Italy

Italy (Italia), officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana), is located on the in, and on the two largest islands in the ,  and. Italy shares its northern  with, ,  and. The independent states of and the  are s within the Italian Peninsula, while  is an Italian exclave in Switzerland.

Italy has been the home of many s, such as the and the, and later was the birthplace of the movement of the , that began in  and spread all over Europe. Italy's capital has been the center of, and is the center of the.

Today, Italy is a democratic republic, and a with the   (nominal) and the 20th-highest  rating in the world. It is a founding member of what is now the (having signed the  in 1957), and also a member of the, the , the , and the. Beginning, , Italy became a of the.

Etymology
The origin of the term "Italy" (It: Italia), from Latin Ītalia, is uncertain. According to one of the more common explanations, the term was borrowed through, from Víteliú, meaning "land of young cattle" (cf.  vitulus "calf",  vitlo "calf") and named for the god of cattle,. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italian tribes and is often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the.

The name Italia applied to a part of what is now. According to, it originally only referred to the southern portion of the peninsula (modern ), but by his time  and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of  as well. The Greeks gradually came to use the name "Italia" for a greater region, but it was not until the time of the Roman conquests that the term was expanded to cover the entire peninsula.

Prehistory to Magna Graecia
Excavations throughout Italy reveal human presence dating back to the period (the "Old Stone Age") some 200,000 years ago. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC, driven by unsettled conditions at home, were established in places as widely separated as the eastern coast of the  and  (what is now, ). They included settlements in and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula. The Romans called the area of Sicily and the foot of the boot of Italy  (Latin, “Greater Greece”), since it was so densely inhabited by.

Ancient Rome


Ancient was a  that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the  circa the 8th century BC to a colossal  straddling the. In its twelve-century existence, Roman civilization shifted from a, to a based on a combination of  and , to an. It came to dominate and the entire area surrounding the  through  and.

Italia, under the and later, was the name of the. During the Republic, Italia (which extended at the time from  to ) was not a, but rather the territory of the city of , thus having a special status: for example, military commanders were not allowed to bring their armies within Italia, and  passing the Rubicon with his legions marked the start of the civil war.

From the 3rd century, the Roman empire went into decline. The, including , , and Italy, broke into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. The eastern empire, governed from, is usually referred to as the after 476, the traditional date for the "" and for the subsequent onset of the , also known as the.

The Early, Mid and Late Middle Ages


In the sixth century AD the  reconquered Italy from the. The invasion of a new wave of tribes, the, doomed his attempt to resurrect the  but the repercussions of Justinian's failure resounded further still. For the next thirteen centuries, whilst new s arose in the lands north of the Alps, the Italian political landscape was a patchwork of feuding s, petty tyrannies, and foreign invaders.

For several centuries the armies and s, Justinian's successors, were a tenacious force in Italian affairs - strong enough to prevent other powers such as the, the , or the from establishing a unified Italian Kingdom, but too weak to drive out these "interlopers" and recreate Roman Italy. Later Imperial orders such as the s, the s and s also managed to impose their overlordship in Italy. But their successes were as transitory as Justinian's and a unified Italian state remained a dream until the nineteenth century.

No Empire could succeed in unifying Italy - or in achieving more than a temporary hegemony - because its success threatened the survival of medieval Italy's other powers: the, the Papacy, and the. These - and the descendants of the Lombards, who became fused with earlier Italian ethnic groups - conspired against, fought, and eventually destroyed any attempt to create a dominant political order in Italy. It was against this vacuum of authority that one must view the rise of the institutions of the and the .

Comuni and Signorie
In Italian history the rise of the Signorie (sing.: Signoria) is a phase often associated with the decline of the medieval commune system of government and the rise of the dynastic state. In this context the word Signoria (here to be understood as "Lordly Power") is used in opposition to the institution of the Commune or city republic.

Indeed, contemporary observers and modern historians see the rise of the Signoria as a reaction to the failure of the Communi to maintain law-and-order and suppress party strife and civil discord. In the anarchic conditions that often prevailed in medieval Italian city states, people looked to strong men to restore order and disarm the feuding elites. In times of anarchy or crisis, cities sometimes offered the Signoria to individuals perceived as strong enough to save the state. For example, the state of  offered the Signoria to  in the hope that he would protect the independence of Pisa from its long term enemy. Similarly, offered the Signoria to.

Types of Signoria
The composition and specific functions of the Signoria varied from city to city. In some states (such as under the  family or Florence in the days of  and ) the  was what we would term today a  in which the dominant party had vested the Signoria of the state in a single family or dynasty.

