|
General
Information* about
ITALY
Etymology
The origin of the term Italia,
from
Latin: Italia,[22]
is uncertain. According to one of the more common explanations, the term was
borrowed through
Greek
from the
Oscan Víteliú, meaning "land of young cattle" (cf.
Lat vitulus
"calf",
Umb vitlo "calf").[23]
The bull was a symbol of the southern Italian tribes and was often depicted
goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the
Samnite
Wars.
The name Italia originally
applied only to a part of what is now
Southern Italy—according to
Antiochus of Syracuse, the southern portion of the
Bruttium peninsula (modern
Calabria).
But by his time
Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most
of Lucania as
well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name "Italia" to a larger region,
but it was not until the time of the Roman conquests that the term was expanded
to cover the entire peninsula.[24]
Top
History
Prehistory to Magna
Graecia
Excavations throughout Italy reveal a
modern human presence dating back to the
Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago.[25]
In the 8th and 7th centuries BC
Greek colonies were established all along the coast of
Sicily and the
southern part of the Italian Peninsula. Subsequently, Romans referred to this
area as
Magna
Graecia, as it was so densely inhabited by
Greeks.[26][27][28]
Ancient Rome
The
Colosseum in Rome, perhaps the most enduring symbol of Italy.
Ancient
Rome was at first a
small agricultural community founded circa the 8th century BC that grew over the
course of the centuries into a colossal
empire encompassing the whole
Mediterranean Sea, in which
Ancient Greek and Roman cultures merged into one civilization. This
civilization was so influential that parts of it survive in modern
law,
administration,
philosophy
and
arts, forming the ground that
Western civilization is based upon. In its twelve-century existence, it
transformed itself from
monarchy to
republic and finally to
autocracy.
In steady decline since the 2nd century AD, the empire finally broke into two
parts in 285 AD: the
Western Roman Empire and the
Byzantine Empire in the East. The western part under the pressure of
Goths finally
dissolved, leaving the Italian peninsula divided into small independent kingdoms
and feuding
city states for the next 14 centuries, and leaving the
eastern part sole heir to the Roman legacy.
Early Middle Ages
Following a short recapture of the
Italian peninsula by
Byzantine Emperor
Justinian in the 6th century AD from the
Ostrogoths,
a new wave of
Germanic tribes, the
Lombards,
soon arrived in Italy from the north. For several centuries the armies of
the Byzantines were strong enough to prevent
Arabs, the
Holy Roman Empire, or the
Papacy from establishing a unified Italian Kingdom, but were at the same
time too weak to fully unify the former Roman lands themselves. Nevertheless,
during early Middle Ages Imperial dynasties such as the
Carolingians, the
Ottonians and the
Hohenstaufens managed to impose their overlordship in Italy.
In the sixth century AD the
Byzantine Emperor
Justinian reconquered Italy from the
Ostrogoths.
The invasion of a new wave of
Germanic tribes, the
Lombards,
doomed his attempt to resurrect the
Western Roman Empire but the repercussions of Justinian's failure resounded
further still. For the next thirteen centuries, whilst new
nation-states arose in the lands north of the Alps, the Italian political
landscape was a patchwork of feuding
city states, petty tyrannies, and foreign invaders.
For several centuries the armies and
Exarchs,
Justinian's successors, were a tenacious force in Italian affairs - strong
enough to prevent other powers such as the
Arabs, the
Holy Roman Empire, or the
Papacy from establishing a unified Italian Kingdom, but too weak to drive
out these "interlopers" and recreate Roman Italy. Later Imperial orders such as
the
Carolingians, the
Ottonians and
Hohenstaufens also managed to impose their overlordship in Italy;[29]
But their successes were as transitory as Justinian's and a unified Italian
state remained a dream until the nineteenth century.
Late
Middle Ages, Signorie and Comuni
Italy's regions were eventually subsumed
by their neighbouring empires with their conflicting interests and would remain
divided up to the 19th century. It was during this vacuum of authority that the
region saw the rise of the
Signoria
and the
Comune. In the anarchic conditions that often prevailed in medieval Italian
city-states, people looked to strong men to restore order and disarm the feuding
elites. In times of anarchy or crisis, cities sometimes offered the Signoria to
individuals perceived as strong enough to save the state, most notably the
Della Scala family in
Verona, the
Visconti in Milan
and the
Medici in
Florence.
Italy during this period became notable
for its merchant
Republics. These city-states,
oligarchical
in reality, had a dominant merchant class which under relative
freedom nurtured academic and artistic advancement. The four classic
Maritime Republics in Italy were
Venice,
Genoa,
Pisa and
Amalfi. Venice
and Genoa were Europe's gateways to trade with the East, with the former
producer of the renowned
venetian glass. Florence was the capital of
silk,
wool, banks and
jewelry. The Maritime Republics were heavily involved in the
Crusades,
taking advantage of the new political and trading opportunities, most evidently
in the conquest of
Zara and
Constantinople funded by Venice.
During the late
Middle
Ages Italy was divided into smaller
city-states and territories: the
kingdom of Naples controlled the south, the
Republic of Florence and the
Papal
States the centre, the
Genoese and the
Milanese the
north and west, and the
Venetians the
east.
Renaissance
The unique political structures of late
Middle
Ages Italy have led some to theorize that its unusual social climate allowed
the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence. Italy was divided into smaller
city states and territories: the
kingdom of Naples controlled the south, the
Republic of Florence and the
Papal
States the center, the
Genoese and the
Milanese the
north and west, and the
Venetians the
east. Fifteenth-century Italy was one of the most urbanised areas in Europe.
