Ciao, come stai (Hello, how are you?)
Molte bene, grazie. (I'm fine, thank you.)
Republica Italiana (Italian Republic), Nickname: "Bel Paese" (Beautiful country)
Flag: The colors represent these virtues: hope (green), faith (white), and charity (red)
Where is Italy? - Italy Map
Italy lies in Southern Europe, a flight to Rome take roughly 2.5 hours from London/England, 8 hours from New York/USA
Italy is easy to recognize on any world map, as the country is shaped like a high-heeled boot, as you can see on the map above. It looks like the boot is kicking a ball, which is the island of Sicily, don’t you think?
Italy Facts: Geography
In the North, the mountain range of the Alps separates Italy from the other European countries France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.
The highest mountain of Italy can be found in the Alps. It is the Monte Bianco, better known as Mont Blanc, which is 4,807m.
The Po is Italys longest river.
Water Taxis on the Po River near Turin Castle
The Apennines are another big mountain range which go all along the boot and separate the East and the West of the country.
In the South of Italy you will find Italy’s three active volcanoes: Vesuvius near Naples, Etna on Sicily and Stromboli off the Coast of Italy. Italy is subdivided in 20 regions, like Tuscany, Veneto (around Venice) and Lazio (around Rome).
Mount Etna and Ruins of Taormina Greek Theater
Did you know that Italy surrounds two of the world’s smallest countries? These are San Marino in Northern Italy, the oldest republic in the world and Vatican City in Rome, the smallest country in the world. Vatican City is led by the Pope and is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, led by the Pope.
| Surface | 301,336 km² |
| Population | 60,494,632 (2010) |
| Capital | Roma ( Rome), which is often called "Eternal City", with 3.57 mil inhabitants and Italy's biggest city. |
| Official Language | Italian as well as German, French and Ladin in some northern regions.
Italian is a language which is coming from Latin and you still can recognize the roots.However not all people in Italy speak proper Italian, but one of its many Italian dialects. Some of the older people, can neither speak Italian, but only the local dialect or will speak only German when living in the Northern Region of Alto Adige, a French dialect in the Valle d’Aosta or Ladino in the Trentino.
The pronunciation is soft and very melodic and so is still used in opera and is popular by young musicians. So even German composers used the language in opera as it sounds much softer than German.
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| Currency Religion | 1 Euro=100 cents, before 2001 Italian Lira
Mainly Roman Catholics 90%
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Regions / Cities
Rome: Great place to learn about Romans and Ancient History
Ravenna: See stunning mosaics and splendid churches
Tuscany: great place to chill in the countryside with lovely towns and villages
Florence: Home of Italian Arts
Pisa: Leaning Tower
Venice: Lagoon City build on islands and known for its Carnival
Alps: Great for skiing, hiking and relaxed holidays and Bolzano’s Natural History Museum with Oetzi, the mummy from the Ice-age.
Florence (Firenze)
Venice and their famous Carnival (February)
Carnival always ends on Marted� Grasso, or "Fat Tuesday," and Venice's celebration normally starts a week and a half earlier on a Saturday.
Toscany
Rome
Pisa
Cost of Rome travel back than (Standford)
The country has a long history, as Rome its capital city today was founded in 753BC. After the Roman Empire broke down in 395AD, there were many separate kingdoms and city states. However, Italy became one nation only in 1861 and since then includes the islands of Sicily and Sardegna. It was a kingdom until 1946 after the second World War, where Italy sided with the German Nazis. Italy is founding member of the European Union (EU) and the NATO.
510 BC Rome rebels against the Etruscans. The Romans gradually take Etruscan territory.
396 BC The Romans capture the city of Veii
390 BC The Gauls sack Rome
272 BC Almost all of southern Italy is in Roman hands
265 BC The last Etruscan town falls to the Romans
135-132 BC Slaves in Sicily rebel
103-99 BC Slaves in Sicily rebel again
90 BC All of northern Italy is in Roman hands
89 BC All free Italians are granted Roman citizenship
83-80 BC Sulla is dictator of Rome
73-71 BC Spartacus leads a slave rebellion.
