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Updated:Monday 13th October 2014

Italy Definition

Italy is a country in Western Europe; Italian Republic Italy has been inhabited since Paleolithic times. The Etruscan civilization arose in the 9th century BC and was overthrown by the Romans in the 4th–3rd centuries BC (see Roman Republic and Empire). Barbarian invasions of the 4th–5th centuries AD destroyed the Western Roman Empire. Italy's political fragmentation lasted for centuries but did not diminish its impact on European culture, notably during the Renaissance. From the 15th to the 18th century, Italian lands were ruled by France, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and Austria. When Napoleonic rule ended in 1815, Italy was again a grouping of independent states. Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. The Risorgimento successfully united most of Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia by 1861, and the unification of peninsular Italy was completed by 1870. Italy joined the Allies during World War I, but social unrest in the 1920s brought to power the Fascist movement of Benito Mussolini, and Italy allied itself with Nazi Germany in World War II. Defeated by the Allies in 1943, Italy proclaimed itself a republic in 1946.A democratic republic replaced the monarchy and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, and corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north. (Wikipedia) - Italy This article is about the republic. For other uses, see Italy (disambiguation). "Italia" and "Italian Republic" redirect here. For other uses, see Italia (disambiguation). For the short-lived 19th-century state, see Italian Republic (Napoleonic). Italian Republic Repubblica italiana Official languages Demonym Government Legislature Formation Area Population Currency Time zone Drives on the Calling code ISO 3166 code Internet TLD
Flag Emblem
Anthem: Il Canto degli Italiani  (Italian) The Song of the ItaliansSorry, your browser either has JavaScript disabled or does not have any supported player. You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser.
Location of  Italy  (dark green)


Capital and largest city  Rome 41°54′N 12°29′E﻿ / ﻿41.900°N 12.483°E﻿ / 41.900; 12.483
Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
 -  President Giorgio Napolitano
 -  Prime Minister Matteo Renzi
 -  Upper house Senate of the Republic
 -  Lower house Chamber of Deputies
 -  Unification 17 March 1861 
 -  Republic 2 June 1946 
 -  Total 301,338 km2 (72nd) 116,347 sq mi
 -  Water (%) 2.4
 -  2013 estimate 60,782,668 (23rd)
 -  2011 census 59,433,744 (23rd)
 -  Density 201.7/km2 (63rd) 522.4/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2014 estimate
 -  Total $1.847 trillion (11th)
 -  Per capita $30,803 (32nd)
GDP (nominal) 2014 estimate
 -  Total $2.171 trillion (8th)
 -  Per capita $36,216 (27th)
Gini (2011) 31.9 medium
HDI (2013)  0.872 very high · 26th
Euro (€)b (EUR)
 -  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
b. Before 2002, the Italian Lira. The euro is accepted in Campione d''Italia, but the official currency there is the Swiss Franc.
c. To call Campione d''Italia, it is necessary to use the Swiss code +41.

Italy i/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia ), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in Southern Europe. To the north, Italy borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia, and is roughly delimited by the Alpine watershed, enclosing the Po Valley and the Venetian Plain. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula and the two biggest Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in addition to many other smaller islands.

The sovereign states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d''Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and has a largely temperate climate. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the 5th most populous country in Europe. Among the world''s most developed countries, Italy has the 4th-largest economy in the European Union, 3rd in the Eurozone and 9th in the world by GDP (IMF, 2012).

After the development of the Nuragic, Etruscan and Magna Graecia cultures among others, Italy''s capital and largest comune, Rome, has for centuries been the leading political and religious centre of Western civilisation, serving as the capital of both the Roman Empire and Christianity. During the Dark Ages, Italy endured cultural and social decline in the face of repeated invasions by Germanic tribes, Byzantines, Muslims and Normans, with Greco-Roman heritage being preserved largely by Christian monks. Beginning around the 11th century, various Italian cities, communes and maritime republics rose to great prosperity through shipping, commerce and banking (indeed, modern capitalism has its roots in Medieval Italy); concurrently, Italian culture flourished, especially during the Renaissance, which produced many notable scholars, artists, and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. Meanwhile, Italian explorers such as Polo, Columbus, Vespucci, and Verrazzano discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, helping to usher in the European Age of Discovery. Nevertheless, Italy would remain fragmented into many warring states for the rest of the Middle Ages, subsequently falling prey to larger European powers such as the Holy Roman Empire, France, Spain, and later Austria. Italy would thus enter a long period of decline that lasted until the beginning of the 18th century.

After many unsuccessful attempts, the second and the third wars of Italian independence resulted in the unification of most of present-day Italy between 1859 and 1866. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the new Kingdom of Italy rapidly industrialised and acquired a colonial empire becoming a Great Power. However, Southern and rural Italy remained largely excluded from industrialisation, fuelling a large and influential diaspora. Despite victory in World War I as one of the Big Four with permanent membership in the security council of the League of Nations, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil, which favoured the establishment of a Fascist dictatorship in 1922. The subsequent participation in World War II, at the side of Nazi Germany and Japan forming the Axis Alliance, ended in military defeat, economic destruction and civil war. In the years that followed, Italy abolished the monarchy, reinstated democracy, and enjoyed a prolonged economic boom, thus becoming one of the most developed nations in the world, with the fifth largest economy by nominal GDP by the early 1990s. Italy was a founding member of NATO in 1949 and one of the Inner Six of the European Community in 1957, which became the EU in 1993. It is part of the Schengen Area, and has been a member of the Eurozone since 1999.

