croat and Slovene), and 38.1% Italian speakers.{{Cite web |url=http://www.omm1910.hu/?%2Fde%2Fdatenbank |title=Spezialortsrepertorium der österreichischen Länder I-XII, Wien, 1915–1919 |access-date=10 May 2021 |archive-date=29 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529164005/http://www.omm1910.hu/?%2Fde%2Fdatenbank |url-status=dead }} For the Austrian Kingdom of Dalmatia, (i.e. Dalmatia), the 1910 numbers were 96.2% Slavic speakers and 2.8% Italian speakers.{{cite web|url=http://www.omm1910.hu/?/de/datenbank|title=Spezialortsrepertorium der österreichischen Länder I-XII, Wien, 1915–1919|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529164005/http://www.omm1910.hu/?%2Fde%2Fdatenbank|archive-date=2013-05-29}} Another contributing factor was the lack of a religious barrier, with Italians often intermarrying with and being assimilated by their more numerous Croatian neighbors. In 1909 the Italian language lost its status as the official language of Dalmatia in favor of Croatian only (previously both languages were recognized): thus Italian could no longer be used in the public and administrative sphere.{{Citation|year=1970|title=Dalmazia|encyclopedia=Dizionario enciclopedico italiano|volume=III|page=730|publisher=Treccani|language=it}} In Rijeka the Italians were the relative majority in the municipality (48.61% in 1910), and in addition to the large Croatian community (25.95% in the same year), there was also a fair Hungarian minority (13.03%). According to the official Croatian census of 2011, there are {{formatnum:2445}} Italians in Rijeka (equal to 1.9% of the total population).{{cite web|url=http://www.dzs.hr/default_e.htm|title=Croatian Bureau of Statistics|access-date=27 February 2019}}

The Italian population in Dalmatia was concentrated in the major cities. In the city of Split in 1890 there were {{formatnum:1969}} Dalmatian Italians (12.5% of the population), in Zadar {{formatnum:7423}} (64.6%), in Šibenik {{formatnum:1018}} (14.5%) and in Dubrovnik {{formatnum:331}} (4.6%).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 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.

File:Dalmatia.png in districts of Dalmatia in 1910, per the Austro-Hungarian census]]

[[File:Promised Borders of the Tready of London.png|thumb|Territories promised to Italy by the

London Pact (1915), i.e. Trentino-Alto Adige, the Julian March and Dalmatia (tan), and the Snežnik Plateau area (green). Dalmatia, after the WWI, however, was not assigned to Italy but to Yugoslavia]]

In 1915, Italy declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire,{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/italiandeclaration.htm|title=First World War.com – Primary Documents – Italian Entry into the War, 23 May 1915|website=Firstworldwar.com|access-date=9 June 2016}} leading to bloody conflict mainly on the Isonzo and Piave fronts. Britain, France and Russia had been "keen to bring neutral Italy into World War I on their side. However, Italy drove a hard bargain, demanding extensive territorial concessions once the war had been won".{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/london1915.htm|title=First World War.com – Primary Documents – Treaty of London, 26 April 1915|website=Firstworldwar.com|access-date=9 June 2016}}

In a deal to bring Italy into the war, under the London Pact, Italy would be allowed to annex not only Italian-speaking Trentino and Trieste, but also German-speaking South Tyrol, Istria (which included large non-Italian communities), and the northern part of Dalmatia including the areas of Zadar (Zara) and Šibenik (Sebenico). Mainly Italian Fiume (present-day Rijeka) was excluded.

In November 1918, after the surrender of Austria-Hungary, Italy occupied militarily Trentino Alto-Adige, the Julian March, Istria, the Kvarner Gulf and Dalmatia, all Austro-Hungarian territories. On the Dalmatian coast, Italy established the Governorate of Dalmatia, which had the provisional aim of ferrying the territory towards full integration into the Kingdom of Italy, progressively importing national legislation in place of the previous one. The administrative capital was Zara. The Governorate of Dalmatia was evacuated following the Italo-Yugoslav agreements which resulted in the Treaty of Rapallo (1920). After the war, the Treaty of Rapallo between the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and the Kingdom of Italy (12 November 1920), Italy annexed Zadar in Dalmatia and some minor islands, almost all of Istria along with Trieste, excluding the island of Krk, and part of Kastav commune, which mostly went to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. By the Treaty of Rome (27 January 1924), the Free State of Fiume (Rijeka) was divided between Italy and Yugoslavia.{{cite web|url=https://www.gazzettatoscana.it/web/lo-stato-libero-di-fiumeun-convegno-ne-rievoca-la-vicenda/|title=Lo Stato libero di Fiume:un convegno ne rievoca la vicenda|date=15 November 2020|access-date=10 May 2021|language=it}} Furthermore, after World War I and the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 10,000 Italians in the Governatorato took Yugoslav citizenship so they could remain and be accepted by the new Yugoslavian state.{{cite book|title=Fascism's European Empire: Italian Occupation During the Second World War|author=Rodogno, D.|date=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521845151|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZcUNELPsQQsC|pages=4–72|accessdate=November 30, 2014}}

