Italians in Libya or Italolivians ( ital. Italo-libici ) - a group of Italian people living in the territory of modern Libya for a long time. Italo-Libyans are descendants of Italian colonists and immigrants who began to populate the northern regions of Libya from the beginning of the 20th century.
| Italivians | |
|---|---|
| Abundance and area | |
| Total: about 1,500 people (2010) | |
 Libya | |
| Religion | predominantly catholicism |
| Related peoples | Italians |
Content
History
After the Italo-Turkish war of 1912, when Libya became a colony of Italy, Italians gradually began to populate the coastal areas of the country. The first colonists faced opposition from the local Muslim population, so the first wave of settlement was not crowned with significant success. Before Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922, several thousand Italians lived in Libya. In 1934, Benito Mussolini appointed his companion, Italo Balbo , as governor of Libya, who was able to effectively deal with the Muslim confrontation by various methods and the mass settlement of Italians by the Italians began. In 1938, about 28 thousand people were organized to resettle in Libya, who founded 38 new settlements here on the coast of Cyrenaica.
In 1939, Mussolini announced plans to create Greater Italy , which included the northern part of modern Libya and Tunisia. Mussolini planned to unite Cyrenaica , Tripolitania and Fezzan into a single Italian province, "Italian Libya" as part of Greater Italy. Since that time, the extensive construction of Italian colonial settlements began on the coast of Kireniaki, which provided for the organization of social, cultural and economic infrastructure. In Italy, propaganda of the colonization of Libya unfolded, which was presented as its own internal "Italian America." In less than thirty years (1911-1940), Libyan railways and roads, ports, public and social buildings were built. About 400 kilometers of the new railway and 4,000 kilometers of new roads were built, among which stood the road from Tripoli to Tobruk . Italian peasants began to equip and develop desert lands, significantly influencing the development of agriculture in the country. At the same time, the Roman Catholic Church launched its extensive activity, which built new Catholic churches in Italian settlements. Cathedrals were built in Tripoli and Benghazi .
In 1940, there were already about 120 thousand Italians in Libya. In total, the Italian fascist government planned to relocate 500,000 Italians to Libya.
World War II destroyed the colonialist plans of the Italian government and began a massive outflow of Italians from Libya, which reached its climax at the end of the war. According to the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947, Italy renounced all of its colonies, including Libya. The second wave of the outflow of Italians from Libya began. In the 60s there were about 35 thousand people.
After Muammar Gaddafi came to power, about 20 thousand Italians left Libya and all their property was nationalized by the Libyan government. In 1982, the number of Italolivians fell to one and a half thousand people. In 2007, according to the department of Anagrafe degli italiani residenti all'estero , 598 Italians lived in Libya.
In 2008, a treaty was concluded between Rome and Tripoli, which provided for the expelled Italians the right to return and allotment of a compensation sum of $ 150 million by the Libyan government [1] . In the late 2000s, the Libyan government allowed one thousand Italian citizens to return to Libya. In 2010, there were about 1,500 people in Libya.
The civil war in Libya in 2011 caused an outflow of Italivians to Italy and at present the number of Italolivians remaining in Libya is not known.
At present, Italy has an Italian organization called the Associazione Italiani Rimpatriati dalla Libia.
| Year | The number of Italo-Libyans | Percentage of total Libyan population | Libyan population | A source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | 112.600 | 13.26% | 848.600 | Enciclopedia Geografica Mondiale KZ, De Agostini , 1996 |
| 1939 | 108.419 | 12.37% | 876.563 | Guida Breve d'Italia Vol.III, CTI , 1939 |
| 1962 | 35,000 | 2.1% | 1.681.739 | Enciclopedia Motta, Vol. VIII, Federico Motta Editore , 1969 |
| 1982 | 1,500 | 0.05% | 2.856.000 | Atlante Geografico Universale, Fabbri Editori , 1988 |
| 2004 | 22.530 | 0.4% | 5.631.585 | L'Aménagement Linguistique dans le Monde |
| 2010 | 1,500 | 0.02% | 6.420.000 | Ministero degli Esteri [2] |
| 2011 | 0 | 0% | 6.420.000 | Ministero degli Esteri [3] |
Ethnographic features
Almost all Italivians were bilinguals and Catholics . In addition to their native Italian language , they also spoke Arabic to varying degrees. The Italolivians often used Arabic words in their speech. The Italolivians were also significantly influenced by the Arab culinary culture. In turn, Italian culture significantly influenced the architectural appearance of Libyan cities.
Famous Italolivians
- Visconti, Adriano
- Gentile, Claudio
- Coscarelli, Don
- Podesta, Rossana
- Signo, Vittorio Claudio
Notes
- ↑ Institute of Europe, RAS (Inaccessible link) . Date of treatment June 1, 2015. Archived June 1, 2015.
- ↑ 1.500 gli italiani in Libia, la Farnesina consiglia di partire
- ↑ Libia: evacuati tutti gli italiani da Tripoli
Literature
- Chapin Metz, Hellen. Libya: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1987.
- Del Boca, Angelo. Gli italiani in Libia. Vol. 1 & 2. Milano, Mondadori, 1997.
- Smeaton Munro, Ion. Through Fascism to World Power: A History of the Revolution in Italy. Ayer Publishing. Manchester (New Hampshire), 1971. ISBN 0-8369-5912-4
- Taylor, Blaine. Fascist Eagle: Italy's Air Marshal Italo Balbo. Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1996. ISBN 1-57510-012-6