Prior to 1998, the SGI-Italy was known as the Soka Gakkai Italian Association, which had been active in Italy since the late 1970s. In June 2015, the SGI-Italy was recognized by the Italian government with a special accord under Italian Constitution Article 8, acknowledging it as an official religion of Italy and eligible to receive direct taxpayer funding for its religious and social activities. In August 2015, Italian newspaper la Repubblica reported that 75,000 Italian citizens are SGI-Italia members, which accounts for half of the Buddhist population of Italy.