In Florence this arrangement was unofficial as it was not constitutionally formalized before the were expelled from the city in 1494.

In other states (such as the of the ) the dynasty's right to the Signoria was a formally recognized part of the Commune's constitution, which had been "ratified" by the People and recognized by the  or the Holy Roman Empire.

Maritime Republics
Italy at this time was notable for its merchant, including the and the  Maritime Republics. They were city-states and they were generally s in that they were formally independent, though most of them originated from territories once belonging to the (the main exceptions being Genoa and Pisa). All these cities during the time of their independence had similar (though not identical) systems of government in which the merchant class had considerable power. Although in practice these were, and bore little resemblance to a modern , the relative political freedom they afforded was conducive to academic and artistic advancement.

The four classic Maritime Republics in Italy are, , , and they are always given in that order, reflecting the temporal sequence of their dominance. However, other towns in Italy also have a history of being Maritime Republics, though historically less prominent. These include, , , and, in  (under Italian cultural influence),  and.

Venice and Genoa were Europe's gateway to trade with the East, and a producer of fine, while Florence was a capital of , , banks and. The wealth such business brought to Italy meant that large public and private artistic projects could be commissioned. The Maritime Republics were heavily involved in the, providing support but most especially taking advantage of the political and trading opportunities resulting from these wars. The, notionally intended to "liberate" Jerusalem, actually entailed the Venetian conquest of Zara and.

Each of the Maritime Republics over time had dominion over different overseas lands, including many of the islands of the and especially  and, lands on the , and lands in the  and.

Renaissance


The unique political structures of late Italy have led some to theorize that its unusual social climate allowed the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence. Italy was divided into smaller  and territories: the  controlled the south, the  and the  the center, the  and the ese the north and west, and the  the east. Fifteenth-century Italy was one of the most urbanised areas in Europe. Most historians agree that the ideas that characterized the Renaissance had their origin in late 13th century, in particular with the writings of (1265–1321) and  (1304–1374), as well as the painting of  (1267-1337).

The Renaissance was so called because it was a "rebirth" of certain classical ideas that had long been lost to Europe. It has been argued that the fuel for this rebirth was the rediscovery of ancient texts that had been forgotten by Western civilization, but were preserved in some libraries and in the, and the translations of  and  texts into.

Renaissance scholars such as and  scoured the libraries in search of works by such classical authors as,  and. The works of and  writers (such as, , , and ) and  were imported into the Christian world, providing new intellectual material for European scholars.

The in 1348 inflicted a terrible blow to Italy, killing one third of the population.

The recovery from the disaster led to a resurgence of cities, trade and economy which greatly stimulated the successive phase of the and  (15th-16th centuries) when Italy again returned to be the centre of, strongly influencing the other European countries with Courts like Este in  and De Medici in.

Foreign Domination (16th - 19th centuries)
After a century where the fragmented system of Italian states and principalities were able to maintain a relative independence and a balance of power in the peninsula, in 1494 the French king opened the first of a series of invasions, lasting half of the, and a competition between  and  for the possession of the country. Ultimately Spain prevailed (the in 1559 recognised the Spanish possession of the  and the ) and for almost two centuries became the  in Italy. The holy alliance between and the Holy See resulted in the systematic persecution of any Protestant movement, with the result that Italy remained a Catholic country with marginal Protestant presence. During its long rule on Italy, Spain systematically spoiled the country and imposed an heavy taxation. Moreover, Spanish administration was slow and inefficient.

succeeded Spain as hegemon in Italy after the (1713), having acquired the State of  and the Kingdom of Naples. The Austrian domination, thanks to the embraced by, was a considerable improvement. The northern part of Italy, under the direct control of, gained economic dynamism and intellectual fervour.

The and the  (1796-1815) introduced the ideas of, ,  and. The peninsula was not a main battle field as in the past but (born in  in 1769, one year after the cession of the island from Genoa to France) changed completely its political map, destroying in 1799 the, which never recovered its independence. The states founded by Napoleon with the support of minority groups of Italian patriots were short-lived and did not survive the defeat of the French Emperor in 1815.

Risorgimento (1848-1870)


The creation of the Kingdom of Italy was the result of concerted efforts by Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire.

The industrialized from 1830 onward. A constitution, the was enacted in the year of revolutions, 1848, under liberal pressure. Under the same pressure, the was declared on Austria. After initial success the war took a turn for the worse and the Kingdom of Sardinia lost.

