Italy

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Republic of Italy
Official flag Official Coat of Arms
National information
National motto:
National anthem:	"Fratelli d'Italia"
About the people
Official languages:	Italian, German, French
Population: (# of people)
- Total:	58.751.711 ab. (2005) (ranked 22°)
- Density:	n/a per km²
Geography / Places
Here is the country on a map of the world.
Capital city:	Rome
Largest city:	Rome
Area
- Total:	301.323 km² (ranked 69°)
- Water:	n/a km² (n/a%)
Politics / Government
Established:	March 17, 1861
Leaders:	President: Giorgio Napolitano
Economy / Money
Currency: (Name of money)	Euro
International information
Time zone:	+1
Telephone dialing code:	+39
Internet domain:	.it

Italy is a country in western Europe and a member of the European Union. Its official name is The Italian Republic. Italy is a democratic republic and a developed country. It is a founding member of the European Union. Italy is also a member of the G8 with the 7th largest Gross Domestic Product.

Contents 1 Geography 2 People and culture 3 Regions 4 Politics 5 History 6 Transportation 7 Notes 8 See also 9 Other websites

[change] Geography

Italy is a peninsula, meaning it is surrounded by the sea on all sides apart from one (its north side). Northern Italy is separated from France, Switzerland, and Austria by the Alps, a chain of mountains. Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco in Italian), the tallest mountain in Europe, belongs to this chain. The second important chain of mountains in Italy is the Apennines (Appennini in Italian), which are in central and southern Italy.

The capital of Italy is Rome. Other important cities in Italy are Milan, Turin, Florence, Naples, and Venice.

The country includes a number of islands, the biggest of which are Sicily and Sardinia, which are reached by ship or aircraft.

Po River is an the longest river in Italy. The Tiber River runs through the city of Rome.

Northern Italy has some of the biggest lakes in the country, such as Lake Garda, Lake Como, Lake Maggiore and Lake Iseo. Because it is surrounded by the sea, Italy has many kilometers of coast, which brings tourists from around the world. Tourists also come to see Italy's many historical places.

Italy includes in its territories two very small independent states, San Marino and the Vatican City.

[change] People and culture

People from Italy are called Italians. Most Italians are Christian, and most of the Christians are Roman Catholics.

The population of Italy is about 58.5 million. About 2.5 million of these live in Rome, and 1.5 million in Milan.

The official language of Italy is Italian, though in the border areas there are also other languages used, such as French and German. People also speak languages such as Sicilian and Sardinian, which are similar to Italian, but are different languages, or, dialects.

The people of Italy are the children of the ancient Romans.

Latin was one of the first languages of Italy.

After the United States and many other countries in the world, Italy has the largest illegal immigrant problem in the world.

Italy is home to more World Heritage sites than any other nation in the world.^[1] These sites are properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.

Italy makes more wine than any other country.

Italy is famous for their Italian Wine, Pizza, fettucine, pasta, linguine, pepperoni, salami, varieties of cheese and Spaghetti.

[change] Regions

Italy is divided into 20 Regions (Regioni in Italian) and every Region is divided into Provinces.

There are 20 Regions:

• Abruzzo
• Basilicata
• Calabria
• Campania
• Emilia-Romagna
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia *
• Latium (Lazio)
• Liguria
• Lombardy (Lombardia)
• Marche
• Molise
• Piedmont (Piemonte)
• Apulia (Puglia)
• Sardinia (Sardegna) *
• Sicily (Sicilia) *
• Tuscany (Toscana)
• Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (Trentino-Alto Adige) *
• Umbria
• Aosta Valley (Valle d'Aosta)*
• Veneto

[change] Politics

The Head of State is Giorgio Napolitano, whose task began in May 2006 and will end in May 2013 (the President of the Republic remains for 7 years). Napolitano is the eleventh President of the Italian Republic and he was preceded by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

The Head of Government is Silvio Berlusconi, leader of a right-wing coalition, since 2008, when he defeated the left-wing coalition of Walter Veltroni.

Italy was one of the first members of the European Union and in 2002, along with 11 other European countries, it changed to using the euro as its official currency. Before this, the Italian Lira had been used, from 1881.

