The Italian language is a prominent Romance language spoken mostly in Italy, by approximately 60 million people, and is a direct descendant of Latin. Italian grew out of Vulgar Latin, and was first formalized in the works of Dante Alighieri, most notably The Divine Comedy. Today the language enjoys great cultural significance due to the works of literature, cinema, and opera written and produced in Italian.

Italian is also spoken by substantial populations outside of Italy, including in Switzerland, South America (particularly Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina), and former colonial regions in Africa (Somalia, Libya, and Eritrea).