In 1939 Italy conducted a covert census of the non-Italian population (Croats and Slovenes) in Istria, Kvarner, Zadar, Trieste and Gorizia. After the census, Italian authorities publicly stated that the Italian speaking population in those areas had increased. However, data proved that the share of Croatian speakers did not diminish in that period.[http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=2ad35792-33e8-4a39-8d77-10d2fb863f3d&articleid=ad2daa31-80b7-42a3-bfde-21cf8e3be503#aad2daa31-80b7-42a3-bfde-21cf8e3be503 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

File:Croatia-41-45.gif.

{{legend|#339966|Areas annexed by Italy: the area constituting the province of Ljubljana, the area merged with the province of Fiume and the areas making up the Governorate of Dalmatia}}

{{legend|#ff0000|Independent State of Croatia}}

{{legend|#0000ff|Area occupied by Nazi Germany}}

{{legend|#996666|Areas occupied by Kingdom of Hungary}}]]

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia attempted a policy of forced Croatisation against the Italian minority in Dalmatia."Italiani di Dalmazia: 1919-1924" di Luciano Monzali

The majority of the Italian Dalmatian minority decided to transfer in the Kingdom of Italy.{{Cite web|url=https://secolo-trentino.com/2020/02/11/primo-esodo-dalmati-1870-1880-1920/|title=Il primo esodo dei Dalmati: 1870, 1880 e 1920 - Secolo Trentino|access-date=19 February 2021|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225193222/https://secolo-trentino.com/2020/02/11/primo-esodo-dalmati-1870-1880-1920/|url-status=dead}} Following the Wehrmacht invasion of Yugoslavia (6 April 1941) during World War II, the Italian zone of occupation was further expanded.{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ETO/East/Balkans/maps/AG/AG-Balkans-3.jpg|title=Map (JPG format)|website=Ibiblio.org|access-date=9 June 2016}} Italy annexed large areas of Croatia (including most of coastal Dalmatia) and Slovenia (including its capital Ljubljana).{{cite web|url=https://www.regionestoriafvg.eu/tematiche/tema/249/Annessioni-italiane|title=Annessioni italiane (1941)|access-date=10 May 2021|language=it}} During World War II the Kingdom of Italy annexed most of Dalmatia to the second Governatorato di Dalmazia. In 1942, 4020 Italians lived in these newly annexed areas: 2,220 in Spalato (Split), 300 in Sebenico (Šibenik), 500 in Cattaro (Kotor) and 1000 in Veglia (Krk).

For various reasons—mainly related to nationalism and armed conflict—the numbers of Italian speakers in Croatia declined during the 20th century, especially after the World War II in a period known as the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus, when about 90% Italian-speaking Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians left Yugoslav dominated areas in the eastern Adriatic, corresponding to 230,000-350,000 people,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_VCBtYq1H4C&pg=PA11|title=Istria|page=11|author1=Thammy Evans |author2=Rudolf Abraham |year=2013|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |isbn=9781841624457|name-list-style=amp }}{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html|title=Election Opens Old Wounds in Trieste|author=James M. Markham|date=6 June 1987|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=9 June 2016}} between 1943 and the late 1950s. The Italians who remained in Yugoslavia, gathered in the Italian Union, were recognized as a national minority, with their own flag. The 2001 census in Croatia reported 19,636 ethnic Italians in the country.{{cite web|url=http://www.dzs.hr/hrv/censuses/census2001/Popis/H01_02_02/H01_02_02.html|title=SAS Output|publisher=dzs.hr|accessdate=November 30, 2014}}

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%).{{Cite web|url = http://www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/census2011/results/htm/e01_01_04/E01_01_04_zup17.html|title = Central Bureau of Statistics|access-date=27 August 2018}} According to the official Croatian census of 2021, there are 63 Dalmatian Italians in Zadar (equal to 0.09% of the total population).{{Cite web|url = http://www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/census2011/results/htm/e01_01_04/E01_01_04_zup13.html|title = Central Bureau of Statistics|access-date=25 January 2023}}

File:Marija na Krasu (HR) bilingual.jpg

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.

