▁female : ▁ 1 7 ▁years ▁( 2 0 1 6 ) ▁ ▁Un emp loyment , ▁youth ▁ages ▁ 1 5 – 2 4 : ▁total : ▁ 3 7 . 8 %. ▁Country ▁comparison ▁to ▁the ▁world : ▁ 1 6 th ▁male : ▁ 3 6 . 5 % ▁ ▁female : ▁ 3 9 . 6 % ▁( 2 0 1 6 ▁est .) ▁ ▁National ity ▁ ▁n oun : ▁Italian ( s ) ▁ ▁ad jective : ▁Italian ▁ ▁L anguages ▁▁ ▁Italy ' s ▁official ▁language ▁is ▁Italian ; ▁Eth n olog ue ▁has ▁estimated ▁that ▁there ▁are ▁about ▁ 5 5 ▁million ▁speak ers ▁of ▁Italian ▁in ▁the ▁country ▁and ▁a ▁further ▁ 6 . 7   mill ion ▁outside ▁of ▁it , ▁primarily ▁in ▁the ▁neighbor ing ▁countries ▁and ▁in ▁the ▁Italian ▁di as por a ▁world wide . ▁Italian , ▁adopted ▁by ▁the ▁central ▁state ▁after ▁the ▁un ification ▁of ▁Italy , ▁is ▁a ▁language ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁Flor ent ine ▁variety ▁of ▁T us can ▁and ▁is ▁somewhat ▁intermediate ▁between ▁the ▁Ital o - D al mat ian ▁languages ▁and ▁the ▁Gal lo - R om ance ▁languages . ▁Its ▁development ▁was ▁also ▁influenced ▁by ▁the ▁German ic ▁languages ▁of ▁the ▁post - R oman ▁inv aders . ▁When ▁Italy ▁un ified ▁in ▁ 1 8 6 1 , ▁only ▁ 3 % ▁of ▁the ▁population ▁spoke ▁Italian , ▁even ▁though ▁an ▁estimated ▁ 9 0 % ▁of ▁It ali ans ▁speak