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Italy is a Christian country, some 88 per cent of the population belonging to the Roman Catholic church, although only around a third of these regard themselves as ‘active’ in religious terms.
Other religious groups in Italy include over 1m Muslims, 700,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians, 550,000 evangelical Protestants, 235,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses and 45,000 Jews.
Religion
Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)
Ethnic groups
Population
As of now the total population in Italy is 59 799 949 people with the most populated province in Italy being Rome with a population of 4.366 million people. (Fun fact: Italy has a greater population that Canada which is 35 872 748 people.) Italy population is equivalent to 0.81% of the total world population. Italy ranks number 23 in the list of countries by population. The population density in Italy is 203 per Km2.
The total population in Italy was last recorded at 59 million people in 2016 from 50.0 million in 1960, changing 22 percent during the last 50 years. Although in the last 5 years the population hasn’t been developing quite well as the birth rate of Italy has decreased to a historic low of 509 000 babies, the worst since 1861. The number of babies born to both natives and foreigners living in Italy dropped as immigration, which used to support the overall birth rate, tumbled to its lowest level for five years.
There are around 58 million Italian speakers in Italy plus 1.5 million in Croatia, France and Slovenia, some 500,000 in Switzerland, and large Italian immigrant groups in Argentina, Australia, Brazil and the USA. The first languages of some 2.5 million or 5 per cent of the population are languages such as French, German and Slovene.
Languages
Education in Italy is compulsory from 6 to 16 years of age,[2] and is divided into five stages: kindergarten (scuola dell'infanzia), primary school (scuola primaria or scuola elementare), lower secondary school (scuola secondaria di primo grado or scuola media),upper secondary school (scuola secondaria di secondo grado,scuola superiore or liceo) and university (università ).[3] Italy has both public and private education systems. In rural (and southern) areas children often were not sent to school (the rate of children enrolled in primary education would reach 90% only after 70 years). The next important law concerning the Italian education system was the Legge Gentile. This act was issued in 1923, thus when Benito Mussolini and his National Fascist Party were in power.
Education
Italy has been the home of various peoples: Lombards and Goths in the north; Greeks, Saracens, and Spaniards in Sicily and the south; Latins in and around Rome; and Etruscans and others in central Italy. For centuries, however, Italy has enjoyed a high degree of ethnic homogeneity. The chief minority groups are the German-speaking people in the Alto Adige (South Tyrol) region and the Slavs of the Trieste area.
People
Social classes
The people of Renaissance Florence, like most city–states of the era, were composed of four social classes: the nobles, the merchants, the tradesmen and the unskilled workers. The nobles lived on large estates outside the city walls. They owned most of the city’s land, so the nobles controlled. The nobles served as military officers, royal advisers and as politicians.
The nobles lived on large estates outside the city walls. They owned most of the city’s land, so the nobles controlled. The nobles served as military officers, royal advisers and as politicians.
The nobles were disdainful of the merchant class, who gained wealth in industries like wool processing, shipbuilding and banking. The merchants sought to protect their wealth by controlling the government and marrying into noble families. They became patrons of great artists in order to gain public favor.
The tradesmen of Florence were the crafts workers and shopkeepers. Most tradesmen belonged to guilds, organizations that established standards of quality, set rules for membership, and limited outside competition.
The unskilled workers were the lowest class of city workers. These laborers did not have job protection and were very dependent on their employers. Workers who violated rules could have their wages withheld or could be discharged from their jobs.
The social classes of became less distinct as the Renaissance progressed. Humanist ideas led to increased rights for individuals, but the class system remained in place in Florence and throughout most of Europe long after the end of the Renaissance.
The Nobles
The Merchants
The Tradesmen
The Unskilled Workers
Life Expectancy
The average life expectancy for an Italian female - 85.60
The average life expectancy for an Italian male - 80.70
The average life expectancy for an Italian female in 1960- 71.69
The average life expectancy for an Italian male in 1960- 66.68
Scientists think that the increase in life expectancy in both the female and male is due to the increase in medical care and medical research that helps cure most dieseases.