Sardinia

How culturally, genetically, historically, and linguistically distinct were Sardinians from the rest of the lands that now make up Italy?

exact same

They were kings

Sardinia is CUTE
CUUUUUUTE

*Blocks your path

Which period are we talking about?

In general I guess.

If we have to nail a specific period say mid-19th century, around the time of the Italian Unification.

is this the same place?

Yes

Genetically they're a distinct population, but it's not like they're French transplants or anything. The Sardinian dialect is also deemed to be quite conservative (as in similar to Latin) from a lexical standpoint: e.g., they are the only Romance speakers who kept the Latin root "domus" for 'house'.