After the, the apparent leader of the Italian unification movement was Italian nationalist. He was popular amongst southern Italians. Garibaldi led the Italian republican drive for unification in southern Italy, but the northern Italian monarchy of the in the  whose government was led by, also had the ambition of establishing a united Italian state. Though the kingdom had no physical connection to (deemed the natural capital of Italy), the kingdom had successfully challenged  in the, liberating  from Austrian rule. The kingdom also had established important alliances which helped it improve the possibility of Italian unification, such as and  in the.

In 1866 Prussian Prime Minister offered Victor Emmanuel II an alliance with the  in the. In exchange Prussia would allow Italy to annex Austrian-controlled. King Emmanuel agreed to the alliance and the began. The victory against Austria allowed Italy to annex Venice. The one major obstacle to Italian unity remained Rome.

In 1870, Prussia went to war with France starting the. To keep the large Prussian army at bay, France abandoned its positions in Rome in order to fight the Prussians. Italy benefited from Prussia's victory against France by being able to take over the Papal State from French authority. Italian unification was completed, and shortly afterward Italy's capital was moved to Rome.

Liberalism to Fascism (1870-1922)
In, and  began in the last part of the. The, at the same time, was overcrowded, forcing millions of people to search for a better life abroad. It is estimated that around one million Italian people moved to other European countries such as, , , and. Parliamentary democracy developed considerably in the. The Sardinian of 1848, extended to the whole  in 1861, provided for basic freedoms, but the electoral laws excluded the non-propertied and uneducated classes from voting. In 1913 male universal suffrage was allowed. The Party became the main political party, outclassing the traditional liberal and conservative organisations. Starting from the last two decades of the nineteenth century, Italy developed its own colonial Empire. Italian colonies were and. In addition, in 1911, 's government agreed to sending forces to occupy Libya. Italy declared war on the which held. The annexation of Libya and of the Dodecanese (a group of island in the Aegean Sea) caused nationalists to advocate Italy's domination of the by occupying  as well as the Adriatic coastal region of.

The path to a modern liberal democracy was interrupted by the tragedy of the (1914-1918). At first Italy stayed neutral, but in 1915, under pressure from and France, Italy signed the  by which she became an allied belligerent. In return, the two Powers promised that, at the end of the war, Italy would receive Trento, Trieste, Istria, Dalmatia and some territories in Turkey. Italy defeated the in November 1918. During the war, 600,000 Italians died and the economy collapsed with high inflation and unemployment. In the Peace treaty, Italy obtained just Trento, Trieste and Istria but not other lands scheduled from the Pact of London, so this victory was defined as "mutilated". Subsequently, after the, Italy formally annexed the (Possedimenti Italiani dell'Egeo), that she had occupied during the war.

Fascism and World War II (1922-1945)
After the devastations of World War I, many Italian workers joined lengthy strikes to demand more rights and better working conditions. Some, inspired by the, began taking over their factories, mills, farms and workplaces. The liberal establishment, fearing a revolution, started to endorse the small, led by , whose violent reaction to the strikes (by means of the "" party militia) was often compared to the relatively moderate reactions of the government. After several years of struggle, in October 1922 the fascists attempted a coup (the "Marcia su Roma", i.e. ); the fascist forces were largely inferior, but the king ordered the army not to intervene, formed an alliance with Mussolini, and convinced the liberal party to endorse a fascist-led government. Over the next few years, Mussolini (who became known as "Il Duce", Italian for "the leader") eliminated all political parties (including the liberals) and curtailed personal liberties under the pretext of preventing revolution.

In 1935, Mussolini declared war on on a territorial pretext. Ethiopia was subjugated in a few months. This resulted in the alienation of Italy from its traditional allies, France and the United Kingdom, and its support for Nazi Germany. A first pact with Germany was concluded in 1936, and in 1938 (the ). Italy supported Franco's revolution in the Spanish civil war and 's pretensions in central Europe, accepting the annexation of Austria to Germany in 1938, although the disappearance of a buffer state between Germany and Italy was unfavourable for the country.

In October 1938 Mussolini brought together the United Kingdom, France and Germany of 's integrity. On April 7,1939, Italy occupied, a de-facto protectorate for decades, but in September 1939, after the invasion of , Mussolini decided not to intervene on Germany's side, due to the poor preparation of the armed forces. Italy entered the war in 1940 when France was beaten. Mussolini hoped that Italy would be able to win in a very short time.

Italy invaded in October 1940 via Albania but was forced to withdraw after a few months. After Italy conquered in 1940, a counter-attack by the Allies led to the loss of the whole  in the. Italy was also defeated by Allied forces in North Africa and was saved only by the German armed forces led by.

