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. \nTo the north, where it borders
France,
Switzerland,
Austria and
Slovenia, the country is bounded by the
Alps. The independent countries of
San Marino and the
Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory.
History
\nMain article: History of Italy
Italy's history is perhaps the most important one for the cultural and social development of the Mediterranean area as a whole. \nThe country has been host to important human activities in prehistoric times, and therefore archaeological sites of note can be found in many regions: Latium and Tuscany, Umbria and Basilicata. \nAfter Magna Graecia, the Etruscan civilisation and especially the Roman Empire that came to dominate this part of the world for many centuries, came the medieval Humanism and the Renaissance that further helped to shape European philosophy and art. \nThe city of Rome contains some of the most important examples of the Baroque.
The Italy of modern time became a nation-state belatedly - on March 17, 1861 when the states of the peninsula and the Two Sicilies were united under king Victor Emmanuel II of the Savoy dynasty, hitherto ruler of Piedmont and kings of Sardinia. The architect of Italian unification, however, was Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the Chief Minister of Victor Emmanuel.\nRome 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 the alliance with Germany and Japan, and ultimately Italy's defeat in World War II. \nOn 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. \nMembers of the royal family were sent into exile because of their association with the fascist regime, and were only allowed to return to their country in 2002.
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
\nMain article: Politics of Italy
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). \nThe president of the republic is elected for 7 years by the parliament sitting jointly with a small number of regional delegates. \nThe president nominates the prime minister, who proposes the other ministers (formally named by the president). \nThe 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. \nUnder 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. \nThe Chamber of Deputies has 630 members. \nIn addition to 315 elected members, the Senate includes former presidents and several other persons appointed for life according to special constitutional provisions. \nBoth 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. \nA constitutional court, the Corte Costituzionale, which passes on the constitutionality of laws, is a post-World War II innovation.
Regions
\nMain article: Regions of Italy\n
Italy is subdivided into 20 regions (regioni, singular regione), of which five enjoy a special autonomous status, marked by a *:
All regions except Valle d'Aosta are further subdivided into two or more provinces.
Geography
\nMain article: Geography of Italy
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. \nHere 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. \nOther 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
\nMain article: Economy of Italy
Italy has a diversified industrial economy with roughly the same total and per capita output as France and the United Kingdom. \nThis capitalistic economy remains divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed agricultural south, with 20% unemployment. In comparison to it's Western european neighbours it has a high number of Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEeses).
Most raw materials needed by industry and more than 75% of energy requirements are imported. \nOver the past decade, Italy has pursued a tight fiscal policy in order to meet the requirements of the Economic and Monetary Union 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. \nIt has moved slowly, however, on implementing certain structural reforms favored by economists, 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
\nMain article: Demographics of Italy
Italy is largely homogeneous linguistically and religiously but is diverse culturally, economically, and politically. \nItaly has the fifth-highest population density in Europe at 196 persons per square kilometre. \nMinority 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; \nthe
Sardinian language on
Sardinia); \nthe
Ladin language in the
Dolomites mountains; \nand the
Friulian language in the
Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, all four being
Romance languages.\nIn addition there exist several small local minorities, \nsuch as the
Occitans in the southern
Piedmont valleys; \nthe
Catalans in the town of
Alghero on
Sardinia;
Albanians in villages in
Calabria and
Sicily;
Croats in three villages in
Molise 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
\nMain article: Culture of Italy
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. \nLiterary 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. \nContemporary Italian artists, writers, filmmakers, architects, composers, and designers continue to contribute significantly to Western culture.
Football is the main national
sport and\nthe Italians are well known for their maniacal passion for this sport.\nItaly has won the
Football World Cup three times: in
1934,
1938 and
1982.
Miscellaneous topics
\n*List of Italian universities\n*
Communications in Italy\n*
Transportation in Italy\n*
Military of Italy \n*
Foreign relations of Italy\n*
Tourism in Italy\n*
Stamps and postal history of Italy\n* Dishes :
Spaghetti,
Pizza,
Pandoro,
Panettone.
External links
\n*Presidenza della Repubblica - Official site of the Italian president (in Italian)\n*
Parlamento - Official site of the Italian parliament (Senate in Italian only)\n*
gov.it Main governmental portal (in Italian)\n*
Farnesina, Italian Foreign Office\n*
Windows on Italy - More information about Italy (in English)\n*
Italy Banknotes\n*
Italy News\n*
world-wide press freedom index Rank 40 out of 139 countries
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