{{Blockquote|text=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.[https://groups.google.com/group/free.it.discussioni.istria.fiume.dalmazia/browse_thread/thread/b4942420981e6c9b?hl=it Government use of the Italian language in Rijeka]|author=|title=|source=}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.dzs.hr/hrv/censuses/census2001/Popis/H01_02_02/H01_02_02_zup18.html|title=SAS Output|publisher=dzs.hr|accessdate=November 30, 2014}} In the village there, it is an important section of the "Comunità degli Italiani" in Croatia.{{Cite web|url=http://www.unione-italiana.hr|title=Comunità Nazionale Italiana, Unione Italiana|website=www.unione-italiana.hr|access-date=July 20, 2018}} Italian is co-official with Croatian in nineteen municipalities in the Croatian portion of Istria: Buje ({{langx|it|Buie}}), Novigrad ({{langx|it|Cittanova}}), Izola ({{langx|it|Isola d'Istria}}), Vodnjan ({{langx|it|Dignano}}), Poreč ({{langx|it|Parenzo}}, Pula ({{langx|it|Pola}}, Rovinj ({{langx|it|Rovigno}}, Umag ({{langx|it|Umago}}, Bale ({{langx|it|Valle d'Istria}}, Brtonigla ({{langx|it|Verteneglio}}, Fažana ({{langx|it|Fasana}}, Grožnjan ({{langx|it|Grisignana}}), Kaštelir-Labinci ({{langx|it|Castellier-Santa Domenica}}), Ližnjan ({{langx|it|Lisignano}}), Motovun ({{langx|it|Montona}}), Oprtalj ({{langx|it|Portole}}), Višnjan ({{langx|it|Visignano}}), Vižinada ({{langx|it|Visinada}}) and Vrsar ({{langx|it|Orsera}}).{{cite web|url= https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/promoitals/article/view/828/1069|title=LA LINGUA ITALIANA E LE SCUOLE ITALIANE NEL TERRITORIO ISTRIANO|page=161|access-date=2 January 2023|language=it}} The daily newspaper La Voce del Popolo, the main newspaper for Italian Croatians, is published in Rijeka/Fiume.

File:ItalSchoolRijeka.jpg]]

Beside Croat language schools, in Istria there are also kindergartens in Buje/Buie, Brtonigla/Verteneglio, Novigrad/Cittanova, Umag/Umago, Poreč/Parenzo, Vrsar/Orsera, Rovinj/Rovigno, Bale/Valle, Vodnjan/Dignano, Pula/Pola and Labin/Albona, as well as primary schools in Buje/Buie, Brtonigla/Verteneglio, Novigrad/Cittanova, Umag/Umago, Poreč/Parenzo, Vodnjan/Dignano, Rovinj/Rovigno, Bale/Valle and Pula/Pola, as well as lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools in Buje/Buie, Rovinj/Rovigno and Pula/Pola, all with Italian as the language of instruction.

The city of Rijeka/Fiume in the Kvarner/Carnaro region has Italian kindergartens and elementary schools, and there is an Italian Secondary School in Rijeka.{{Cite web|url=http://www.byronlang.net/En-site/index-en.html|title=Byron: the first language school in Istria|website=www.byronlang.net|language=en|access-date=July 20, 2018}} The town of Mali Lošinj/Lussinpiccolo in the Kvarner/Carnaro region has an Italian kindergarten.

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,[https://groups.google.com/group/free.it.discussioni.istria.fiume.dalmazia/msg/d51366dd1c197047 Reazioni scandalizzate per il rifiuto governativo croato ad autorizzare un asilo italiano a Zara][http://www.anvgd.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4451&Itemid=111 Zara: ok all'apertura dell'asilo italiano] 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.[http://ilpiccolo.gelocal.it/trieste/cronaca/2013/10/13/news/aperto-pinocchio-primo-asilo-italiano-nella-citta-di-zara-1.7911897 Aperto “Pinocchio”, primo asilo italiano nella città di Zara] 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.editfiume.info/lavoce/politica/23240-l-italiano-con-modello-c-a-breve-in-una-scuola-a-zara|title=L'italiano con modello C a breve in una scuola di Zara|access-date=9 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410073213/http://www.editfiume.info/lavoce/politica/23240-l-italiano-con-modello-c-a-breve-in-una-scuola-a-zara|archive-date=10 April 2018|url-status=dead}}

• Minority languages of Croatia
• Italian language in Slovenia
• Dalmatian Italians
• Istrian Italians
• Istrian–Dalmatian exodus

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.unione-italiana.hr Website of the Italian Community of Croatia and Slovenia (in Italian)]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070606205815/http://www.istra-istria.hr/ Region of Istria Official Website]
• [http://www.piemonte-istria.com Official website of Italians from Grisignana/Piemonte d'Istria]

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Croatia

Category:Languages of Croatia

Category:Italians of Croatia

Category:Language policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia