Why did so many Italians emigrate between 1876 and 1915?

The great emigration

La grande emigrazione

1876–1915. Between 1876 and the First World War almost fourteen million Italians left the country.

Where: Italy

What happened

Between 1876 and the First World War almost fourteen million Italians left the country. At first most came from the North — Veneto, Friuli, Piedmont — and after 1880 more and more from the poor South. They went to Argentina, the United States and Brazil, and to France and other countries in Europe. In the peak year, 1913, about 872,000 people left. Many came home again; about two in three stayed abroad. Millions of people in the Americas today have Italian ancestors.

Say it

Milioni di italiani sono emigrati in America per cercare lavoro.

Millions of Italians emigrated to America to look for work.

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