The second nucleus in terms of number of individuals is that of Brazil, with 1,839,579 people: the first Italians arrived in Brazil around 1817; but the real immigration current began in 1886, after that Brazil had promulgated the law of October 26, 1885, which established the reimbursement of the passage price to settlers and workers from Europe. The Italians are very differently distributed in the great republic; the central-southern states prevail in absolute terms, first of all those of S. Paolo with 1,200,000 (200,000 live in the city of the same name); followed by the states of Rio Grande do Sul (300,000); Minas Geraes (113,153); Sana Catharina (70,000), Espirito Santo (50,000); Federal District (45,000): large is the number of Italians who give themselves to agricultural work, as daily and as owners of fazendas, especially in the state of S. Paolo. In all of northern Brazil, only 5,527 people lived.
The third nucleus is that of Argentina, where 1,797,000 Italians lived in 1927, of which 1,506,000 were born in Italy and 291,000 were born in the Republic. Numerically, the consular district of La Plata prevails with 720,000 individuals, especially with the province of Buenos Aires, where agricultural labor prevails (112,000), followed, with considerable urban contingents, by bricklayers, unskilled workers, daily workers (100,000); followed by the consular district of Buenos Aires (410,000), where the various urban professions prevail; the district of Rosario comes third (337,000), especially in the provinces of Santa Fe (179,200), Entre Ríos (63,000). The most represented categories are those of landowners, laborers, traders and transports, clerks; the district of Córdoba follows with 268,000, concentrated in greater quantities in the province of the same name; farmers prevail in an absolute way. Overall in Argentina our compatriots are mainly farmers (255,600), bricklayers and unskilled workers (233,300), trades and various professions (125,650).
The fourth Italian colony in America by numerical entity is that in Canada , where 200,000 of our compatriots live, a modest figure considering the enormous economic possibilities of the country. It should be noted that in the Dominion the system of the mandatory categories of profession has been replaced at altitude . Half of the Italians live in the province of Ontario followed by Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba: merchants and shopkeepers in the large centers of Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Hamilton, etc .; workers especially in Ontario; miners in Nova Scotia. Miners and mechanics form the largest categories (23,000).
Fifth comes the colony of Uruguay with 65,000 strong people, mainly made up of traders, industrialists, professionals, farmers, etc. In Chile live 23,000 Italians, who are dedicated especially to commercial traffic: very few are the workers. In the consular district of Santiago live 6000 of our compatriots, in the remaining 17,000.Our colony was initially established there by an active nucleus of merchants mostly of Genoese origin.
By far the most important colony in Europe is the one living in France, which counts 962,593 individuals, with an absolute prevalence of men (657,839). The main districts are those of Paris (160,000); Marseille (152,000), Nice (140,000); Lyons (128,400). The Parisian area and the Côte d’Azur prevails up to the large commercial and industrial center of Marseille. The cities with the highest number of compatriots are: Paris 110,000; Marseille 100,000; Nice 60,000; Lyon 40,000; Cannes 14,000; Antibes 10,000; Grasse 8500. Also in this case the absolute prevalence is for the eastern Mediterranean coast, beyond the Paris area. The Italian population residing in the Republic is generally very mobile, moving from one department to another. Two areas can be distinguished: the essentially industrial northern area, where miners, bricklayers, unskilled workers, carpenters abound. laborers, terrazzieri, workers in various industries and works and the southern area, where they prefer daily to go, farmers, woodcutters. A considerable number of employees in the hotel industry are found on the Côte d’Azur.
According to TOPSCHOOLSINTHEUSA.COM, the second most important nucleus is the one living in Switzerland , with 160,000 individuals. The workers assigned to various industries, bricklayers and unskilled workers predominate; few are the professionals. In descending order we have: consular district of Zurich 44,010; Lugano 30,092; Lausanne 20,000; Basel 16,656; Geneva 13,186; Bern 12.009. As for France, so also for Switzerland, seasonal emigration is enormously important, especially from the Alpine valleys.
In Great Britain (29,130 Italians), small businesses and various trades and professions predominate; in Germany (21,205) Italians live mainly in the districts of Düsseldorf and Dortmund (6000), Munich (4800), Dresden (3000), Stuttgart (1800), etc. The great decrease that occurred between the pre-war period (in 1910, 104,204 Italians) and the current one was caused by the war and the crisis that has been looming over the German nation for years. Currently miners and workers in various trades prevail. Remarkable is the colony in Luxembourg (10,740) mainly used in mines and industries (Esch sur Alzette 9750).
The colonies of Italians in Africa are very important : Mediterranean Africa absolutely prevails, in the first place Tunisia with 97,000 of our compatriots. These come mostly from Sicily and Sardinia and are mainly farmers: they cultivate over 25% of the arable land that Europeans own and own 61,000 hectares. Followed by the employees of various trades. Numerically it follows the colony in Egypt (49,106 individuals), made up mostly of workers in various trades and professions and office workers. It should be noted that the Italian colony in Egypt is one of the oldest among the foreign colonies that reside there: the Italians have occupied there for the past very important positions and of their culture and activities, which have developed in many fields, various imprints can be found in the life of this nation.
Third comes the colony in Algeria (28,528), divided into the departments of Constantine (15,587), Algiers (10,882), Oran (2000) and the Southern Territory (59). It mainly consists of traders, office workers, job contractors, etc. In French Morocco live 10,000 Italians settled mainly in Casablanca (8000), mainly workers.
In Asia the only known colony is the one living in Turkey (5306 individuals), especially in the vilâyet of Smyrna (4500), made up of clerks, traders, religious, workers, unskilled workers.
