The nation of Italy in south-central Europe has a proud tradition dating from ancient times. Two thousand years ago its capital, Rome, was the center of an empire that ruled most of the known world. For centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, Italy was divided into many individual states. Finally unified in 1870, Italy is now a strong presence in Europe. Geography - Lake Garda, with the town of Malcesine on its eastern shore, northern Italy.
Italy is a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea from Southern Europe. Its shape is often compared to that of a boot. Italy is bordered on the north by France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. The Adriatic Sea on the east separates Italy from the Balkan region. On the south the Mediterranean Sea separates Italy from North Africa. The large islands of Sicily and Sardinia are part of Italy. The country's total area is about 116,000 square miles (301,000 square kilometers). Italy is a mountainous country. It is dominated by two large mountain systems: the Alps and the Apennines. Italy's highest point, Monte Rosa at 15,203 feet (4634 meters), lies in the central Alps. The Apennines run from the western Alps down the length of the country. Southern Italy has several active volcanoes. The most famous of them is Mount Vesuvius. In AD 79 this volcano destroyed the city of Pompeii. Mount Etna, another active volcano, is located on the island of Sicily. Plains cover less than one fourth of Italy's land area. The largest plain is the valley of the Po River. The Po, Italy's longest river, begins in the western Alps and flows eastward into the Adriatic Sea. Italy also has about 1,500 lakes. Plants and animalsNatural vegetation in Italy is determined largely by elevation. In the region at the foot of the Alps, the most common trees are the evergreen cork oak, the European olive, and the cypress. Beech trees grow slightly higher up. At still higher elevations grow larch and Norway spruce. In the Apennines the holm oak is a typical tree. The Po River valley has little of its original forests remaining. Most of the land there has been cleared for farming. Italy is not rich in wildlife. Most of the country's animals live in the mountains. Wolves and other predators can still be found in the remote Apennines. Brown bears, lynx, ibex, and other animals are protected in national parks and wildlife preserves of the Apennines and the Alps. Birds include the golden eagle and the capercaillie, or wood grouse. PeopleThe population of Italy is made up almost entirely of ethnic Italians. Nearly all of the people speak Italian. Small minorities in the north speak German, Slovene, French, or Ladin, a language that closely resembles Italian. Most Italians are Roman Catholics. About two thirds of Italy's people live in cities. The largest city is Rome, with a population of more than 2.6 million people. In the western part of Rome is Vatican City, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic church and the home of the pope. It is an independent state. Other important cities are Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, and Venice. CultureItaly has one of the oldest cultures in Europe. Few peoples have contributed so much to the arts as the Italians. The rebirth of art and thought known as the Renaissance began in Italy in the 14th century. From there the movement spread throughout most of Europe. The greatest of Italian writers was Dante Alighieri, a poet who lived from 1265 to 1321. His finest work is The Divine Comedy. The poets Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato Tasso wrote in the 16th century. The country's great writers of the 19th and 20th centuries include the poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni, the poets Giosuè Carducci and Gabriele D'Annunzio, and the playwright Luigi Pirandello. Italy is perhaps best known for its great heritage in sculpture, painting, and architecture. Famed Italian artists and architects include Giotto, Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi, Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini. Italy has a great tradition in music as well as in the other arts. Famous early Italian composers include Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Claudio Monteverdi, who lived in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were followed by such important composers as Antonio Vivaldi, Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti, and Domenico Cimarosa. Italian opera flowered in the 19th century with Giuseppe Verdi, Gioacchino Rossini, and Giacomo Puccini. EconomyItaly suffered enormous damage during World War II, and its economy was devastated. After the war, however, Italy successfully rebuilt its economy with help from other countries. Since the 1950s Italy has held an important place in the world economy. AgricultureIn the late 1990s about 8 percent of Italy's workforce was involved in agriculture. The leading farm products included wheat for flour, olives to provide cooking oil, and grapes to be pressed for wine. Wheat flour is used in making bread and pasta, one of the main Italian foods. Other important crops include sugar beets, corn (maize), tomatoes, potatoes, rice, and various fruits. Sheep, pigs, cattle, and chickens are raised. Fishing has long been important in Italy because of the country's long coastline. Overfishing and pollution have hurt the catch, however. IndustryManufacturing employs almost one third of Italy's workers. The country is a major producer of iron and steel. The main manufactured products include machinery, automobiles, electrical appliances, textiles and clothing, cement, chemicals, glass, and ceramics. Italy has few natural resources. Most raw materials needed for industry and much of its energy are imported. Tourism is important to Italy's economy. The industry centers on the country's monuments of ancient Rome and its works of art and architecture. HistoryIn about the 9th century BC the Etruscan people developed a civilization in west-central Italy. In the course of the 4th and 3rd centuries BC the Etruscans were overthrown by the Romans, their neighbors to the south. Rome became the chief power in the Mediterranean world. By the 2nd century AD its empire stretched from Britain to Africa to the Euphrates River. Roman civilization had an immense impact on the Western world. (See also Roman Empire.) In the 4th and 5th centuries AD barbarian invasions destroyed the western part of the Roman Empire. Political unity was shattered as rival rulers fought over Italian territory. By AD 800 northern Italy had come under the control of Charlemagne, the first leader of the Holy Roman Empire. For many years thereafter popes of Rome and Holy Roman emperors struggled for control over parts of Italy. City-states and the RenaissanceDuring this period some cities in northern Italy developed into small but powerful states in their own right. These political units were known as city-states. Among them were Florence, Venice, and Milan. They competed intensely for the control of trade between Europe and the East. As the city-states grew in power and wealth, they became flourishing centers of art. Rulers and merchants encouraged architecture, painting, sculpture, and literature. This great revival of interest in the arts, known as the Renaissance, made Italy the cultural center of the Western world from the 13th to the 16th century. From foreign domination to unificationThe power of the city-states dwindled in the late 15th century, when France invaded Italy. From that time into the 19th century much of the country changed hands between France, Spain, and Austria. The great French general Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Italy in the 1790s. In 1805 he had himself crowned king of Italy. After Napoleon was defeated in 1815, most Italian states went back to their former rulers. A movement to unite all Italy into a single republic soon began. By 1861 most of Italy was united under Victor Emmanuel II, who was proclaimed king of Italy. The addition of Rome to the kingdom in 1870 completed the unification of Italy. Mussolini and World War IIItaly joined the Allies—Russia, France, and Britain—during World War I (1914–18). In the postwar settlement, however, Italy obtained less territory than it expected from being on the winning side. In the period of disappointment and disorder that followed, Benito Mussolini and his Fascist party came to power. For two decades Italy was ruled by this dictator, who had his critics imprisoned, exiled, or killed. Italy formed an alliance with Nazi Germany in 1936. In 1940 Mussolini brought Italy into World War II (1939–45) on Germany's side. When the Allies invaded Italy in 1943, Mussolini fled and Italy surrendered to the Allies. Italy then joined the war against Germany. The entire length of the country became a bitter battleground. The war devastated Italy's economy. Postwar ItalyAfter the war, in 1946, the Italian people voted to make the country a republic. The economy steadily recovered, and eventually Italy became one of the richest countries in Europe and the world. Italy joined the defensive alliance known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 and the United Nations in 1955. It was also a founding member of the European Economic Community (see European Union). Italy had more than 50 different governments between World War II and the end of the 20th century. In the early 1990s a wave of political scandals revealed that Italy's political system was very corrupt. Political reforms were introduced in response to the problem. Population (2001 estimate), 57,892,000. |