Italy





The Italian Republic or Italy is a country in the south of Europe,
consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands
in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north it is bound by
the Alps, where it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.

                                         National motto: None
                                                        Italian (+ German
                                                        and Ladin in South
                                         Official       Tyrol, Slovenian in
                                         language       Friuli-Venezia
History                                                 Giulia and French
                                                        in Valle d'Aosta.)

                                         Capital        Rome
Italy's history is perhaps the most      Largest City   Rome
important one for the cultural and
social development of the Mediterranean  President      Carlo Azeglio
                                                        Ciampi
area as a whole. The country has been
host to important human activities in    Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi
prehistoric times, and thusly            Area           Ranked 69th
archaeological sites of note can be      Ê- Total       301,230 km2
found in many regions: Latium and        Ê- % water     2.4%
Tuscany, Umbria and Basilicata. After    Population
Magna Graecia, the Etruscan civilisation Ê- Total       Ranked 22nd
and especially the Roman Empire that     (2002)         57'715'625
came to dominate this part of the world  Ê- Density     196/km2
for many centuries, came the medieval
Humanism and the Renaissance that        Independence   Italian unification
further helped to shape European         Ê- Date
philosophy and art. The city of Rome                    March 17, 1861
contains some of the most important
examples of the Baroque.                 Currency       Euro¹ (EUR),
                                                        Italian euro coins
The Italy of modern time became a        Time zone      UTC +1
nation-state belatedly - on March 17,    National
1861 when the states of the peninsula    anthem         Fratelli d'Italia
and the Two Sicilies were united under   Internet TLD   .IT
king Victor Emmanuel II of the Savoy
dynasty, hitherto ruler of Piedmont and  Calling Code   39
kings of Sardinia. The architect of           (1) Prior to 1999: Lira
Italian unification, however, was Count
Camillo Benso di Cavour, the Chief Minister of Victor Emmanuel. Rome itself
remained for a decade under the Papacy, and became part of the Kingdom of
Italy only on September 20, 1870, the final date of Italian unification. The
Vatican is now an independent enclave surrounded by Italy, as is San Marino.

The Fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini that took over in 1922 led to a
disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany and Japan, and ultimately Italy's
defeat in World War II. On June 2, 1946 a referendum on the monarchy
resulted in the establishment of the Italian republic, which led to the
adoption of a new constitution on January 1, 1948. Members of the royal
family were sent into exile because of their association with the fascist
regime.

Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Union, and hence joined
the growing political and economic unification of Western Europe, including
the introduction of the Euro in 1999.

Politics

The 1948 constitution established a bicameral parliament (Parlamento),
consisting of a Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) and a Senate
(Senato della Repubblica), a separate judiciary, and an executive branch
composed of a Council of Ministers (cabinet), headed by the president of the
council (prime minister). The president of the republic is elected for 7
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
(mostly, but not necessarily composed of members of parliament) must retain
the confidence (Fiducia) of both houses.

The houses of parliament are popularly and directly elected by a mixed
majoritarian and proportional representation system. Under 1993 legislation,
Italy has single-member districts for 75% of the seats in parliament; the
remaining 25% of seats are allotted on a proportional basis. The Chamber of
Deputies has 630 members. In addition to 315 elected members, the Senate
includes former presidents and several other persons appointed for life
according to special constitutional provisions. Both houses are elected for
a maximum of 5 years, but either may be dissolved before the expiration of
its normal term. Legislative bills may originate in either house and must be
passed by a majority in both.

The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law modified by the Napoleonic
code and later statutes. A constitutional court, the Corte Costituzionale,
which passes on the constitutionality of laws, is a post-World War II innovation.

Regions

Italy is subdivided into 20 regions (regioni, singular regione), of which
five enjoy a special autonomous status, marked by a *:

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

A region can be further subdivided into provinces.

Geography

Italy consists predominantly of a large peninsula that extends into the
Mediterranean Sea, where together with its two main islands Sicily and
Sardinia it creates distinct bodies of water, such as the Adriatic Sea to
the north-east, the Ionian Sea to the south-east, the Tyrrhenian Sea to the
south-west and finally the Ligurian Sea to the north-west.

