Linguistic and Demographic History
At the time of its annexation, South Tyrol was inhabited by a large German-speaking majority. According to the census of 1910, which listed four groups according to their spoken language, the area was inhabited by approximately 89% German speakers, 3.8% Ladin speakers, 2.9% Italian speakers, and 4.3% speakers of other languages of the Austrian Empire, altogether 251,000 people. According to some sources, the census did not include some 9000 immigrants from Italy. However, from the official provincial statistics of the "Autonomous Province of South Tyrol" it appears that Italian citizens were indeed registered in the census, although not necessarily as Italian-speakers.
In the following, the resident population is listed by language group, according to the censuses undertaken from 1880 to 2001. In absolute numbers:
| Year | German | Italian | Ladin | Others | Total | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 186,087 | 006884 !126,884 | 008822 !128,822 | 003513 !123,513 | 205,306 | Austria–Hungary |
| 1890 | 187,100 | 009369 !129,369 | 008954 !128,954 | 004862 !126,884 | 210,285 | Austria–Hungary |
| 1900 | 197,822 | 008916 !128,916 | 008907 !128,907 | 007149 !127,149 | 222,794 | Austria–Hungary |
| 1910 | 223,913 | 007339 !127,339 | 009429 !129,429 | 010770 !110,770 | 251,451 | Austria–Hungary |
| 1921 | 193,271 | 027048 !127,048 | 009910 !129,910 | 024506 !124,506 | 254,735 | Italy |
| 1961 | 232,717 | 128271 !128,271 | 012594 !212,594 | 000281 !123,281 | 373,863 | Italy |
| 1971 | 260,351 | 137759 !137,759 | 015456 !115,456 | 000475 !123,475 | 414,041 | Italy |
| 1981 | 279,544 | 123695 !123,695 | 017736 !117,736 | 009593 !129,593 | 430,568 | Italy |
| 1991 | 287,503 | 116914 !116,914 | 018434 !118,434 | 017657 !117,657 | 440,508 | Italy |
| 2001 | 296,461 | 113494 !113,494 | 018736 !118,736 | 034308 !134,308 | 462,999 | Italy |
| 2011 | 314,604 | 118120 !0 | 020548 !10 | 0 !10 | 511,750 | Italy |
In percentages:
| Year | German | Italian | Ladin | Others | Total | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 90.6 | 034 !13.4 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 100.0 | Austria–Hungary |
| 1890 | 89.0 | 045 !14.5 | 4.3 | 2.3 | 100.0 | Austria–Hungary |
| 1900 | 88.8 | 040 !14.0 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 100.0 | Austria–Hungary |
| 1910 | 89.0 | 029 !12.9 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 100.0 | Austria–Hungary |
| 1921 | 75.9 | 106 !10.6 | 3.9 | 9.6 | 100.0 | Italy |
| 1961 | 62.2 | 343 !34.3 | 3.4 | 0.1 | 100.0 | Italy |
| 1971 | 62.9 | 333 !33.3 | 3.7 | 0.1 | 100.0 | Italy |
| 1981 | 64.9 | 287 !28.7 | 4.1 | 2.2 | 100.0 | Italy |
| 1991 | 65.3 | 265 !26.5 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 100.0 | Italy |
| 2001 | 64.0 | 245 !24.5 | 4.0 | 7.4 | 100.0 | Italy |
| 2011 | 0.0 | 0 !0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | Italy |
Read more about this topic: History Of South Tyrol
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