What is Italian language in Croatia?
[[Image:CroatiaIstarska.png|thumb|left|250px|Istria County within Croatia]] [[Image:Istria census 1910.PNG|thumb|right|200px|This map shows the percentages of Italians in municipalities of Istria in 1910, based on the Austro-Hungarian census. Italians made up more than 70% of the population in 43 areas.]] The [[Italian language]] is the third most spoken language (after [[Croatian language|Croatian]] and [[Serbian language|Serbian]]) in the [[Republic of Croatia]] today. It is an officially recognized minority language in [[Istria County]] (where it is spoken by 7.69% of the population). ==Speaker Population== The [[2001 census]] in Croatia reported 19,636 [[Italian people|ethnic Italians]] in the country (some .44% of the total population). [[Ethnologue]] reported 70,000 speakers in [[1998]]: 40,000 ethnic Italians and 30,000 ethnic [[Croat]]s and [[Istrians|Istrian people]]. Native Italian speakers are largely concentrated along the Adriatic coast. In addition, roughly 120,000 Italian [[tourist]]s visit Croatia each year, so many in the service and tourist industries have some knowledge of the language.As the 3/4 of the Italian community is concentrated in Istria, according to Ethnologue's estimates ( 70.000 ), at least 20% of the population of Istria is Italian mother tongue, although many simply declare themselves as Istrian. Historically, the language had a much larger population than it does now. Italians have lived on the Adriatic coast for hundreds of years, and Istria was part of the [[Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)|Kingdom of Italy]] from [[1919]] until [[1947]]. However the [[Istrian exodus]] after the Second World War and [[Yugoslavia]]n [[ethnic cleansing]] in the form of the [[Foibe massacres]] forced the greater part of the Istrian Italians to flee to Italy. During the Italian exodu, about 350000 people left Istria, Dalmatia and the isles of Croatia. ==Italian in Use== Government services are provided in Italian and Croatian in Istria County, including the official government website (which is a