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● Capital: Rome
● Language: Italian (official), German, Ladino, French, Slovenian
● Currency: Euro
● Population: 59,258,000 inhabitants. (estimates 2021) 232 per Km2 (2018)
● Surface: 302,068 km2
(Image: Map of Italy; source: Own work)
The history of Italy is characterized by periods in which it was one of the largest centers of political, cultural and civil development on our planet, in others one of the peripheries. The highest moments are those of the Roman age, when Italy, first republican and then imperial, (3rd century BC-4th century AD) was the greatest power of the Western world, and in the Renaissance (15th-16th centuries), when the country, although divided into regional states unable to preserve their political independence, was the seat of a splendid civilization. Italy regained its political unity, which was lost in 476 AD. following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, only in 1860-61, with the formation of the national state following the Risorgimento under the dynasty of the Savoy kings. After the fall of the fascist regime and the Second World War, in '45, Italy chose the republican form of government in a referendum.
Italy was one of the founding countries of the current EU, established in 1957.
(Image: Colosseum, the most impressive monument of ancient Rome that has come down to us. Source: Pixabay)
Geography: Reliefs: The Alps arc around mainland Italy to the north. Highest peak Mont Blanc 4810 m. The Apennines form the backbone of peninsular Italy. Highest peak Gran Sasso 2914 m.
Plains: Po Valley, Tavoliere delle Puglie.
Rivers: Po, Adige, Tiber.
Famous people: Giulio Cesare, Giotto, Dante Alighieri, Cristoforo Colombo, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raffaello Sanzio. Alessandro Manzoni, Giuseppe Verdi.
(Image: Mont Blanc, the highest massif (4810 m) in the Alps. Source: Pixabay)