Its family is: Indo-European » Italic » Romance » Italian.
Is the fifth most taught non-native language, after English, French, Spanish and German.
Spoken by about 60-65 million people, primarily in Italy.
Is regulated by “Accademia della Crusca”.
Italian is ranked 19th on the “List of Languages by number of native speakers.” (in a near tie with Turkish and Urdu).
Mostly spoken in Italy, but also in communities in Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Australia, Luxembourg and some places in Africa.
It is not uncommon for Italian-speakers to also speak a dialect particular to the region where they live.