Italians of Croatia are an autochthonous historical national minority recognized by the Constitution of Croatia. As such, they elect a special representative to the Croatian Parliament. There is Italian Union of Croatia and Slovenia, in Croat Talijanska Unija, in Sloven Italijanska Unija, which is Croat-Sloven organization with main site in Fiume-Rijeka and secondary site in Capodistria-Koper of Slovenia.
There are two main groups of Italians in Croatia, based on geographical origin:
According to the 2011 Croatian census, Italians of Croatia number 17,807, or 0.42% of the total Croatian population. They mostly reside in the county of Istria.
As of 2009, the Italian language is officially used in twenty cities and municipalities and ten other settlements in Croatia, according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.