67 BC Pompey destroys the pirates in the Mediterranean
49 BC Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon
44 BC Julius Caesar is assassinated
27 BC Octavian is granted the title Augustus
14-37 AD Tiberius rules Rome
54-68 AD Nero rules Rome
98-117 AD Under the Emperor Trajan the Roman Empire reaches its peak
169-180 Marcus Aurelius is emperor
212 All free people in the empire are granted Roman citizenship
337 Constantine the first Christian emperor dies
476 The last Roman emperor is deposed. Odoacer is made king of Italy.
535 The Byzantine emperor Justinian sends an army to Italy
540 The Byzantines capture Ravenna
568 The Lombards invade Italy
772 The Franks conquer the Lombard kingdom
1061-1091 The Normans conquer Sicily
1176 The German emperor Frederick Barbarossa is defeated at Legnano
1266 The French conquer Sicily
1282 The Sicilians rebel
1348 Italy is devastated by the Black Death
1434-1464 Cosimo Medici rules Florence
1470 The printing press is in use in Venice
1495 The French capture Naples but soon withdraw
1515 The French capture Milan
1527 The Spanish sack Rome
1707 The Austrians take Naples
1720 The Austrians take Sicily
1764 Famine in Naples
1763-66 Famine in Tuscany
1796 Napoleon invades Italy
1797 Napoleon places Venice under Austrian control
1800 Napoleon wins a victory at Marengo
1820 A rebellion takes place in Naples
1837 Giuseppe Mazzini lives in Britain but stoke the fires of Italian nationalism
1848 Revolutions break out in Italy
1849 All rebellions are crushed and the old order is reimposed in Italy
1852 Camillo Cavour becomes Prime Minister of Piedmont
1858 Cavour makes a deal with the French to drive the Austrians out of Italy
1861 The king of Piedmont becomes king of all Italy
1877 Compulsory primary education is introduced in Italy
1887-1891 Francesco Crispi is prime minister of Italy
1893-1896 Crispi is prime minister again
c. 1886-1915 Northern Italy industrialises
1900 King Umberto is assassinated
1908 An earthquake strikes Sicily
1912 All literate men in Italy are given the vote
1915 Italy joins the First World War
1917 The Italians are defeated at Caporetto
1918 The Italians win a victory at Vittorio Veneto
1919 Mussolini founds the Fasci di Combattimento
1920 Unrest among Italian workers
1922 A force of Fascists march on Rome. The king makes Mussolini prime minister
1924 Giacomo Matteotti the leader of the Socialists is murdered
1925 Mussolini makes himself dictator of Italy. Mussolini begins 'the battle of the grain' to make Italy self-sufficient.
1929 The Fascists make an agreement with the Roman Catholic Church
1938 Mussolini introduces anti-Semitic laws
1940 Mussolini declares war on France and Britain
1943 The allies land in Sicily then in Italy
1944 On 4 June the allies enter Rome
1945 German troops in Italy surrender
1946 Italy becomes a republic
1957 Italy is a founder member of the EU
1968-69 Labour unrest in Italy
1970 Divorce is allowed in Italy
1972 Only 35% of Italians attend church regularly
1978 In certain circumstances abortion is allowed. Aldo Moro the leader of the Christian Democrats is murdered.
1999 Italy joins the Euro
2012 Church attendance in Italy falls to 23%
800 BC The rise of the Etruscan civilisation
750 BC The Greeks begin to found colonies in Italy510 BC Rome rebels against the Etruscans. The Romans gradually take Etruscan territory.
396 BC The Romans capture the city of Veii
390 BC The Gauls sack Rome
272 BC Almost all of southern Italy is in Roman hands
265 BC The last Etruscan town falls to the Romans
135-132 BC Slaves in Sicily rebel
103-99 BC Slaves in Sicily rebel again
90 BC All of northern Italy is in Roman hands
89 BC All free Italians are granted Roman citizenship
83-80 BC Sulla is dictator of Rome
73-71 BC Spartacus leads a slave rebellion.
67 BC Pompey destroys the pirates in the Mediterranean
49 BC Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon
44 BC Julius Caesar is assassinated
27 BC Octavian is granted the title Augustus
14-37 AD Tiberius rules Rome
54-68 AD Nero rules Rome
98-117 AD Under the Emperor Trajan the Roman Empire reaches its peak
169-180 Marcus Aurelius is emperor
212 All free people in the empire are granted Roman citizenship
337 Constantine the first Christian emperor dies
535 The Byzantine emperor Justinian sends an army to Italy
540 The Byzantines capture Ravenna
568 The Lombards invade Italy
772 The Franks conquer the Lombard kingdom
1061-1091 The Normans conquer Sicily
1176 The German emperor Frederick Barbarossa is defeated at Legnano
1266 The French conquer Sicily
1282 The Sicilians rebel
1348 Italy is devastated by the Black Death
1434-1464 Cosimo Medici rules Florence
1470 The printing press is in use in Venice
1495 The French capture Naples but soon withdraw
1515 The French capture Milan
1527 The Spanish sack Rome
1707 The Austrians take Naples
1720 The Austrians take Sicily
1764 Famine in Naples
1763-66 Famine in Tuscany
1796 Napoleon invades Italy
1797 Napoleon places Venice under Austrian control
1800 Napoleon wins a victory at Marengo
1837 Giuseppe Mazzini lives in Britain but stoke the fires of Italian nationalism
1848 Revolutions break out in Italy
1849 All rebellions are crushed and the old order is reimposed in Italy
1852 Camillo Cavour becomes Prime Minister of Piedmont
1858 Cavour makes a deal with the French to drive the Austrians out of Italy
1861 The king of Piedmont becomes king of all Italy
1877 Compulsory primary education is introduced in Italy
1887-1891 Francesco Crispi is prime minister of Italy
1893-1896 Crispi is prime minister again
c. 1886-1915 Northern Italy industrialises
1900 King Umberto is assassinated
1908 An earthquake strikes Sicily
1912 All literate men in Italy are given the vote
1915 Italy joins the First World War
1917 The Italians are defeated at Caporetto
1918 The Italians win a victory at Vittorio Veneto
1919 Mussolini founds the Fasci di Combattimento
1920 Unrest among Italian workers
1922 A force of Fascists march on Rome. The king makes Mussolini prime minister
1924 Giacomo Matteotti the leader of the Socialists is murdered
1925 Mussolini makes himself dictator of Italy. Mussolini begins 'the battle of the grain' to make Italy self-sufficient.
