Italy's native people are Italians.
Italians ( italiani [ itaˈljaːni ] ) are a nation and ethnic group native to Italy who share a common culture , ancestry and speak the Italian language as a native tongue . Because of the wide-ranging diaspora , about 5 million Italian citizens and nearly 80 million people of full or partial Italian ancestry live outside of their own homeland , most notably in parts of Europe , the Americas and Australia .