Italians ( ) are a nation and ethnic group native to Italy who share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Legally, Italians are citizens of the Italian Republic, regardless of ancestry or country of residence (though the principle of jus sanguinis is used extensively and arguably more favourably in the Italian nationality law), and are distinguished from people of Italian descent and from ethnic Italians living in territories adjacent to the Italian Peninsula.