Introducing Italy Italy is one of the most developed countries in the world It is a popular tourist destination and is famous for its fashion and its food Although it is a relatively small country its capital Rome was once the center of a huge empire BASIC DATA Official name Italian Republic Capital Rome Size 116,306 sq miles 301,230 sq km Population 58,090,681 2010 est Currency Euro Where in the World The boot-shaped Italian peninsula in southern Europe stretches 500 miles 800 km south into the Mediterranean Sea In the North the Alps Mountains form a natural boundary with France Switzerland Austria and Slovenia The rest of the country is surrounded by sea which means Italy has thousands of miles kilometers of coastline Italy also includes Sicily Sardinia and several smaller islands 쒅 Italy has land borders with France Switzerland Austria and Slovenia as well as the two small countries of San Marino and Vatican City SWITZERLAND L P Milan A S Venice AUSTRIA HUNGARY SLOVENIA CROATIA FRANCE Bologna SAN MARINO A Pisa P E N Mediterranean Mediterranean Sea Sea Corsica BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA YUGOSLAVIA A d r i a t i c S e a ITALY N L'Aquila Rome Rome Vatican City I N E Sardinia Naples Pompeii S Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius Tyrrhenian Tyrrhenian Sea Sea NN WW EE SS Stromboli Stromboli Mount Etna Mount Etna Sicily 00 00 milesmiles 100100 100100 kilometers kilometers Ionian Ionian Sea Sea KeyKey Capital city Capital city Other cities Other cities Volcano Volcano TUNISIA 4
INTRODUCING ITALY IT’S A FACT Two of the world’s smallest countries lie completely within Italy’s borders Vatican City in Rome is the smallest country in the world at only 0 2 sq miles 0 5 sq km San Marino on Mount Titano in north-central Italy is 24 sq miles 52 sq km and is the world’s fifth smallest country Ancient Civilization This modern developed country has a long history The Roman civilization began around the 10th century BC The ancient Romans are remembered for their development of law art and language This civilization gradually spread and by the first century AD a vast Roman Empire stretched all across Europe North Africa and the Near East The Roman Empire lasted until the fifth century 쏡 The Trevi Fountain is one of many famous landmarks in Rome the ancient capital of the huge Roman Empire
ITALY IN OUR WORLD Roman Remains Remains of the Roman civilization can still be seen in all parts of the former empire and the technology the ancient Romans developed continues to influence our modern world The Romans built many great public buildings including the famous Colosseum in Rome where gladiators battled each other to the death City-states After the fall of the Roman Empire some cities in Italy became powerful independent states known as city-states These were independently ruled and each area developed its own sense of identity Places 쏟 Work began on the Colosseum in Rome in 70 AD and it was completed 10 years later Over the centuries earthquakes have damaged the remains such as Venice Florence and Milan grew rich from trade with countries in Europe and Asia The Kingdom of Italy Between the 15th and the 19th centuries France Spain and Austria all invaded Italy and took control of different regions Eventually the Italians won the fight against their foreign rulers and the country was united as the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 6
INTRODUCING ITALY IT STARTED HERE The Renaissance After the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century much of the Romans knowledge was lost or forgotten In the 14nth century however people became interested in learning and in the arts once again This period in history became known as the Renaissance which means rebirth It began in Italy and spread throughout Europe Art music literature and learning all flourished during the Renaissance The Sweet Life After World War II 1939 45 Italy became a republic rather than a kingdom It recovered more quickly from the effects of the war than many other European countries The economy boomed and Italians enjoyed high incomes and a relaxed lifestyle known as la dolce vita the sweet life However the global economic crisis that began in 2008 hit Italy harder than many other countries This was partly because the Italian economy relied on manufacturing and exporting products and when the crisis hit other countries stopped buying so many Italian-made goods A survey found that Italians were the least happy people in Western Europe THE HOME OF Coffee Culture Coffee was introduced to Europeans around 1600 when the first shipment of coffee from the Muslim world arrived in the port city of Venice Italy From Italy the fashion for drinking coffee spread throughout Europe Today you can order an espresso almost anywhere in the world This strong-tasting coffee is made using a machine invented in 7