Italy is considered to be a major European power able to exert its influence on a global scale, with membership in prominent institutions or groups such as the UN, the EU, the NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the DAC, the WTO, the G4, G6, G7, G8, G10, G20, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Latin Union, the Council of Europe, the Central European Initiative and the Uniting for Consensus. Italy currently maintains the world''s tenth-largest nominal defence budget and is a participant in the NATO nuclear sharing policy. On 1 July 2014, Italy replaced Greece as the seat of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

  • 1 Etymology
  • 2 History
    • 2.1 Prehistory and antiquity
    • 2.2 Middle Ages
    • 2.3 Early Modern
    • 2.4 Italian unification, Liberal Italy and the Great War
    • 2.5 Fascist Regime
    • 2.6 Republican Italy
  • 3 Geography
  • 4 Politics
    • 4.1 Government
    • 4.2 Law and criminal justice
    • 4.3 Foreign relations
    • 4.4 Military
    • 4.5 Administrative divisions
  • 5 Economy
    • 5.1 Infrastructure
  • 6 Demographics
    • 6.1 Ethnic groups
    • 6.2 Languages
    • 6.3 Religion
    • 6.4 Education
    • 6.5 Healthcare
  • 7 Culture
    • 7.1 Architecture
    • 7.2 Visual art
    • 7.3 Literature and theatre
    • 7.4 Music
    • 7.5 Cinema
    • 7.6 Science and Technology
    • 7.7 Sport
    • 7.8 Fashion and design
    • 7.9 Cuisine
  • 8 See also
  • 9 Notes
  • 10 References
  • 11 Bibliography
  • 12 External links

Main article: Name of Italy

The assumptions on the etymology of the name "Italia" are very numerous and the corpus of the solutions proposed by historians and linguists is very wide. According to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin: Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning "land of young cattle" (cf. Lat vitulus "calf", Umb vitlo "calf"). The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides.


History Main article: History of Italy Prehistory and antiquity Main articles: Prehistoric Italy, Magna Graecia, Etruscan civilization, Roman Italy, Ancient Rome, Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman EmpireThe Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering.



Rome, a modest agricultural community conventionally founded in 753 BC, grew over the course of centuries into a massive empire, stretching from Britain to the borders of Persia, and engulfing the whole Mediterranean basin, in which Greek and Roman (and many other) cultures merged into a unique civilisation. The Roman Imperial legacy has deeply influenced Western civilisation for the following millennia. Ancient Rome shaped most of the Modern World. In a slow decline since the late 2nd century AD, the Empire broke into two parts in 395 AD. The Western Roman Empire, under the pressure of the Barbarian invasions, eventually dissolved in 476 AD, when the last western Emperor was deposed by the Germanic chief Odoacer, while the Eastern half of the Empire survived for another thousand years.

Middle Ages Main article: Italy in the Middle AgesThe Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the Kings of Italy.


Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor Frederick II.



Early Modern Main articles: Italian Renaissance, Italian Wars and Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)Leonardo da Vinci, the quintessential Renaissance man (self portrait, c. 1512).




Italian unification, Liberal Italy and the Great War Main articles: Italian unification and Military history of Italy during World War IThe legendary "handshake of Teano" between Giuseppe Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II: on 26 October 1860, the "Hero of Two Worlds" sacrificed republican hopes for the sake of Italian unity.







Fascist Regime Main articles: Italian Fascism and Military history of Italy during World War IIBenito Mussolini, Duce of Fascist Italy.

The socialist agitations that followed the devastation of the Great War, inspired by the Russian Revolution, led to turmoil and anarchy throughout Italy. The liberal establishment, fearing a Soviet-style revolution, started to endorse the small National Fascist Party, led by Benito Mussolini. In October 1922 the blackshirts attempted a coup (the "March on Rome"). The coup itself was a failure, but at the last minute king Victor Emmanuel III refused to proclaim the state of siege and appointed Mussolini prime minister. Over the next few years, Mussolini banned all political parties and curtailed personal liberties, thus forming a dictatorship, who attracted international attention and that served as the inspiration, among others countries, for Nazi Germany and Francoist Spain, in Europe and outside.




Republican Italy Main article: History of the Italian RepublicAlcide De Gasperi, first republican Prime Minister of Italy and one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union.

Italy became a republic after a referendum held on 2 June 1946, a day celebrated since as Republic Day. This was also the first time that Italian women were entitled to vote. Victor Emmanuel III''s son, Umberto II, was forced to abdicate and exiled. The Republican Constitution was approved on 1 January 1948. Under the Treaty of Peace with Italy of 1947, most of Julian March was lost to Yugoslavia and, later, the Free Territory of Trieste was divided between the two states. Italy also lost all its colonial possessions, formally ending the Italian Empire.


