Friulians
Friulians or Furlans are an ethnolinguistic and a diverse minority living in Italy and elsewhere. About 600,000 of them live in the historical region of Friuli and in parts of Venice. Some other thousands live in diaspora communities mainly in Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Australia and Belgium. They traditionally speak Friulan, a distinct Rhaeto-Romance language which is the second largest recognized minority language in Italy after Sardinian. Genetically, Friulians cluster with broader Europe populations although still show the greatest genetic similarity with the other Italian populations. Furlans have even served during the First World War, notably at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, where 7,000 Furlans were captured by the Italian Army. Friulians also served in the Second World War, but only a few records remain on the topic. [3]
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
600,000 friulian speakers[1]-1,000,000 ethnic population [2]- 2,000,000 including the diaspora | |
Languages | |
Friulian, Italian, Venetian | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Roman Catholic |
References
- Number of Friuilian speakers per: http://www.arlef.it/en/friulian-language/sociolinguistic-condition/5#/sociolinguistic-condition - Study made by Arlef, Association of Region for the Friulian Language
- Combined population of Gorizia, Udine, and Pordenone.
- Esko, T; Mezzavilla, M; Nelis, M; Borel, C; Debniak, T; Jakkula, E; Julia, A; Karachanak, S; Khrunin, A; Kisfali, P; Krulisova, V; Aušrelé Kučinskiené, Z; Rehnström, K; Traglia, M; Nikitina-Zake, L; Zimprich, F; Antonarakis, SE; Estivill, X; Glavač, D; Gut, I; Klovins, J; Krawczak, M; Kučinskas, V; Lathrop, M; Macek, M; Marsal, S; Meitinger, T; Melegh, B; Limborska, S; Lubinski, J; Paolotie, A; Schreiber, S; Toncheva, D; Toniolo, D; Wichmann, HE; Zimprich, A; Metspalu, M; Gasparini, P; Metspalu, A; D'Adamo, P. "Genetic characterization of northeastern Italian population isolates in the context of broader European genetic diversity". European Journal of Human Genetics. 21: 659–665. doi:10.1038/ejhg.2012.229. PMC 3658181 Freely accessible. PMID 23249956.
- "Friulians". World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous People. Minority Rights Group International. Retrieved 2008-04-08.