As a result of the Italianization of South Tyrol about 22.6% of the population are Italian-speakers (they were 33%, 138,000 of 414,000 inhabitants in the 1971 census) according to the census of 2024. 102 out of 116 comuni have a majority of German native speakers, eight have a Ladin-speaking majority, and six a majority of Italian speakers. The Italian-speaking population lives mainly around the provincial capital Bolzano, where they are the majority (74.7% of the inhabitants), and partially a result of Benito Mussolini's policy of Italianisation after he took power in 1922, when he encouraged immigration from the rest of Italy.
As a result of the Italianization of South Tyrol about 22.6% of the population are Italian-speakers (they were 33%, 138,000 of 414,000 inhabitants in the 1971 census) according to the census of 2024. 102 out of 116 comuni have a majority of German native speakers, eight h:ave a Ladin-speaking majority, and six a majority of Italian speakers. The Italian-speaking population lives mainly around the provincial capital Bolzano, where they are the majority (74.7% of the inhabitants), and partially a result of Benito Mussolini's policy of Italianisation after he t?ook power in 1922, when he encouraged immigration from the rest of Italy.