In 1957 Italy was among the EEC''s six founding members in the Treaty of Rome.


In the 1980s, for the first time since 1945, two governments were led by non-Christian-Democrat premiers: one liberal (Giovanni Spadolini) and one socialist (Bettino Craxi); the Christian Democrats remained, however, the main government party. During Craxi''s government, the economy recovered and Italy became the world''s fifth largest industrial nation, gaining entry into the G7 Group. However, as a result of his spending policies, the Italian national debt skyrocketed during the Craxi era, soon passing 100% of the GDP.

In the early 1990s, Italy faced significant challenges, as voters – disenchanted with political paralysis, massive public debt and the extensive corruption system (known as Tangentopoli) uncovered by the ''Clean Hands'' investigation – demanded radical reforms. The scandals involved all major parties, but especially those in the government coalition: the Christian Democrats, who ruled for almost 50 years, underwent a severe crisis and eventually disbanded, splitting up into several factions. The Communists reorganised as a social-democratic force. During the 1990s and the 2000s (decade), center-right (dominated by media magnate Silvio Berlusconi) and center-left coalitions (led by university professor Romano Prodi) alternatively governed the country, which entered a prolonged period of economic stagnation.


Geography Main article: Geography of ItalyTopographic map of Italy

Italy is located in Southern Europe and comprises the boot-shaped Italian Peninsula and a number of islands including the two largest, Sicily and Sardinia. It lies between latitudes 35° and 47° N, and longitudes 6° and 19° E.


The Apennine Mountains form the peninsula''s backbone and the Alps form most of its northern boundary, where Italy''s highest point is located on Mont Blanc (4,810 m/15,782 ft). The Po, Italy''s longest river (652 km/405 mi), flows from the Alps on the western border with France and crosses the Padan plain on its way to the Adriatic Sea. The five largest lakes are, in order of diminishing size: Garda (367.94 km2 or 142 sq mi), Maggiore (212.51 km2 or 82 sq mi, shared with Switzerland), Como (145.9 km2 or 56 sq mi), Trasimeno (124.29 km2 or 48 sq mi) and Bolsena (113.55 km2 or 44 sq mi).



Although the country comprises the Italian peninsula and most of the southern Alpine basin, some of Italy''s territory extends beyond the Alpine basin and some islands are located outside the Eurasian continental shelf. These territories are the comuni of: Livigno, Sexten, Innichen, Toblach (in part), Chiusaforte, Tarvisio, Graun im Vinschgau (in part), which are all part of the Danube''s drainage basin, while the Val di Lei constitutes part of the Rhine''s basin and the islands of Lampedusa and Lampione are on the African continental shelf.

Environment See also: List of national parks of Italy and List of regional parks of Italy See also Category:Environment of Italy.Map of national parks in Italy.

After its quick industrial growth, Italy took a long time to confront its environmental problems. After several improvements, it now ranks 84th in the world for ecological sustainability. National parks cover about five percent of the country. In the last decade, Italy has become one of the world''s leading producers of renewable energy, ranking as the world’s fourth largest holder of installed solar energy capacity and the sixth largest holder of wind power capacity in 2010. Renewable energies now make up about 12% of the total primary and final energy consumption in Italy, with a future target share set at 17% for the year 2020.

Hilly landscape in Tuscany.

However, air pollution remains a severe problem, especially in the industrialised north, reaching the tenth highest level worldwide of industrial carbon dioxide emissions in the 1990s. Italy is the twelfth largest carbon dioxide producer. Extensive traffic and congestion in the largest metropolitan areas continue to cause severe environmental and health issues, even if smog levels have decreased dramatically since the 1970s and 1980s, and the presence of smog is becoming an increasingly rarer phenomenon and levels of sulphur dioxide are decreasing.


Deforestation, illegal building developments and poor land-management policies have led to significant erosion all over Italy''s mountainous regions, leading to major ecological disasters like the 1963 Vajont Dam flood, the 1998 Sarno and 2009 Messina mudslides.

ClimateSouthern Italy has a Mediterranean climate.Main article: Climate of Italy



Politics Main article: Politics of ItalyMatteo Renzi, 56th Prime Minister of Italy, in office since 22 February 2014.Giorgio Napolitano, 11th President of Italy, in office since 15 May 2006.

Italy has been a unitary parliamentary republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by a constitutional referendum. The President of Italy (Presidente della Repubblica), currently Giorgio Napolitano since 2006, is Italy''s head of state. The President is elected for a single seven years mandate by the Parliament of Italy in joint session. Italy has a written democratic constitution, resulting from the work of a Constituent Assembly formed by the representatives of all the anti-fascist forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during the Civil War.




Palazzo Montecitorio, seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

After the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi on 12 November 2011, economist Mario Monti has been appointed as a technocratic Prime Minister. The Italy''s four major political parties are the People of Freedom, the Democratic Party, the North League and the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC). During the 2008 general elections these four parties won 589 out of 630 seats available in the Chamber of Deputies and 293 out of 315 seats available in the Senate of the Republic.

