Romanians in Italy

North America South America Oceania Romanians in Italy (Romanian: românii din Italia; Italian: romeni in Italia or rumeni in Italia) became a significant population after 1999, due to a large wave of emigration known in Romania as Fenomenul migrației către UE (the phenomenon of migration toward the European Union).

They were followed by another wave beginning in 2002, when Romanian citizens obtained the right to move to any Schengen Zone country without a visa.

In 2007 Romania joined the European Union, further increasing the economic and political ties between the countries.

As of 2024[update], there were 1,073,196 Romanian citizens living in Italy, the largest Romanian immigrant population in any country as well as the largest immigrant group within Italy.

[7] In the years 2011 and 2012 the ISTAT made a survey regarding the religious affiliation among the immigrants in Italy, the religion of the Romanian people in Italy were as follows:[25] In 2023, the vice president of the local council of Prato, the Romanian-born Claudiu Stănășel, announced that he started the proceedings for the Romanians to be recognized as an official national minority of Italy.