Italy instead, in search of better employment and industrial opportunities. The most recent ISTAT figures show around 175,000 immigrants out of the total of almost 5.1 million population (nearly 3.5% of the population); Romanians with more than 50,000 make up the most immigrants, followed by Tunisians, Moroccans, Sri Lankans, Albanians, and others mostly from Eastern Europe. As in the rest of Italy, the primary religion is Roman Catholicism (but with combined Latin & Byzantine Rites) and the official language is Italian; Sicilian is currently not a recognised language in Italy Major settlements In Sicily, there are three metropolitan areas: Palermo, which has a Larger Urban Zone of 1,044,169 people Catania, whose LUZ's populous numbers some 801,280 people Messina and its LUZ, with a total of 418,916 people. Overall, there are fifteen cities and towns with a population above 50,000 people, these are: Palermo (677,854) Catania (315,576) Messina (242,121) Syracuse (123,248) Marsala (82,812) Gela (77,295) Ragusa (73,756) Trapani (70,642) Vittoria (63,393) Caltanissetta (60,221) Agrigento (59,190) Bagheria (56,421) Modica (55,294) Acireale (53,205) Mazara del Vallo (51,413). Names and surnames The most common Sicilian names are Giuseppe, Maria and Salvatore. The most common Sicilian surnames are Russo, Messina and Lombardo. Diaspora In 2008, the number of Sicilians abroad was well over 1 million. The countries in which they are most numerous on this date are: United States, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, France and Canada The population of the Diaspora without including those in the United States is 629,114 individuals. In the United States, the Sicilian-Americans are a large subset of Americans whose ancestors came from Sicily. This group is perhaps the largest part of the Sicilian diaspora. Genetics Autosomal studies Several studies involving whole genome analysis of mainland Italians and Sicilians have found that samples from Northern Italy, Southern Italy and Sicily belong to their own unique/distinct separate clusters, while a genetic gap is filled by an intermediate Central Italian cluster, creating a continuous cline of variation that mirrors geography. Genetically, Sicilians cluster the closest to Southern Italians, and especially to Calabrians. Other studies have also demonstrated that the population of Sicily is genetically very similar to that of Malta, and to Greek speaking groups from the Ionian Islands, the Aegean Islands, Crete and the Peloponnese, while the rest of mainland Greece appears as slightly differentiated, by clustering with the other Southern Balkan populations of Albania/Kosovo and the Arbereshe people. MtDna