First Cousin Marriages in Italy, by percentage (1930 – 1964)

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Cousin marriage is when the spouses are cousins. The tradition was typical in earlier times and remains shared in some cultures today. However, such marriages are forbidden in some jurisdictions (China, Taiwan, the Philippines, North and South Korea, and 24 of the 50 U.S. states).

Global, more than 10% of weddings are between first or second cousins.

It is believed that kids of first-cousin marriages have a risen risk of autosomal recessive genetic diseases.

The map below shows first cousin marriages in Italy by percentage (1930 – 1964).

In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the previous century was near to 50 percent of all marriages.