[change] History

Before 1861, Italy did not exist as a state, because its territory was divided into several independent states, often under foreign domination (by countries such as Austria, France, and Spain). From the 1850s, in Piedmont, a free Italian state, the Earl of Cavour had the idea of defeating the Austrian domination in Lombardy and Veneto to create a Northern Italian state. This happened, but other Central and Southern Italian states also decided to join Piedmont to create a bigger state. Particularly, in 1860, Garibaldi's mission in Southern Italy succeeded in conquering the Kingdom of Sicily, and the Kingdom of Italy was created. Vittorio Emanuele II was crowned King of Italy. But in 1861, Latium and Veneto were still not part of Italy, because they were under the power of the Pope and of the Austrian Emperor. Veneto was added to Italy in 1866, after a war against Austria, and Latium along with Rome was conquered by the Italian troops in 1870, when they entered the Pontifical State and declared the end of the temporal power of the Pope. The Pope, angry at this usurpation, declared himself prisoner in the Italian State, preventing Catholic people from participating in political life. Finally, in 1870, the Italian state was complete. Italy participated in World War I as an ally of Great Britain, France, and Russia against the Central Powers. The war was wholly fought on the Eastern border, near Austria. After the 'Caporetto defeat', it seemed that the war would be lost, but in 1918 the Central Powers surrendered, and Italy gained the Trentino-South Tyrol, which once belonged to Austria, though inhabited by Italian people.

1922 saw the rise of a new Italian movement, led by Benito Mussolini, leader of Fascism in Italy. He became Head of Government and dictator, calling himself 'duce'. He began a friendship with the German dictator Hitler and followed him into World War II. Italy entered war only in 1940 as an ally of Germany against France, Great Britain and Russia. On July 25, 1943, Mussolini was deposed by the Great Council of Fascism and on September 8, 1943, Badoglio declared that the war as an ally of Germany was ended. Italy started fighting as an ally of France and the UK, but Italian troops, due to the confusion deriving from the change, did not know who to shoot at. In Northern Italy a movement called Resistenza started to fight against the German invaders. Mussolini tried to create another Northern Italian fascist state, the Republic of Salò, but it had no success. On April 25, 1945, Italy became free. The state became a republic on June 2, 1946, after a referendum in which for the first time women could vote. Italian people decided to put down the Savoia dynasty, who had been reigning since the beginning the state, in favour of a republican government.

[change] Transportation

The railway network in Italy totals 16,627 kilometres (10,331 mi). Italy is ranked 17th in the world. High speed trains include ETR-class trains which travels at 300 km/h (190 mph).

[change] Notes

1. ↑ http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/

[change] See also

• Italian cloth
• Italian cuisine
• Italian dressing
• Italian iron
• Italian politics

[change] Other websites

• Italia.it
• Italian Tourism
• Italy Travel Guide
• Italy
• Italy- VR panoramas by Tolomeus

v • d • e Regions of Italy
Abruzzo - Aosta Valley - Apulia- Basilicata - Calabria - Campania - Emilia-Romagna - Friuli-Venezia Giulia - Latium - Liguria - Lombardy - Marche - Molise - Piedmont - Sardinia - Sicily - Tuscany - Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol - Umbria - Veneto

v • d • e Countries and territories of Europe
Countries	Albania - Andorra - Armenia - Austria - Azerbaijan1 - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Cyprus2 - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Georgia1 - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta - Moldova - Monaco - Montenegro - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Republic of Macedonia - Romania - Russia1 - San Marino - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey1 - Ukraine - United Kingdom - Vatican City
Dependencies	Akrotiri and Dhekelia2 - Faroe Islands - Gibraltar - Guernsey - Jan Mayen - Jersey - Isle of Man - Svalbard
Unrecognised	Abkhazia
1. Country partly in Asia. 2. Geographically in Asia, but often counted as part of Europe for cultural and historical reasons.

European Union countries
Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom

v • d • e G8 countries
Canada  · France  · Germany  · Japan  · Italy  · United Kingdom  · Russia  · United States

v • d • e North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Members	Belgium · Bulgaria · Canada · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Turkey · United Kingdom · United States
Candidates	Albania · Croatia · Georgia · Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) ·  *