1929 The Fascists make an agreement with the Roman Catholic Church
1938 Mussolini introduces anti-Semitic laws
1940 Mussolini declares war on France and Britain
1943 The allies land in Sicily then in Italy
1944 On 4 June the allies enter Rome
1945 German troops in Italy surrender
1946 Italy becomes a republic
1957 Italy is a founder member of the EU
1968-69 Labour unrest in Italy
1970 Divorce is allowed in Italy
1972 Only 35% of Italians attend church regularly
1978 In certain circumstances abortion is allowed. Aldo Moro the leader of the Christian Democrats is murdered.
1999 Italy joins the Euro
2012 Church attendance in Italy falls to 23%
Animals
Sheep are held mainly in Southern Italy and the donkeys still help farmers in remote villages to carry heavy loads over steep terrain.
Some years ago there was a big scare in Italy about brown bear, which attacked farm animals in Northern Italy. Brown bears are protected in Italy, as there are only few bears left in the wild now.
In the Alps you will very likely see the marmots, which make a very high pitched calling sound.
People
Italians love sports. Cycling, Skiing, Soccer and Motor Racing are just some of the sports Italians have very strong interest in. The Italian soccer league is followed by many Italians abroad too: Inter Milan, Lazio Roma and Juventus Turin are just some of the Italian soccer teams which are favoured by Italians.
Inter Milan
The family is very important for Italians, where there are still many big families including grandparents, parents and children in the household. Italians love their food, which is usually prepared freshly by the “Mama”, but more and more men love to cook and break away from the typical image of the Italian "macho" and nowadays help in the household or stay at home with the kids while the women goes to work.
Italians are famous for their inventions and discoveries. The Italian explorers Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci discovered the Americas while Marco Polo explored the East.
Italians are famous for their inventions and discoveries. The Italian explorers Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci discovered the Americas while Marco Polo explored the East.
Christopher Columbus
Illustration of Amerigo Vespucci Using Astrolabe
Marco Polo
Leonardo da Vinci was a scientist and artist who was the first to prove the world is round and not flat and Alessandro Volta, was the prioneer who did studies in electricity, hence the name “Volt” describing a unit of electricity.
Did you know that Italians also invented the piano and the thermometer?
Food
The Italian main dishes contain: pork and beef, seafood and potatoes, rice and pasta (wheat and egg noodles) products.
Pizza is surely one of the most famous exports and in Italy it is usually baked in a wood-fired oven and very thin, but loaded with fresh vegetables or thinly sliced ham, salami, artichokes or olives.
The Italian pasta is renowned worldwide and there are more than 200 different shapes.
The Italian pasta is renowned worldwide and there are more than 200 different shapes.
Italians love their food and many dishes are based on fresh vegetables and seafood too.
There are delicious sweet cakes in Italy, like the Panettone (a yeast cake with raisins), Panforte (a hard and flat fruit cake) and almond pastries like amaretti.
There are delicious sweet cakes in Italy, like the Panettone (a yeast cake with raisins), Panforte (a hard and flat fruit cake) and almond pastries like amaretti.
Here is some typical Italian food
Pizza probably the most famous Italian dish, it was invented in Napoli/Naples around 1860
Calzone just a folded up pizza
Pesto thick green sauce with olives, herbs and olive oil, pine kernels and parmiggiano cheese.
Gelato ice-cream is an Italian invention
Lasagna layered pasta dish with tomato, mozzarella cheese and mince meat filling.
Mozzarella Italian cheese balls, originally made from buffalo milk
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