Most of the remaining seats were won by minor parties that only contest election in one part of Italy, like the South Tyrolean People''s Party and the Movement for Autonomy. However, during the last 3 years, a so-called "Third Pole" emerged, merging the Christian Democrats of UDC with some dissident MPs coming from Mr. Berlusconi''s cabinet.


Law and criminal justice Main articles: Law of Italy, Judiciary of Italy and Law enforcement in ItalyThe Supreme Court of Cassation.


A 2009 report identified 610 comuni which have a strong Mafia presence, where 13 million Italians live and 14.6% of the Italian GDP is produced. The Calabrian ''Ndrangheta, nowadays probably the most powerful crime syndicate of Italy, accounts alone for 3% of the country''s GDP. However, at 0.013 per 1,000 people, Italy has only the 47th highest murder rate (in a group of 62 countries) and the 43rd highest number of rapes per 1,000 people in the world (in a group of 65 countries), relatively low figures among developed countries.

Foreign relations Main article: Foreign relations of ItalyThe US President, Barack Obama, and Giorgio Napolitano in Rome.

Italy is a founding member of the European Community, now the European Union (EU), and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Italy was admitted to the United Nations in 1955, and it is a member and strong supporter of a wide number of international organisations, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, and the Central European Initiative. Its recent turns in the rotating presidency of international organisations include the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), the forerunner of the OSCE, in 1994; G8; and the EU in 2009 and from July to December 2003.


Military Main article: Italian Armed ForcesThe aircraft carrier MM Cavour.

The Italian Army, Navy, Air Force and Carabinieri collectively form the Italian armed forces, under the command of the Supreme Defence Council, presided over by the President of Italy. From 2005, military service is entirely voluntary. In 2010, the Italian military had 293,202 personnel on active duty, of which 114,778 are Carabinieri. Total Italian military spending in 2010 ranked tenth in the world, standing at $35.8 billion, equal to 1.7% of national GDP. As part of NATO''s nuclear sharing strategy Italy also hosts 90 United States nuclear bombs, located in the Ghedi and Aviano air bases.


A Eurofighter Typhoon operated by the Italian Air Force.

The Italian Navy in 2008 had 35,200 active personnel with 85 commissioned ships and 123 aircraft. It is now equipping itself with a bigger aircraft carrier (the Cavour), new destroyers, submarines and multipurpose frigates. In modern times the Italian Navy, being a member of the NATO, has taken part in many coalition peacekeeping operations around the world.


An autonomous corps of the military, the Carabinieri are the gendarmerie and military police of Italy, policing the military and civilian population alongside Italy''s other police forces. While the different branches of the Carabinieri report to separate ministries for each of their individual functions, the corps reports to the Ministry of Internal Affairs when maintaining public order and security.

Administrative divisions Main articles: Regions of Italy, Provinces of Italy, Municipalities of Italy and Metropolitan cities of Italy


ApuliaBasilicataCalabriaSicilyMoliseCampaniaAbruzzoLazioUmbriaMarcheTuscanySardiniaEmilia-RomagnaLiguriaPiedmontFriuli Venezia GiuliaAosta ValleySouth TyrolTrentinoVenetoLombardyAdriatic SeaIonian SeaMediterranean SeaTyrrhenian SeaLigurian Sea

Region Capital Area (km²) Area (sq mi) Population
Abruzzo L''Aquila 10,763 4,156 1,342,177
Aosta Valley Aosta 3,263 1,260 128,129
Apulia Bari 19,358 7,474 4,090,577
Basilicata Potenza 9,995 3,859 587,680
Calabria Catanzaro 15,080 5,822 2,011,537
Campania Naples 13,590 5,247 5,833,131
Emilia-Romagna Bologna 22,446 8,666 4,429,766
Friuli-Venezia Giulia Trieste 7,858 3,034 1,235,761
Lazio Rome 17,236 6,655 5,724,365
Liguria Genoa 5,422 2,093 1,616,993
Lombardy Milan 23,844 9,206 9,909,348
Marche Ancona 9,366 3,616 1,564,886
Molise Campobasso 4,438 1,713 319,834
Piedmont Turin 25,402 9,808 4,456,532
Sardinia Cagliari 24,090 9,301 1,675,286
Sicily Palermo 25,711 9,927 5,050,486
Tuscany Florence 22,993 8,878 3,749,074
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Trento 13,607 5,254 1,036,639
Umbria Perugia 8,456 3,265 906,675
Veneto Venice 18,399 7,104 4,936,197
Economy Main article: Economy of ItalyThe Ferrari F12berlinetta. Italy is the world''s 7th largest exporter of goods.Vineyards in the Chianti region. Italy is the world''s largest wine producer.Italy is part of a monetary union, the Eurozone (dark blue), and of the EU single market.

Italy has a market economy characterised by high per capita GDP and low unemployment rates. Italy is the second-largest manufacturing country in EU, and fifth-largest in the world, behind United States, China, Japan and Germany. It''s the third-largest economy in the eurozone and the tenth-largest economy in the world. It is a founding member of the G7, G8, the Eurozone and the OECD.

