Italians (Italian: italiani, pronounced [itaˈljaːni]) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common culture, history, ancestry and language. Their ancestors, differing regionally, include all the various ancient peoples of Italy and among them the Romans, who helped create and evolve the Italian identity.The Latin equivalent of the term Italian had been in use for natives of the geographical region since antiquity. Ethnic Italians (a group which includes people of Italian descent without Italian citizenship) can be distinguished from Italian nationals, who are citizens of Italy regardless of ancestry or nation of residence.
The majority of Italian nationals are native speakers of the country's official language, Italian, a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin. However, some of them also speak a regional or minority language native to Italy, the existence of which predates the national language. (According to UNESCO, there are approximately 30 languages native to Italy, although many are often misleadingly referred to as "Italian dialects".)