After several defeats, Italy was invaded in June 1943. King Vittorio Emanuele and a group of fascists set themselves against Mussolini. In July 1943, Mussolini was arrested. As the old pre-Fascist political parties resurfaced, secret peace negotiations with the Allies were started. In September 1943, Italy surrendered. Immediately Germany invaded the country and Italy was divided for almost two years and became a battlefield. The Nazi-occupied part of the country, where a under Mussolini was reconstituted, saw a savage civil war between  ("") and Nazi and fascist troops. The country was liberated on. The liberation is still celebrated on.

The First Republic (1946-1992)
In 1946, 's son,, was forced to abdicate. after the result of a popular held on , a day celebrated since as. This was the first election in Italy allowing women to vote. The republic won with a 9% margin in a referendum whose results are disputable as fraudulent. The Republican Constitution was approved and came into force on.

Under the of 1947, the eastern border area was annexed by. In 1954, the free territory of Trieste was divided between Italy and Yugoslavia. In 1949, Italy became an ally of the United States, which helped to revive the Italian economy through the. Moreover, Italy became a member of the, which later transformed into the European Union. In 1950s and 1960s the country enjoyed prolonged economic growth.

Italy faced political instability in the 1970s, which ended in the 1980s. Known as the, this period was characterized by widespread social conflicts and terrorist acts carried out by extra-parliamentary movements. The assassination of the leader of the (DC),, led to the end of a "" between the DC and the  (PCI). In the 1980s, for the first time, two governments were managed by a republican and a socialist rather than by a member of DC. At the end of the Lead years, the PCI gradually increased their votes thanks to. The (PSI), led by, became more and more critical of the communists and of the ; Craxi himself pushed in favour of US president 's positioning of  missiles in Italy.

In 2000, a Parliament Commission report from the left-of-center coalition concluded that the strategy of tension had been supported by the United States to "stop the PCI, and to a certain degree also the PSI, from reaching executive power in the country". The report was dismissed by the centrist Republican party, which called it "worthy of a 1970s Maoist group". A source in the U.S. Embassy in Rome characterized the report as "allegations that have come up over the last 20 years" and have "absolutely nothing to them", while other commentators deemed it nothing more than "a manoeuvre dictated primarily by domestic political considerations".

The Second Republic (1992-present)


From 1992 to 1997, Italy faced significant challenges as voters disenchanted with political paralysis, massive government debt, extensive corruption, and organized crime's considerable influence collectively called the political system. As Tangentopoli was under a set of judicial investigations by the name of (Italian for "clean hands"), voters demanded political, economic, and ethical reforms. The Tangentopoli scandals involved all major parties, but especially those in the government coalition: between 1992 and 1994 the underwent a severe crisis and was dissolved, splitting up into several pieces, among whom the  and the. The (and the other governing minor parties) completely dissolved.

The 1994 elections also swept media magnate (leader of "" coalition) into office as Prime Minister. Berlusconi, however, was forced to step down in December 1994 when the Lega Nord withdrew support. The Berlusconi government was succeeded by a headed by Prime Minister, which left office in early 1996.

In April 1996, national elections led to the victory of a center-left coalition under the leadership of. Prodi's first government became the third-longest to stay in power before he narrowly lost a vote of confidence, by three votes, in October 1998. A new government was formed by leader and former communist, but in April 2000, following poor performance by his coalition in regional elections, D'Alema resigned. The succeeding center-left government, including most of the same parties, was headed by (social-democratic), who previously served as Prime Minister in 1992-93, from April 2000 until June 2001. In 2001 the centre-right and  was able to remain in power for a complete five year mandate, becoming the longest government in post-war Italy. Berlusconi participated in the.

The last returned Prodi in the government with a slim majority in the Senate. In the first year of his government, Mr. Prodi has followed a cautious policy of economic liberalization and reduction of public debt.

Topography
Italy occupies a long, -shaped peninsula, surrounded on the west by the and on the east by the. It is bounded by, , , and to the north. The form the peninsula's backbone;  form its northern boundary. The largest of its northern lakes is (143 sq mi; 370 km²); the, its principal river, flows from the Alps on Italy's western border and crosses the  to the Adriatic Sea. Several islands form part of Italy; the largest are (9,926 sq mi; 25,708 km²) and  (9,301 sq mi; 24,090 km²).

Volcanoes
There are several active in Italy:, the largest active volcano in Europe; ; ; and , the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe.