After World War II, Italy was rapidly transformed from an agriculture based economy into one of the world''s most industrialised nations and a leading country in world trade and exports. It is a developed country, with the world''s 8th highest quality of life in 2005 and the 25th Human Development Index. In spite of the recent global economic crisis, Italian per capita GDP at purchasing power parity remains approximately above to the EU average, while the unemployment rate (8.5%) stands as one of the EU''s lowest. The country is well known for its influential and innovative business economic sector, an industrious and competitive agricultural sector (Italy is the world''s largest wine producer), and for its creative and high-quality automobile, industrial, appliance and fashion design.

Italy has a smaller number of global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size, but there is a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, notoriously clustered in several industrial districts, which are the backbone of the Italian industry. This has produced a manufacturing sector often focused on the export of niche market and luxury products, that if on one side is less capable to compete on the quantity, on the other side is more capable of facing the competition from China and other emerging Asian economies based on lower labour costs, with higher quality products.

The country was the world''s 7th largest exporter in 2009. Italy''s closest trade ties are with the other countries of the European Union, with whom it conducts about 59% of its total trade. Its largest EU trade partners, in order of market share, are Germany (12.9%), France (11.4%), and Spain (7.4%). Finally, tourism is one of the fastest growing and profitable sectors of the national economy: with 43.6 million international tourist arrivals and total receipts estimated at $38.8 billion in 2010, Italy is both the fifth most visited country and highest tourism earner in the world.

Despite these important achievements, the Italian economy today suffers from many and relevant problems. After a strong GDP growth of 5–6% per year from the 1950s to the early 1970s, and a progressive slowdown in the 1980s and 1990s, the last decade''s average annual growth rates poorly performed at 1.23% in comparison to an average EU annual growth rate of 2.28%. The stagnation in economic growth, and the political efforts to revive it with massive government spending from the 1980s onwards, eventually produced a severe rise in public debt. According to the EU''s statistics body Eurostat, Italian public debt stood at 116% of GDP in 2010, ranking as the second biggest debt ratio after Greece (with 126.8%).

However, the biggest part of Italian public debt is owned by national subjects, a major difference between Italy and Greece. In addition, Italian living standards have a considerable north-south divide. The average GDP per capita in the north exceeds by far the EU average, while many regions of Southern Italy are dramatically below. Italy has often been referred the sick man of Europe, characterised by economic stagnation, political instability and problems in pursuing reform programs. By the end of August 2013, unemployment reached 12.2% (40.1% for youths).

More specifically, Italy suffers from structural weaknesses because of its geographical conformation and the lack of raw materials and energy resources: in 2006 the country imported more than 86% of its total energy consumption (99.7% of the solid fuels, 92.5% of oil, 91.2% of natural gas and 15% of electricity). The Italian economy is weakened by the lack of infrastructure development, market reforms and research investment, and also high public deficit. In the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, the country ranked 64th in the world and 29th in Europe, the lowest rating in the Eurozone. While Italy received development assistance from the European Union until recently, in 2011 the country was the third net contributor to European Budget after Germany and France, and despite its recent economic crisis did not receive any bailout program from the EU from any of its financial mechanisms (ESN) while providing its full support to these financial programs.

The country has an inefficient state bureaucracy, low property rights protection and high levels of corruption, heavy taxation and public spending that accounts for about half of the national GDP. In addition, the most recent data show that Italy''s spending in R&D in 2006 was equal to 1.14% of GDP, below the EU average of 1.84% and the Lisbon Strategy target of devoting 3% of GDP to research and development activities. According to the Confesercenti, a major business association in Italy, organised crime in Italy represented the "biggest segment of the Italian economy", accounting for €90 billion in receipts and 7% of Italy''s GDP.

Moreover, the big gap between the wealthy Centre-North of country and the poorer South, remains unresolved, following several decades of failing politics to develop the Mezzogiorno. Today, while the North and the Centre of the country have a GDP per capita which is about 115-125% of EU average, with the North being one of the industrial cores of Europe, the South has a GDP per capita which is just the 70% of EU average.

Infrastructure Main article: Transport in ItalyItalo high speed trains by NTV, with 360 km/h (224 mph), are the fastest trains in Italy and Europe



The national inland waterways network comprised 1,477 km (918 mi) of navigable rivers and channels in 2002. In 2004 there were approximately 30 main airports (including the two hubs of Malpensa International in Milan and Leonardo da Vinci International in Rome) and 43 major seaports (including the seaport of Genoa, the country''s largest and second largest in the Mediterranean Sea). In 2005 Italy maintained a civilian air fleet of about 389,000 units and a merchant fleet of 581 ships.

Demographics Main article: Demography of ItalyPopulation 1861–2011. Number of inhabitants.


The population of Italy almost doubled during the 20th century, but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven because of large-scale internal migration from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North, a phenomenon which happened as a consequence of the Italian economic miracle of the 1950–1960s. High fertility and birth rates persisted until the 1970s, after which they start to dramatically decline, leading to rapid population ageing. At the end of the 2000s (decade), one in five Italians was over 65 years old. However, thanks mainly to the massive immigration of the last two decades, in recent years Italy experienced a significant growth in birth rates. The total fertility rate has also climbed from an all-time low of 1.18 children per woman in 1995 to 1.41 in 2008. The TFR is expected to reach 1.6 - 1.8 in 2030.

