Italian ( or
lingua italiana ) is a
Romance language spoken mainly in Europe:
Italy,
Switzerland,
San Marino,
Vatican City, as a second language in
Albania,
Malta,
Slovenia and
Croatia, by minorities in
Crimea,
Eritrea,
France,
Libya,
Monaco,
Montenegro,
Romania and
Somalia, and by expatriate communities in
Europe, in the
Americas and in
Australia. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardised Italian and
other regional languages. It is an official language in the European Union and one of the six official languages of the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe along with English, Spanish, French, Russian and German.