The Apennine mountains form the backbone of this peninsula, leading
north-west to where they join the Alps, the mountain range that then forms
an arc enclosing Italy from the north. Here is also found a large alluvial
plain, the Po-Venetian plain, drained by the Po River and its many
tributaries flowing down from the Alps, Appennines and Dolomites. Other
well-known rivers include the Tiber, Adige and Arno.

Its highest point is the Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) at 4,810 m, but Italy is
more typically associated with two famous volcanoes: the currently dormant
Vesuvius near Naples and the very active Etna on Sicily.

Economy

Italy has a diversified industrial economy with roughly the same total and
per capita output as France and the United Kingdom. This capitalistic
economy remains divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by
private companies, and a less developed agricultural south, with 20%
unemployment.

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 Economic and Monetary
Unions and has benefited from lower interest and inflation rates and joined
the Euro from its conception in 1999.

Italy's economic performance has lagged behind that of its EU 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 needed structural reforms, such as lightening the
high tax burden and overhauling Italy's rigid labour market and expensive
pension system, because of the current economic slowdown and opposition from
labour unions.

Demographics

Italy is largely homogeneous linguistically and religiously but is diverse
culturally, economically, and politically. Italy has the fifth-highest
population density in Europe at 196 persons per square kilometre. Minority
groups are small, the largest being the German speaking in South Tyrol
(1991: 287.503 german and 116.914 italian speaking) and the Slovenians
around Trieste.

Other minority groups with partly official languages include the French
speaking minority in the Valle d'Aosta region; the Sardinian language on
Sardinia); the Ladin language in the Dolomites mountains; and the Friulian
language in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, all four being Romance
languages. In addition there exist several small local minorities, such as
the Occitans in the southern Piedmont valleys; the Catalans in the town of
Alghero on Sardinia; Albanians in villages in Calabria and Sicily; and
ancient Greek dialects in villages of Calabria.

Although Roman Catholicism is the majority religion (85% of native-born
citizens are nominally Catholic) there are mature Protestant and Jewish
communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community.

Culture

Italy is well-known for its art, culture, and several monuments, among them
the leaning tower of Pisa and the Roman Colosseum, as well as for its food
(pizza, pasta, etc.), wine, lifestyle, elegance, design, cinema, theatre,
literature, poetry, visual arts, music (notably Opera), holidays, and
generally speaking, for taste.

Europe's Renaissance period began in Italy during the 14th and 15th
centuries. Literary achievements, such as the poetry of Petrarch, Tasso, and
Ariosto and the prose of Boccaccio, Machiavelli, and Castiglione exerted a
tremendous and lasting influence on the subsequent development of Western
culture, as did the painting, sculpture, and architecture contributed by
giants such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, and
Michelangelo. Modern artists include the sculptor Tommaso Geraci.

The musical influence of Italian composers Monteverdi, Palestrina, and
Vivaldi proved epochal; in the 19th century, Italian romantic opera
flourished under composers Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, and Giacomo
Puccini. Contemporary Italian artists, writers, filmmakers, architects,
composers, and designers continue to contribute significantly to Western
culture.

Football is the main national sport. Italy has won the Football World Cup
three times: in 1934, 1938 and 1982. Italian football has produced some of
world's best football players and teams. The latter include A.C. Milan and
Inter Milano FC from Milan, A.S. Roma and S.S. Lazio from Rome, Juventus
from Turin, and Fiorentina from Florence.

   * List of Italians
   * Cinema of Italy
   * Music of Italy

                               Holidays
    Date          English Name              Local Name       Remarks
 January 1  New Year's Day            Capodanno              Ê
 January 6  Epiphany                  Epifania               Ê
 Moveable   Easter Sunday             Pasqua                 Ê
 Moveable   Easter Monday             Luned" di Pasqua       Ê
 April 25   Anniversary of Liberation Liberazione            1945
 May 1      Labour day                Festa del Lavoro       Ê
 June 2     Republic Day              Festa della Repubblica 1946
 August 15  Assumption Day            Assunzione             Ê
 November 1 All Saints                Tutti i Santi          Ê
 December 8 Immaculate Conception     Immacolata             Ê
 December 25Christmas                 Natale                 Ê
 December 26St. Stephen's Day         Santo Stefano          Ê
 December 31New Year's Eve            San Silvestro          Ê

International rankings

   * world-wide press freedom index Rank 40 out of 139 countries