Historically, Italy has been a country of mass emigration from the late 19th century until the 1960s. Between 1898 and 1914, the peak years of Italian diaspora, approximately 750,000 Italians emigrated each year. The diaspora concerned more than 25 million Italians and it is considered the biggest mass migration of contemporary times. As a result, today more than 4.1 million Italian citizens are living abroad, while at least 60 million people of full or part Italian ancestry live outside of Italy, most notably in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, the United States, Canada, Australia, and France.

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Largest cities or towns of Italy ISTAT estimates for 31 December 2013Rank Name Region Pop. Rank Name Region Pop.
RomeMilan 1 Rome Lazio 2,863,322 11 Venice Veneto 264,534 NaplesTurin
2 Milan Lombardy 1,324,169 12 Verona Veneto 259,966
3 Naples Campania 989,111 13 Messina Sicily 241,997
4 Turin Piedmont 902,137 14 Padua Veneto 209,678
5 Palermo Sicily 678,492 15 Trieste Friuli-Venezia Giulia 204,849
6 Genoa Liguria 596,958 16 Taranto Apulia 203,257
7 Bologna Emilia-Romagna 384,202 17 Brescia Lombardy 193,599
8 Florence Tuscany 377,207 18 Prato Tuscany 191,268
9 Bari Apulia 322,751 19 Parma Emilia-Romagna 187,938
10 Catania Sicily 315,576 20 Reggio Calabria Calabria 184,937
Ethnic groups Main article: Immigration to Italy

Foreign population resident in Italy.

  European Union (29.2%)   Europe non-EU (24.2%)   North Africa (14.9%)   South Asia (8.8%)   East Asia (8.0%)   Latin America (7.7%)   Sub-Saharan Africa (6.7%)   Other (0.5%) Immigrants by country Country 2012
 Romania 997,000
 Morocco 506,369
 Albania 491,495
 China 277,570
 Ukraine 223,782
 Philippines 152,382
 India 145,164

Starting from the early 1980s, until then a linguistically and culturally homogenous society, Italy begun to attract substantial flows of foreign immigrants. The present-day figure of about 4.9 million foreign residents, making up some 8.1% of the total population, include more than half a million children born in Italy to foreign nationals—second generation immigrants, but exclude foreign nationals who have subsequently acquired Italian nationality; this applied to 53,696 people in 2008.




Languages Main article: Languages of ItalyGeographic distribution of the Italian language in the world:   native language   secondary or non-official language   Italophone minorities

Italy''s official language is Italian. It is estimated that there are about 55 million native speakers of the language in Italy and a further 6.7 million outside of the country. However, between 120 and 150 million people use Italian as a second or cultural language, worldwide. Italy has numerous regional dialects, however, the establishment of a national education system has led to decrease in variation in the languages spoken across the country during the 20th century. Standardisation was further expanded in the 1950s and 1960s thanks to economic growth and the rise of mass media and television (the state broadcaster RAI helped set a standard Italian).

Several minority languages are legally recognised: Albanian, Catalan, German, Greek, Slovene, Croatian, French, Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Ladin, Occitan and Sardinian (Law number 482 of 15 December 1999). French is co-official in the Valle d’Aosta—although in fact Franco-Provencal is more commonly spoken there. German has the same status in the autonomous province of Bolzano as, in some parts of that province and in parts of the neighbouring Trentino, does Ladin. Slovene is officially recognised in the provinces of Trieste, Gorizia and Udine.


Religion Main article: Religion in ItalyThe Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Pope.

Roman Catholicism is, by far, the largest religion in the country, although Catholicism is no longer officially the state religion. In 2010, the proportion of Italians that identify themselves as Roman Catholic was 81.2%.


Minority Christian faiths in Italy include Eastern Orthodox, Waldensians and Protestant communities. In 2011, there were an estimated 1.5 million Orthodox Christians in Italy, or 2.5% of the population; 0.5 million Pentecostals and Evangelicals (of whom 0.4 million are members of the Assemblies of God), 235,685 Jehovah''s Witnesses, 30,000 Waldensians, 25,000 Seventh-day Adventists, 22,000 Latter-day Saints, 15,000 Baptists (plus some 5,000 Free Baptists), 7,000 Lutherans, 4,000 Methodists (affiliated with the Waldensian Church).


Soaring immigration in the last two decades has been accompanied by an increase in non-Christian faiths. In 2010, there were 1.6 million Muslims in Italy, forming 2.6 percent of population. In addition, there are more than 200,000 followers of faiths originating in the Indian subcontinent with some 70,000 Sikhs with 22 gurdwaras across the country, 70,000 Hindus, and 50,000 Buddhists. There were an estimated 4,900 Bahá''ís in Italy in 2005.

The Italian state, as a measure to protect religious freedom, devolves shares of income tax to recognised religious communities, under a regime known as Eight per thousand (Otto per mille). Donations are allowed to Christian, Jew, Buddhist and Hindu communities; however, Islam remains excluded, since no Muslim communities have yet signed a concordat with the Italian state. Taxpayers who do not wish to fund a religion contribute their share to the state welfare system.