Climate
The climate in Italy is highly diverse and can be far from the stereotypical depending on the location. Most of the inland northern areas of Italy (for example, , and ) have a often classified as  ( Cfa). The coastal areas of and most of the peninsula south of  generally fit the Mediterranean stereotype ( Csa). The coastal areas of the peninsula can be very different from the interior higher altitudes and valleys, particularly during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions enjoy mild winters and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer.

Government and politics
The 1948 established a   (),  consisting of a  (Camera dei Deputati) and a  (Senato della Repubblica), a separate, and an  composed of a Council of Ministers  (Consiglio dei ministri), headed by the  (Presidente del consiglio dei ministri).

The (Presidente della Repubblica) is elected for seven years by the parliament sitting jointly with a small number of regional delegates. The president nominates the prime minister, who proposes the other ministers (formally named by the president). The Council of Ministers must retain the support (fiducia) of both houses.

The houses of are popularly and directly elected through a complex electoral system (latest amendment in 2005) which combines proportional representation with a majority prize for the largest coalition (Chamber). All s older than 18 can vote. However, to vote for the senate, the voter must be at least 25 or older. The electoral system in the is based upon  representation. During the elections in 2006, the two competing coalitions were separated by few thousand votes, and in the Chamber the centre-left coalition (L'Unione; :  ) got 345 Deputies against 277 for the centre-right one (Casa delle Libertà; English: ), while in the Senate l'Ulivo got only two Senators more than absolute majority. The has 630  and the Senate 315 elected senators; in addition, the Senate includes former presidents and appointed senators for life (no more than five) by the President of the Republic according to special constitutional provisions. As of, there are seven  (of which three are former Presidents). Both houses are elected for a maximum of five years, but both may be dissolved by the President before the expiration of their normal term if the Parliament is unable to elect a stable government. In the post war history, this has happened in 1972, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1994 and 1996.

A peculiarity of the is the representation given to  permanently living abroad (about 2.7 million people). Among the 630 Deputies and the 315 Senators there are respectively 12 and 6 elected in four distinct foreign constituencies. Those members of Parliament were elected for the first time in April 2006 and they enjoy the same rights as members elected in Italy. Legislative bills may originate in either house and must be passed by a majority in both. The Italian judicial system is based on modified by the  and later statutes. The (Corte Costituzionale) rules on the conformity of laws with the  and is a post-World War II innovation.

Foreign relations
Italy was a founding member of the European Community--now the (EU). Italy was admitted to the in 1955 and is a member and strong supporter of the  (NATO), the  (OECD), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the. Its recent turns as rotating Presidency of international organisations include the CSCE (the forerunner of the OSCE) in 1994, the EU  in 2001 and from July to December 2003.

Italy supports the United Nations and its international security activities. Italy deployed troops in support of UN peacekeeping missions in, , and East Timor and provides support for NATO and UN operations in , and. Italy deployed over 2,000 troops to in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in February 2003. Italy still supports international efforts to reconstruct and stabilize, but it has withdrawn its of some 3,200 troops as of November 2006, maintaining only  humanitarian workers and other civilian personnel.

In August 2006 Italy sent about 3,000 soldiers to for the. Furthermore, since  an Italian,  is the commander of the UN force in the country.

Military


Article 11 of the says: "Italy rejects war as an instrument of aggression against the freedoms of others peoples and as a means for settling international controversies; it agrees, on conditions of equality with other states, to the limitations of sovereignty necessary for an order that ensures peace and justice among Nations; it promotes and encourages international organizations having such ends in view".

The Italian are divided into four branches:
 * (Army)
 * (Air Force)
 * (Navy)
 * (Gendarmerie)

The Italian are under the command of the Italian Supreme Defense Council, presided over by the. The total number of military personnel is approximately 308,000. Italy has the  in the world.

The Italian Army (Esercito Italiano) is the ground defense force of the Italian Republic. It has recently (July 29th, 2004) become a professional all-volunteer force of 115,687 personnel. Its most famous combat vehicles are, and , and  attack helicopters, recently deployed in UN missions; but the Esercito Italiano also has at its disposal a large number of  and  armored vehicles.

The Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI) is the of Italy. It was founded as an independent service arm on the, 1923, by as the  (which equates to "Royal Air Force"). After, when Italy was made a by referendum, the Regia Aeronautica was given its current name. Today the Aeronautica Militare has a strength of 45,879 and operates 585 aircraft, including 219 combat jets and 114 helicopters. As a stopgap and as replacement for leased interceptors, the AMI has leased 30  Block 15 ADF and four F-16B Block 10 Fighting Falcons, with an option for some more. The coming years also will see the introduction of 121, replacing the leased F-16 Fighting Falcons. Furthermore updates are foreseen on the Tornado IDS/IDT and the AMX-fleet. The transport capacity is guaranteed by a fleet of 22 C-130Js, also a completely-new developed G222, called C-27J Spartan (12 aircraft ordered), will enter service replacing the G222's.

