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Italy

Geography

Italy is located in southern Europe and comprises the long, boot-shaped Italian Peninsula, the land between the peninsula and the

Alps. Italy borders with Switzerland (740 km or 460 mi), France (488 km or 303 mi), Austria (430 km or 270 mi) and Slovenia

(232 km or 144 mi). San Marino (39 km or 24 mi) and Vatican city (0.44 km or 0.27 mi) are enclaves.

Including islands, Italy has a coastline of 7,600 kilometres on the Adriatic Sea, Ionian Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, Ligurian Sea, Sea of

Sardinia and Strait of Sicily.

Flag

The flag of Italy is a tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white, and red, with the green at the hoist side.

Its current form has been in use since 19 June 1946 and was formally adopted on 1 January 1948.

Some have attributed particular values to the colors, and a common interpretation is that the green represents the country's plains

and the hills; white, the snow-capped Alps; and red, blood spilt in the Wars of Italian Independence. A more religious

interpretation is that the green represents hope, the white represents faith, and the red represents charity; this references the three

theological virtues.

Religion

Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religion in the country. Although the Roman Catholic Church has been separated from

the state, it still plays a role in the nation's political affairs partly due to Holy See's location in Vatican City, within Rome itself.

Some 98% of Italians are Roman Catholic of which one-third are active members. Most baptisms, weddings, and funeral services

are held in church.

An agreement called a concordat governs the relationship between Italy and the Roman Catholic Church. For instance, the

agreement exempts priests and other members of religious orders from military service and gives tax exemptions to Catholic

organizations.

Even though the main Christian denomination in Italy is Roman Catholicism, there are some minorities of Protestant, Waldensian,

Eastern Orthodox and other Christian churches. In the past two decades, Italy has received several waves of immigrants and as a

result, some 825,000 Muslims (1.4%) live in Italy, although other estimates indicate that there are up to one million Muslims as

well as, 75,000 Hindus, 50,000 Buddhists, and a historical community of 30,000 Jewish members.

language

The official language of Italy is Italian, a descendant of the Tuscan dialect and a direct descendant of Latin, but several regional

languages are also spoken to varying degrees. Other non-indigenous languages are spoken by a substantial percentage of the

population due to are 31 endangered languages in Italy. The great Romantic English poet, Lord Byron,

described Italian as a language that sounds "as if it should be writ on satin." Byron's description is not an isolated expression of

poetic fancy but, in fact, a popular view of the Italian language across the world, often called the language of "love," "poetry,"

and "song."

Italian , like English, belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. Like French and Spanish, it is a Romance language, one

of the modern languages that developed from Latin. It is spoken by about 60 million people in Italy,。

There are only a few communities in Italy in which Italian is not spoken as the first language, but many speakers are native

bilinguals of both standardised Italian and other regional languages.

Economy

Italy has a diversified industrial economy with high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and developed infrastructure.

According to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and The World Factbook, in 2012 Italy was the ninth-largest

economy in the world, the fifth-largest in Europe and the third-largest in the Eurozone in terms of nominal GDP, and the

tenth-largest economy in the world and fifth-largest in Europe in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP.

Energy and natural resources

Italy has few natural resources. There are no substantial deposits of iron, coal, or oil. Proven natural gas reserves, mainly in the

Po Valley and offshore Adriatic, have grown in recent years and constitute the country's most important mineral resource. Most

raw materials needed for manufacturing and more than 80% of the country's energy sources are imported. The energy sector is

highly dependent on imports from abroad.

In the last decade, Italy has became one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy. Currently, the majority of Italian

electricity is produced gas, oil, coal, and hydro. Italy also imports about 16% of its electricity need from France for 6.5 GWe,

which makes it the world’s biggest importer of electricity. Due to its reliance on expensive fossil fuels and imports, Italians pay

approximately 45% more than the EU average for electricity. In 2004, a new Energy Law brought the possibility of joint ventures

with foreign companies to build nuclear power plants and import electricity.

Agriculture

Italy is the world's top wine producer (22% of global market).

The northern part of Italy produces primarily maize corn, rice, sugar beets, soybeans, meat, fruits and dairy products, while the

South specializes in wheat and citrus fruits. Italy is the first or the second largest producer of wine in the world, and one of the

leading in olive oil, fruits (apples, oranges, lemons, pears, apricots, peaches, cherries, strawberries, kiwi), flowers and vegetables.

Main cities

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy. The city proper has a population of about 1.35 million, while its urban area is the 5th

largest in the EU and the largest in Italy with an estimated population of about 5.2 million.

Milan flourished as a commercial and banking center. Milan is the main industrial, commercial and financial centre of Italy .Its

business district hosts the Italian Stock Exchange. The city is a major world fashion and design capital. Thanks to its important

museums, theatres and landmarks (including the Milan Cathedral, the fourth largest cathedral in the world. The city is also well

known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair, the largest of its

kind in the world, and will host the 2015 Universal Exposition.. The Milan Furniture Fair is a furniture fair held annually in

Milan. It is the largest trade fair of its kind in the world. The show showcases the latest in furniture and design from countries

around the world. It is considered a leading venue for the display of new products by designers of furniture, lighting and other

home furnishings. The show, also known as "Salone", "Milano Salone" and "Milan Design Week," is held every year, usually in

April, in the FieraMilano complex in the Milan metropolitan area town of Rho.

Florence is famous for its history. Florence is considered as the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of

the Middle Ages.[4] The historic centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year, and Euromonitor International ranked

the city as the world's 72nd most visited in 2009, with 1,685,000 visitors. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in

1982. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the

world, and the city is noted for its history, culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains

numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace, amongst others, and still exerts an influence

in the fields of art, culture and politics.

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. Venice is

renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site.

Luigi Barzini described it in The New York Times as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". Venice has also been

described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.