Education Main article: Education in ItalyBologna University is the oldest academic institution of the world, founded in 1088.

Education in Italy is free and mandatory from ages six to sixteen, and consists of five stages: kindergarten (scuola dell''infanzia), primary school (scuola primaria), lower secondary school (scuola secondaria di primo grado), upper secondary school (scuola secondaria di secondo grado) and university (università). The Superior Graduate Schools are independent institutions similar to French Grandes écoles which offer advanced training and research through university-type courses or are dedicated to teaching at graduate or post-doctoral level.


Other top universities and polytechnics include the Polytechnic University of Turin, the Politecnico di Milano (which in 2011 was ranked as the 48th best technical university in the world by QS World University Rankings), the University of Rome La Sapienza (which in 2005 was Europe''s 33rd best university, and ranks among Europe''s 50 and the world''s 150 best colleges and in 2013, the Center for World University Rankings ranked the Sapienza University of Rome 62nd in the world and the top in Italy in its World University Rankings.) and the University of Milan (whose research and teaching activities have developed over the years and have received important international recognitions). The University is the only Italian member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), a prestigious group of twenty research-intensive European Universities. It has also been awarded ranking positions such as 1st in Italy and 7th in Europe (The Leiden Ranking – Universiteit Leiden).


Healthcare Main article: Healthcare in Italy

The Italian state runs a universal public healthcare system since 1978. However, healthcare is provided to all citizens and residents by a mixed public-private system. The public part is the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, which is organised under the Ministry of Health and administered on a devolved regional basis. Healthcare spending in Italy accounted for more than 9.0% of the national GDP in 2008, slightly above the OECD countries'' average of 8.9%.

Italy ranks as having the world''s 2nd best healthcare system, and the world''s 3rd best healthcare performance. Italy had the 8th highest worldwide life expectancy in 2013. As in many others western countries, seeing an increase in the proportion of overweight and obese people, with 34.2% of Italians self reporting as overweight and 9.8% self reporting as obese. The proportion of daily smokers was 22% in 2008. Smoking in public places including bars, restaurants, night clubs and offices has been restricted to specially ventilated rooms since 2005.

Culture Main article: Culture of ItalyThe city of Venice, built on 117 islands.The Leaning Tower and the Duomo of Pisa.The Royal Palace of Caserta.



Architecture Main article: Architecture of Italy

Italy has a very broad and diverse architectural style, which cannot be simply classified by period, but also by region, because of Italy''s division into several regional states until 1861. This has created a highly diverse and eclectic range in architectural designs.



Visual art Main article: Art of ItalyThe Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci: equally to Mona Lisa, it is the most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious painting of all time.



Michelangelo''s David.




Literature and theatre Main article: Literature of ItalyDante, poised between the mountain of Purgatory and the city of Florence, displays the famous incipit Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita in a detail of Domenico di Michelino''s painting, 1465.



Carlo Collodi''s 1883 novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio, is the most celebrated children''s classic by an Italian author.

Italian theatre can be traced back to the Roman tradition which was heavily influenced by the Greek; as with many other literary genres, Roman dramatists tended to adapt and translate from the Greek. For example, Seneca''s Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander. During the 16th century and on into the 18th century, Commedia dell''arte was a form of improvisational theatre, and it is still performed today. Travelling troupes of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide amusement in the form of juggling, acrobatics, and, more typically, humorous plays based on a repertoire of established characters with a rough storyline, called canovaccio.

Music Main article: Music of ItalyGiacomo Puccini, Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently worldwide performed in the standard repertoire.







Cinema Main article: Cinema of ItalyA Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival, one of the world''s most prestigious and publicised film festivals.




Science and Technology Main article: Science and technology in ItalyGalileo is considered one of the fathers of modern science.

Through the centuries, Italy has given birth to some of the most notable scientific minds, particularly in modern and the contemporary era. Prominent Italian Polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Leon Battista Alberti made important contributions to a variety of fields, including biology, architecture, engineering. Galileo Galilei, a physicist, mathematician and astronomer, played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include key improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and ultimately the triumph of Copernicanism over the Ptolemaic model. Other astronomers suchs as Giovanni Domenico Cassini and Giovanni Schiaparelli made many important discoveries about the Solar System. In mathematics, Joseph Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Lodovico Lagrangia), Fibonacci, and Gerolamo Cardano made fundamental advances in the field. Physicist Enrico Fermi, a Nobel prize laureate, led the team that developed the first nuclear reactor and is also noted for his many other contributions to physics, including the co-development of the quantum theory. Other prominent physicist include: Amedeo Avogadro ( most noted for his contributions to molecular theory, in particular the Avogadro''s law and the Avogadro constant), Evangelista Torricelli (inventor of barometer), Alessandro Volta (inventor of electric battery), Guglielmo Marconi (inventor of radio), Ettore Majorana (who discovered the Majorana fermions), Emilio G. Segrè (who discovered the elements technetium and astatine, and the antiproton), Carlo Rubbia (1984 Nobel Prize in Physics for work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN). In biology, Marcello Malpighi founded microscopic anatomy, Lazzaro Spallanzani conducted important research in bodily functions, animal reproduction, and cellular theory, Camillo Golgi, whose many achievements include the discovery of the Golgi complex, paved the way to the acceptance of the Neuron doctrine, Rita Levi-Montalcini discovered the nerve growth factor (awarded 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). In chemistry, Giulio Natta received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963 for his work on high polymers. Giuseppe Occhialini received the Wolf Prize in Physics for the discovery of the pion or pi-meson decay in 1947. Ennio de Giorgi, a Wolf Prize in Mathematics recipient in 1990, solved Bernstein''s problem about minimal surfaces and the 19th Hilbert problem on the regularity of solutions of Elliptic partial differential equations.

