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The article informs that large-scale migrations of Italians to Switzerland have played an important role in the intra-European redistribution of people from underdeveloped areas to countries with superior economic opportunities. The migratory flow from Italy to Switzerland has always been determined primarily by changing conditions of the Swiss economy and has varied sharply over time. Italy has long been a major exporter of population. Switzerland, itself an emigration country for many centuries, became a significant outlet for Italian migrants only in the latter part of the 19th century when rapid industrialization converted it from a sending to a receiving country. Italian migration to Switzerland began with the epoch of Swiss railroad building in the late 1850's which created a huge demand for construction labor that Switzerland itself could not supply and Swiss railroad companies began to recruit Italian construction workers on a large scale on a seasonal basis. The influx was greatly enhanced by the conclusion in 1868 of a treaty between Italy and Switzerland guaranteeing mutual freedom of movement, of trade and of establishment.