the 2001 census in croatia reported 19,636 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 croats and istrian people. native italian speakers are largely concentrated along the adriatic coast. in addition, roughly 120,000 italian tourists 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.