The Marina Militare (the Italian Navy) is one of the four branches of the of Italy. It was created in 1946, as the Navy of the Italian Republic, from the. Today's Marina Militare is a modern with a strength of 35,261 and ships of every type, such as s, s, modern s, submarines, amphibious ships and other smaller ships such as oceanographic research ships.

The Marina Militare is now equipping herself with a bigger (the ), new s, submarines and multipurpose s. In modern times, the Marina Militare, being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), has taken part in many coalition peacekeeping operations. The Marina Militare is considered the fourth strongest of the world.

The Carabinieri are the and  of Italy. At the of the  in 2004, the Carabinieri was given the mandate to establish a Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units (CoESPU) to spearhead the development of training and doctrinal standards for civilian police units attached to international peacekeeping missions.

Regions, provinces, and municipalities


Italy is subdivided into 20 regions (regioni, singular regione). Five of these regions enjoy a that enables them to enact legislation on some of their specific local matters, and are marked by an *. It is further divided into 109 provinces (province) and 8,101 municipalities (comuni).

Population
The latest population estimate from (Italian Statistics Office) shows 59,206,382 inhabitants in Italy in February 2007, an increase of 49,084 persons from a month earlier. Italy has the fourth largest population in the (after Germany, France and the United Kingdom), and the 22nd in the world. Gradual increase of population is mainly supplemented by immigrants and an increase in life expectancy of 79.81 years. Despite population growth, Italy is rapidly aging. Though the Italian fertility rate is climbing gradually, it sits at 1.35 children per woman, almost one in five Italian inhabitants is a pensioner; if this aging trend continues, the Italian population could shrink by a quarter by 2050.

Italy has the fifth highest population density in Europe with 196 persons per square kilometre. The highest density is in Northwestern Italy, as two regions out of twenty (Lombardy and Piedmont) combined, contain one quarter of the Italian population, where an estimated 7.4 million people live in the metropolitan area. The literacy rate in Italy is 98% overall, and school is mandatory for children aged 6 to 18. Approximately two thirds of the population live in, which is much lower than other nations.

Largest cities
Italian cities with a population of 300,000 or more ( data, December 2006):



Metropolitan areas
According to the, these are the major Italian metropolitan areas:

Migration and ethnicity
Italy is a destination for immigrants from all over the world. At the end of 2006, foreigners comprised 5% of the population or 2,938,922 persons, an increase of 270,000 since the previous year. In some Italian cities, such as, , , and , immigrants total more than 10 percent of the population.



The most recent wave of migration has been from surrounding European nations, particularily Eastern Europe, replacing North Africans as a major source of migrants. Around 500,000 Romanians are officially registered as living in Italy, but unofficial estimates put the actual number at double that figure or perhaps even more. As of 2006, migrants came from (39.14%),  (17.77%),  (17.43%),  (8.90%). Smaller groups came from sub-saharan Africa, North America and other European Union nations.

Religion


is by far the largest religion in the country. Although the Catholic Church is no longer officially the, it still plays a role in the nation's political affairs, partly due to the 's location in Rome. 87.8% of Italians identified as , although only about one-third of these described themselves as active members (36.8%).

Other groups in Italy include  more than 700,000 , including 470,000 newcomers  and some 180,000 , 550,000  and  (0.8%), of whom 400,000 are members of the , 235,685  (0.04%) , 30,000  , 25,000 , 22,000 , 15,000  (plus some 5,000 Free Baptists), 7,000 , 5,000  (affiliated to the Waldensian Church).

The country's oldest religious minority is the community, comprising roughly 45,000 people. It is no longer the largest non-Christian group.

As a result of significant immigration from other parts of the world, some 825,000  (1.4%) live in Italy, though only 50,000 are s. In addition, there are 110,000  (0.2%)  , 70,000 s , and 70,000  (0.1%) in Italy.

Economy


According to GDP calculations, Italy was ranked as the seventh largest economy in the world in 2006, behind the, , , , , and , and the fourth largest in Europe. According to the OECD, in 2004 Italy was the world's sixth-largest exporter of manufactured goods. This economy remains divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed  south. The Mafia represents the biggest segment of the Italian economy, accounting for more than $127 billion; making organized crime 7 percent of Italy's GDP. 

