Minority languages of Croatia
The Istro-Romanian language is one of the smallest minority languages spoken in Croatia with fewer than 500 speakers concentrated mainly in the north-eastern part of the Istrian Peninsula. While the language is not officially recognized in the Constitution of Croatia under that name (the Constitution does reference Romanians and Vlachs), it is specifically recognized as such in the Statute of the Istrian Region and in the Statute of the Municipality of Kršan . In 2016, with funding from the Romanian government, the school in the village of Šušnjevica was fully renovated and is expected to start offering education in Istro-Romanian.
Italian language
Italian ("italiano" or ) is a Romance language. Italian, together with Sardinian, is by most measures the closest language to Vulgar Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City and western Istria (in Slovenia and Croatia). It formerly had official status and is still widely spoken in Albania, Malta, Monaco, and in some parts of France (especially Corsica, Nice, Savoie), Greece (Ionian Islands and Dodecanese) and Montenegro (Kotor), as well as in former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa regions where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. It also has official minority status in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Romania. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages.