Prior to the 13th Century the language of Italy was Latin, which served for the writing of  chronicles, historical poems, heroic legends, didactic, and scientific works.  In the 14th Century Dante  Alighieri emerged as a notable Italian writer as well as Francesco Petrarca and Giovanni Boccaccio.  They were the first Italian writers to make literary use of the Tuscan dialect spoken in Florence, Siena, and some towns of north-central Italy.   Modern Italian is based  upon the Tuscan dialect.  During the Renaissance, the Italian language rose to a new  medium of literary expression.
          Although Italian is the official language of Italy, dialects are also dominant in its 20 regions, and usually used as a primary language in the home.  Today Italian is spoken in many European countries as well as in countries world wide where there is a large migration patterns of Italians.  In Australia, Switzerland,  Canada, and Argentina for instance, Italian enjoys the status of being the most widely spoken community language.

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