Most raw materials needed by industry and more than 75% of energy requirements are imported. Over the past decade, Italy has pursued a tight fiscal policy in order to meet the requirements of the and has benefited from lower interest and inflation rates. Italy joined the from its introduction in 1999.

Italy's economic performance has at times lagged behind that of its partners, and the current government has enacted numerous short-term reforms aimed at improving competitiveness and long-term growth. It has moved slowly, however, on implementing certain structural reforms favoured by economists, such as lightening the high tax burden and overhauling Italy's rigid labour market and expensive system, because of the economic slowdown and opposition from.



Italy has a smaller number of world class multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size. Instead, the country's main economic strength has been its large base of small and medium size companies. Some of these companies manufacture products that are technologically moderately advanced and therefore face increasing competition from China and other emerging Asian economies which are able to undercut them on labour costs. These Italian companies are responding to the Asian competition by concentrating on products with a higher technological content, while moving lower-tech manufacturing to plants in countries where labour is less expensive. The small average size of Italian companies remains a limiting factor, and the government has been working to encourage integration and mergers and to reform the rigid regulations that have traditionally been an obstacle to the development of larger corporations in the country.

Italy's major exports are motor vehicles, chemicals, petrochemicals and electric goods , aerospace and defense tech , firearms  ; but the country's more famous exports are in the fields of fashion , food industry , luxury vehicles  and motoryachts.

is very important to the Italian economy: with over 37 million tourists a year, Italy is as the fifth major tourist destination in the world. (see ).

Transport
The network in Italy totals 19,394 kilometres (12,051 ), ranking the country 16th in the world, and is operated by. High speed trains include -class trains, of which the travels at 300 km/h (190 ).

In 1991 was created, a  owned by  (itself owned by ) for the planning and construction of  lines along Italy's most important and saturated transport routes. These lines are often referred as "TAV" lines. The purpose of TAV construction is to aid travel along Italy's most saturated rail lines and to add tracks to these lines, namely the Milan-Naples and Turin-Milan-Venice corridors. One of the focuses of the project is to turn the rail network of Italy into a modern and high-tech passenger rail system in accordance with updated an rail standards. A secondary purpose is to introduce to the country and its high-priority corridors. When demand on regular lines is lessened with the opening of dedicated high-speed lines, those regular lines will be used primarily for low-speed regional rail service and freight trains. With these ideas realised, the Italian train network can be integrated with other European rail networks, particularly the French, German , and Spanish systems.

There are approximately 654,676 km(406,797 mi) of serviceable roadway in Italy, including 6,957 km (4,323 mi) of expressways.

There are approximately 133 airports in Italy, including the two of  (near Milan) and  (near Rome).

There are 27 major ports in Italy, the largest is in, which is also the second largest in the , after. 2,400 km (1,500 mi) of waterways traverse Italy.

Culture


Italy, as a state, did not exist until the unification of the country in 1861. Due to this comparatively late unification, and the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the, many traditions and customs that we now recognise as distinctly Italian can be identified by their regions of origin. Despite the political and social isolation of these regions, Italy's contributions to the cultural and historical heritage of remain immense. Italy is home to the greatest number of  (41) to date.

Visual Art
Italy has seen many artistic and intellectual movements that spread throughout Europe and beyond, including the and. Italy's artistic heritage includes the achievements of, , , , , , , , and.

Literature
With the basis of the modern established through the  poet,, whose greatest work, the , is considered amongst the foremost literary statements produced in Europe during the , there is no shortage of celebrated literary figures; the writers and poets , , , , , and , whose best known vehicle of expression, the , was invented in Italy. Prominent philosophers include, , , and. Modern literary figures and Nobel laureates are nationalist poet in 1906, realist writer  in 1926, modern theatre author  in 1936, poets  in 1959 and  in 1975, satiryst and theatre author  in 1997.

Science
In science, made advancements toward the, and  was the quintessential. Italy has been the home of scientists and inventors: the physicist, one of the fathers of and head of the ; the astronomer ; the physicist , inventor of the ; the mathematicians  and ; Nobel Prize in Physics laureate , inventor of the ; and , candidate for.



Music
From to, music has played an important role in Italian culture. Having given birth to, Italy provides many of the foundations of the classical music tradition. Instruments associated with classical music, including the and, were invented in Italy, and many of the existing classical music forms can trace their roots back to innovations of sixteenth and seventeenth century Italian music (such as the , , and ). Italy's most famous composers include the Renaissance composers and, the Baroque composers ,  and , the Classical composers  and , and the Romantic composers  and. Modern Italian composers such as and  proved significant in the development of experimental and electronic music.

