Italian Grisons

The Italian Grisons or Italian Grigioni (Italian: Grigionitaliano or Grigioni italiano; German: Italienischbünden; Romansh: Grischun talian) is the region of the Canton of Grisons, Switzerland, where Italian and Lombard are spoken.

The Italian Grisons in a map of the canton of Grisons

Located in the southernmost part of the canton, it includes the districts of Moesa (to the west) and Bernina (to the east), and the municipalities of Bivio in the Albula district and Bregaglia in the Maloja district. It has a population of about 15,000 inhabitants, of which over 85% speak Italian or Lombard.[1]

Geography

The three regions that make up the Italian Grisons are separated by mountains, isolated from the rest of the canton as well as from each other. Because of their remoteness and the lack of economic possibilities, emigration has traditionally been a serious issue, and even today more than half of the people born in the Italian Grisons live and work outside of the region in the predominantly Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.[2]

Education

The dominance of the Italian language in the canton has diminished in recent years, especially to the east in the two regions furthest from Ticino. This is believed to result from immigration of German speakers into traditionally Italian-speaking areas, the spread of German language mass media and the absence of secondary schools teaching in Italian in Grisons.[2]

Pro Grigioni Italiano, an organization created in 1918 to promote the Italian language and culture in Grisons, is officially recognized by the cantonal government as representing the indigenous Italian-speaking minority of the canton.[3]

See also

References
  1. Diffusion and varieties of Italian in Switzerland in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  2. "Terra e lingua" (in Italian). Pro Grigioni Italiano. Archived from the original on June 22, 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2009.
  3. Pro Grigioni Italiano in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

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