Sport Main article: Sport in ItalyThe Azzurri during the 1982 FIFA World Cup (one of the four won by Italy).

The most popular sport in Italy is, by far, football. Italy''s Squadra Azzurra has won four FIFA World Cups (1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006), currently ranking as the world''s second most successful national football team, just after Brazil. Italy''s club sides have won 27 major European trophies, making them the most successful nation in European football, and Italy''s top-flight club football league, Serie A, is ranked 4th best in Europe and is followed by fans around the world.

Other popular team sports in Italy include volleyball, basketball and rugby. The male and female national teams are often in top 4 ranking of teams in the world, regarded as the best volleyball league in the world. The Italian national basketball team''s best results were gold at Eurobasket 1983 and EuroBasket 1999, as well as silver at the Olympics in 2004. The Italian League is widely considered one of the most competitive in Europe. Rugby union enjoys a good level of popularity, especially in the north of the country. Italy''s national team competes in the Six Nations Championship, and is a regular at the Rugby World Cup. Italy ranks as a tier-one nation by the International Rugby Board.

Felipe Massa at the 2008 Italian GP.

Italy has a long and successful tradition in individual sports as well. Bicycle racing is a very familiar sport in the country. Italians have won the UCI World Championships more than any other country, except Belgium. The Giro d''Italia is a world famous long distance cycling race held every May, and constitutes one of the three Grand Tours, along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, each of which last approximately three weeks. Alpine skiing is also a very widespread sport in Italy, and the country is a popular international skiing destination, known for its ski resorts. Italian skiers achieved good results in Winter Olympic Games, Alpine Ski World Cup, and World Championship. Tennis has a significant following in Italy, ranking as the fourth most practised sport in the country. The Rome Masters, founded in 1930, is one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. Italian professional tennis players won the Davis Cup in 1976 and the Fed Cup in 2006 and 2009. Motorsports are also extremely popular in Italy. Italy has won, by far, the most world Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Italian Scuderia Ferrari is the oldest surviving team in Grand Prix racing, having competed since 1948, and statistically the most successful Formula One team in history with a record of 15 drivers'' championships and 16 constructors'' championships.


Fashion and design Main articles: Italian fashion and Italian designPrada store in New York.


Italy is also prominent in the field of design, notably interior design, architectural design, industrial design and urban design. The country has produced some well-known furniture designers, such as Gio Ponti and Ettore Sottsass, and Italian phrases such as "Bel Disegno" and "Linea Italiana" have entered the vocabulary of furniture design. Examples of classic pieces of Italian white goods and pieces of furniture include Zanussi''s washing machines and fridges, the "New Tone" sofas by Atrium, and the post-modern bookcase by Ettore Sottsass, inspired by Bob Dylan''s song "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again".

Today, Milan and Turin are the nation''s leaders in architectural design and industrial design. The city of Milan hosts FieraMilano, Europe''s largest design fair. Milan also hosts major design and architecture-related events and venues, such as the "Fuori Salone" and the Salone del Mobile, and has been home to the designers Bruno Munari, Lucio Fontana, Enrico Castellani and Piero Manzoni.

Cuisine Main article: Italian cuisineSome of the most popular Italian foods: pizza, pasta, gelato and espresso.


The Mediterranean diet forms the basis of Italian cuisine, rich in pasta, fish and vegetables and characterised by its extreme simplicity and variety, with many dishes having only four to eight ingredients. Italian cooks rely chiefly on the quality of the ingredients rather than on elaborate preparation. Dishes and recipes are often derivatives from local and familial tradition rather than created by chefs, so many recipes are ideally suited for home cooking, this being one of the main reasons behind the ever increasing worldwide popularity of Italian cuisine, from America to Asia. Ingredients and dishes vary widely by region.

A key factor in the success of Italian cuisine is its heavy reliance on traditional products; Italy has the most traditional specialities protected under EU law. Cheese, cold cuts and wine are a major part of Italian cuisine, with many regional declinations and Protected Designation of Origin or Protected Geographical Indication labels, and along with coffee (especially espresso) make up a very important part of the Italian gastronomic culture. Desserts have a long tradition of merging local flavours such as citrus fruits, pistachio and almonds with sweet cheeses like mascarpone and ricotta or exotic tastes as cocoa, vanilla and cinnamon. Gelato, tiramisù and cassata are among the most famous examples of Italian desserts, cakes and patisserie.

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