Minorities and minority toponyms in multicultural areas of the border region of Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy

Friuli Venezia Giulia is one of Europe’s most typical “contact” regions because of the multicultural nature of its border areas and the political and geographical transformations it has undergone in its local, regional and even broader geographical contexts. These elements have deeply influenced the colonization processes and the resulting inter-ethnic relations, as well as the formation of the internal and cross-border social links of its population and, more specifically, the unique minority and linguistic situation that prevails today. The area of Friuli Venezia Giulia represented the historical meeting point of the three main European ethno-linguistic groups: Romance, Germanic and Slavic. Together with the neighbouring territory of Slovenia, it is the only European contact area where all three ethno-linguistic groups coexist as autochthonous populations. However, Friuli Venezia Giulia is the only region in Europe, where representatives of the Romance, Germanic and Slavic peoples are also represented in a minority situation, living together in a genuine, enduring multicultural environment. In fact, the situation has converted Friuli Venezia Giulia into a “region of minorities”, a contact area of the regionally predominant Friulians, the Slovene national minority, and the Germanic ethno-linguistic communities. The article describes the historical background of these communities and provides a more detailed description of their current situation, with a particular emphasis on the provisions and practices related to minority toponyms and visual bi/multilingualism