Sport
Popular sports include, (2nd national team sport since the '50s), , , , , ,  (mainly in Milan, Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto),  and  motor racing. The Italians also enjoy many other sports.

are most popular in the Northern regions, with Italians competing in international games and Olympic venues. Sports are incorporated into Italian festivities like (see also ), and the  race  that takes place in Venice on the first Sunday of September.

s venues have extended from the of  in the  to the  of contemporary Rome, where football clubs compete.

The most popular sport in Italy is, the being one of the most famous competitions in the world.

Languages


The official language of Italy is, a descendant of the and a direct descendant of  (Some 75 percent of Italian words are of Latin origin). The Tuscan dialect (or ) spoken in was promoted as the standard in large part due to its literary heritage (  is often credited with the emergence of the Tuscan dialect as a standard). , influenced by, also promoted Tuscan as the standard literary language (volgare illustre). The spread of the and s (such as petrarchism and ) also furthered Italian standardization.

When Italy was unified in 1861, Italian existed mainly as a. Many s were spoken throughout the Italian Peninsula, each with local variants. Following Italian unification, one of ministers, is said to have stated that having created Italy, all that remained was to create Italians (a ).

The establishment of a national education system led to a decrease in variation in the languages spoken across the country. Standardization was further expanded in the 1950s and 1960s thanks to economic growth and the rise of and  (the   helped set an Italian standard).

Some historic romance languages spoken in Italy are not considered Italian dialects, but are languages in their own right. These include, , , , and other Gallo-Italian languages of the north. These languages have given way to regional varieties of Italian. is often used in s and.

In addition to the regional linguistic varieties and dialects of standard Italian, a number of languages enjoying some form of official recognition are spoken:
 * In Sardinia there is the largest group of non-Italian speakers, some 1.3 million people, they speak, a Romance language which retains pre-Latin words.
 * A community of 700,000 in speak, a Rhaeto-Romance language.
 * The has a majority -speaking population . This area was annexed from  by Italy under the terms of the 1919  after . Some German-speaking communities also exist in other parts of .  is a German language related to  spoken in some parts of   and the s in Aosta Valley . In total some 300,000 or so Italians speak German as their first language. Some identify themselves as.
 * A community of 175.000 in speak, a  of the  and  with ,  and  influences.
 * The has a majority -speaking population (87%), in total some 129.000; cause the migration of a large group of Corsicans from south- from 15th to 19th century.
 * Some 120,000 people live in the region, where a dialect of  is spoken that is similar to dialects spoken in . About 1,400 people living in two isolated towns in  speak another dialect of Franco-Provençal.
 * The, of whom there are around 100,000 in southern Italy and in central , the result of past migrations, are speakers of the Arbëresh dialect of.
 * About 80,000 -speakers live in the north-eastern region of near the border with Slovenia.
 * In the mountains of  and  there are some 40,000 speakers of the  language.
 * Scattered across ( and ) are some 30,000 -speakers&mdash;considered to be the last surviving traces of the region's  heritage. They speak a Greek dialect,.
 * Some 15,000 speakers reside around the area of  in the north-west corner of ; cause the migration of a large group of Catalans from.
 * Some 12,000 speakers reside in  and, in the south-west corner of ; cause the migration of a large group of ligurians from ,.
 * In the region of central-south Italy some 4,000 people speak . These are the, descendants of a group of people who migrated from the  in the Middle Ages.

Government

 * Italia.it Official Tourism Website
 * President of the Republic of Italy
 * Parliament
 * Chamber of Deputies
 * Senate
 * Main Institutional Portal
 * Council of Ministries
 * Constitutional Court
 * Supreme Court
 * Court of Accounts
 * Ministry of Foreign Affairs
 * Ministry of the Interior
 * Ministry of Education
 * Ministry of Education - International Exchanges
 * Ministry of Health
 * Ministry of Defense
 * Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
 * Ministry for Economic Development
 * Ministry of Agriculture
 * Ministry of Justice

Public institutions

 * National Statistics Office
 * ENIT Italian State Tourism Board
 * ENIT North America
 * Italian Railways
 * Italian National and Regional Parks

Additional profiles

 * by the BBC News
 * by the CIA Factbook
 * by the Economist
 * by the U.S. Department of State
 * by the World Bank

Others

 * History of Italy: Primary Documents
 * List and maps of archaeological sites in Italy
 * WWW-VL: History: Italy at IUE

Travel


Italia