Also, how did Italy's population manage to grow from 28 milion in 1881 to almost 40 milion in 1914 despite Italy was "bleeding" people over the new world ? And how was this massive emigration preceived by the Italian government which was losing human resources ?
Edit : Also, as you can see from this map more people emigrated from the north than from the south, almost 8.5 milion north italians left Italy while almost 6 milion southeners left Italy, this means that the emigration trend was popular in both the poor south and the rich north.
Follow up question. How did communities in the Americas react to areas where many Italians immigrated to? I hear from the ones in my community that they weren't treated so well, even being targeted the KKK back in the 20s. How much truth is there to this?
Follow-up question:
...more people emigrated from the north than from the south, almost 8.5 milion north italians left Italy while almost 6 milion southeners left Italy, this means that the emigration trend was popular in both the poor south and the rich north.
What was the population distribution in Italy before that big wave started? If the north had twice as many people as the south (for example), then relatively more people left the south.
What was the economic distribution of the emigrants relative to the economic distribution of Italy overall, and relative to their place of origin? I.E. Were skilled professionals more likely to emigrate than unskilled laborers, and where were they most likely to emigrate from?
Follow up question: how many of those immigrants returned to Italy at a later point? I read that a significant proportion of Italian immigrants were only in the Americas temporarily. Also, was this true of other immigrant communities?
Some time ago I wrote a reply to a question about Spanish migration to the Americas within the same timeframe, much of which is relevant for your question, as well as to the followup questions posted here on why certain groups of migrants chose Latin American destinations over North America.
Although explanations for Spanish migration are unlikely to be directly transferrable to Italy, there are certain patterns which might help explain certain Italian migration patterns.
The suggestion that domestic growth rates and general poverty in Spain acted to hamper migration during the early part of the period (simply because travel was still too expensive for the majority of prople), might for instance help account for Italian regional differences between the north and the relatively more impoverished south. The "Latin migration" is likewise not a uniquely Spanish phenomenon. Language barriers in North America, and Latin American subsidies for migrants, were both considerations impacting Italian migration.
Follow up question, I've looked through the recommended book list but did not see anything there for Italian history Can someone recommend some reading material on this subject?
