Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. It is located on a peninsula that extends into the middle of the
Mediterranean Sea, with the
Alps on its northern land border, as well as islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and two enclaves:
Vatican City and
San Marino. It is the tenth-largest country in the Europe, covering an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi), and third-most populous member state of the
European Union, with a population of nearly 60 million. Its capital and
largest city is
Rome; other major urban areas include
Milan,
Naples,
Turin,
Florence, and
Venice.
In antiquity, the Italian peninsula was home to
numerous peoples; the
Latin city of Rome, founded as a
Kingdom, became a
Republic that conquered the Mediterranean world and ruled it for centuries as an
Empire. With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of the
Catholic Church and the
Papacy. During the
Early Middle Ages, Italy experienced the
fall of the Western Roman Empire and inward migration from Germanic tribes. By the 11th century,
Italian city-states and
maritime republics expanded, bringing renewed prosperity through commerce and laying the groundwork for modern capitalism. The
Italian Renaissance flourished during the 15th and 16th centuries and spread to the rest of Europe. Italian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and the
New World, leading the European
Age of Discovery. However, centuries of rivalry and infighting between city-states left the peninsula
divided. During the
17th and 18th centuries, Italian economic importance waned significantly. (Full article...)
...that Poliphilo, the main character in the
Renaissance book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, was said to have felt "extreme delight", "incredible joy", and "frenetic pleasure and cupidinous frenzy" when he saw the buildings depicted in the book?
Italian wine is produced in every
region of Italy. Italy is the
world's largest wine producer, as well as the country with the widest variety of indigenous
grapevine in the world, with an area of 702,000 hectares (1,730,000 acres) under vineyard cultivation, and contributing a 2013–2017 annual average of 48.3 million
hl of wine. In 2018 Italy accounted for 19 per cent of global production, ahead of
France (17 per cent) and
Spain (15 per cent). Italian wine is both exported around the world and popular domestically among Italians, who consume an average of 42 litres per capita, ranking fifth in world wine consumption.
The origins of vine-growing and winemaking in Italy has been illuminated by recent research, stretching back even before the
Phoenician,
Etruscans and
Greek settlers, who produced wine in Italy before the
Romans planted their own
vineyards. The Romans greatly increased Italy's viticultural area using efficient
viticultural and
winemaking methods. (Full article...)
Image 7The
Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 27The espresso comes from the Italian esprimere, which means "to express," and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 30The
Roman Empire provided an inspiration for the medieval European. Although the
Holy Roman Empire rarely acquired a serious geopolitical reality, it possessed great symbolic significance. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 46The cover of the Corriere dei Piccoli on 11 July 1911 carries a cartoon strip in the Italian style without speech bubbles. (from Culture of Italy)