Legal Status of the German Language Group in the Italian Province of South Tyrol ; Croatia

Abstract

The Italian Province of South Tyrol is often presented as a successful model of the legal regulation of interethnic relations between the majority and minority population in ethnically heterogeneous regions in Europe. South Tyrol has been a place of coexistence of three ethnic groups for centuries, viz. the Italian, the Ladin, and the German. However, the German ethnic group has always outnumbered the other two and such an ethnic structure had led to the establishment of a territorial autonomy within unitary Italy. In this article the author analyses the legal underpinnings of the autonomy concerned, its repercussions on the position of the German language group and on the interethnic relations in South Tyrol. The author focuses in particular on the positive effects of the established autonomy, namely on its role in preserving the distinctive identities of the three ethnic groups and in ensuring peace and stability in the Province and the region at large. ; Peer reviewed