Talk:Italian Romanians

I never heard of Italians of Romania except in relation to 12th C outposts of Genoese and/ or Venetians. If we are talking about "Italians" that have been in Romania for 8 or 9 centuries, can they still be termed "Italian"? I am sure they are fully assimilated and ethnically mixed. Other than the odd contemporary businessperson, adventurer, wanderer or tourist, does the term actually apply? If not, this article should be omitted so as to not offend the hundreds (possibly thousands) of Americans in Romania, Swedes in Romania and Mexicans in Romania (among many others). 66.183.217.31 20:45, 13 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, Italians are an officially-recognised minority in Romania, a status which is accorded generally only to historical minorities, not recent immigrants. As an officially-recognised minority, Italians have one guaranteed seat in parliament, as well as a range of other rights as per the minority rights law. At least from this legal standpoint, their situation is thus different from Americans, Swedes, Mexicans, Chinese, etc. [[Image:Flag of Europe.svg|20px]][[Image:Flag of Romania.svg|20px]] Ronline ✉ 02:42, 14 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Dear Ronline: It is absolutely amazing that 3,300 people in a country of about 22 million, that have lived there for hundreds of years and are "fairly dispersed throughout the country", have not assimilated (in spite of the fact the language is similar and they have been there for centuries) and, as an officially recognized minority, are given one seat in parliament! You must expand on this!! 66.183.217.31 17:15, 15 March 2007 (UTC)


 * To be honest, I don't exactly know why the Italians are an officially-recognised minority in Romania or what the criteria for gaining this status is. It is important to note, however, that there are officially-recognised minorities which are smaller than the Italians. The Albanians of Romania, for example, number just 500 people, and are also entitled to one seat in parliament, etc. Additionally, there are 17 officially-recognised minorities, including Czechs, Greeks and Poles, so the Italians are just one of many such ethnic groups. It is probable that there are more Romanians of Italian ancestry than just 3,300, with this figure including only those that have not assimilated. Those which have assimilated, and no longer speak Italian, are more likely to declare themselves as "Romanian" on the census, particularly since the question asks about ethnicity rather than ancestry. I suppose many of the 3,300 Italians recorded in the census are actually recent arrivals, born in Italy and in Romania for business purposes, etc. This is likely considering the significant business and trade exchanges between Romania and Italy, the fact that Italy is Romania's largest trading partner, etc. Ronline ✉ 05:57, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

famous italians of Romania?
Who are the most famous?