Most historians agree that the ideas that characterized the Renaissance had
their origin in late 13th century
Florence,
in particular with the writings of
Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and
Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374), as well as the painting of
Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337). The Renaissance was an especially important
period in Italian history, and brought along numerous political, philosophical,
literary, cultural, social and religious reforms.[30]
The Renaissance was so called because it
was a "rebirth" of certain classical ideas that had long been lost to Europe. It
has been argued that the fuel for this rebirth was the rediscovery of ancient
texts that had been forgotten by Western civilization, but were preserved in
some monastic
libraries and in the
Islamic
world, and the translations of
Greek and
Arabic texts into
Latin.
Renaissance scholars such as
Niccolò de' Niccoli and
Poggio Bracciolini scoured the libraries in search of works by such
classical authors as
Plato, Cicero
and Vitruvius.
The works of
ancient Greek and
Hellenistic writers (such as
Plato,
Aristotle,
Euclid, and
Ptolemy) and
Muslim scientists were imported into the Christian world, providing new
intellectual material for European scholars.
The
Black
Death
pandemic in 1348 left its mark on Italy by killing one third of the
population.[31][32]
However, the recovery from the disaster of the
Black
Death led to a resurgence of cities, trade and economy which greatly
stimulated the successive phase of the
Humanism
and
Renaissance (15th-16th centuries) when Italy again returned to be the center
of
Western civilization, strongly influencing the other European countries with
Courts like
Este in
Ferrara and
De Medici in
Florence.
Florence
became Italy's main centre of the
Renaissance. Numerous artists, such as
Michelangelo,
Leonardo da Vinci and
Botticelli[33]
worked in the city. Its economy flourished, and according to the
Encyclopaedia Britannica,
Florence
from the 14th century to the 16th century was one of Europe's greatest cities,
and its numerous museums, palazzi and churches, such as the
Pitti Palace and the
Uffizi have
been described by the encyclopedia as works of art themselves.[34]
Rome was also a
city particularly affected by the
Renaissance. This period of reform changed the city's face dramatically,
with works like the
Pietà by
Michelangelo and the frescoes of the
Borgia Apartment. Rome reached the highest point of splendour under
Pope Julius II (1503-1513) and his successors
Leo X and
Clement VII, both members of the
Medici family. In this twenty-years period Rome became one of the greatest
centres of art in the
world. The old
St. Peter's Basilica built by Emperor
Constantine the Great,[35]
who in Rome became one the most famous painters of Italy creating frescos in the
Cappella Niccolina, the
Villa Farnesina, the
Raphael's Rooms, plus many other famous paintings.
Michelangelo started the decoration of the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel and executed the famous statue of the
Moses for the
tomb of Julius. Rome lost in part its religious character, becoming increasingly
a true Renaissance city, with a great number of popular feasts, horse races,
parties, intrigues and licentious episodes. Its economy was rich, with the
presence of several Tuscan
bankers, including
Agostino Chigi, who was a friend of
Raphael and a
patron of
arts. Before his early death,
Raphael also
promoted for the first time the preservation of the ancient ruins.
Foreign Domination (16th - 19th centuries)
A map depicting Western
Europe's
borders after the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt.
After a century where the fragmented
system of Italian states and principalities were able to maintain a relative
independence and a balance of power in the peninsula, in 1494 the French king
Charles VIII opened the first of a series of invasions, lasting half of the
sixteenth century, and a competition between France and Spain for the possession
of the country. Ultimately Spain prevailed (the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis in
1559 recognised the Spanish possession of the
Duchy of Milan and the
Kingdom of Naples) and for almost two centuries became the hegemon in Italy.
The holy alliance between Habsburg Spain and the Holy See resulted in the
systematic persecution of any Protestant movement, with the result that Italy
remained a Catholic country with marginal Protestant presence. During its long
rule on Italy, Spain systematically spoiled the country and imposed a heavy
taxation. Moreover, Spanish administration was slow and inefficient.
Austria succeeded Spain as hegemon in
Italy after the
Peace of Utrecht (1713), having acquired the State of Milan and the Kingdom
of Naples. The Austrian domination, thanks to the
Enlightenment embraced by Habsburgic emperors, was a considerable
improvement. The northern part of Italy, under the direct control of
Vienna, gained
economic dynamism and intellectual fervour.
Through Austrian domination, the
northern part of Italy gained economic dynamism and intellectual fervor. The
French Revolution and the
Napoleonic Wars (1796–1815) introduced the ideas of
equality,
democracy, law
and nation. The
plague repeatedly returned to haunt Italy throughout the 14th to 17th
centuries.[36]
Italy's last major epidemic occurred in 1656 in
Naples.[37]
Italy’s population between 1700 and 1800 rose by about one-third, to 18 million.[38]
Kingdom
of Italy (1861–1946)
Risorgimento
(1846-1870)
Main article:
Risorgimento
The creation of the
Kingdom of Italy was the result of efforts by Italian nationalists and
monarchists loyal to the
House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire
Italian Peninsula. In the context of the
1848 liberal revolutions that swept through Europe, an unsuccessful
war was declared on
Austria.
Giuseppe Garibaldi, popular amongst southern Italians, led the Italian
republican drive for unification in southern Italy,[39]
while the northern Italian monarchy of the
Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia whose government was led by
Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, had the ambition of establishing a united
Italian state under its rule. The kingdom successfully challenged the
Austrian Empire in the
Second Italian War of Independence with the help of
Napoleon III, liberating the
Lombardy-Venetia. It established
Turin as capital
of the newly formed state. In 1866,
Victor Emmanuel II aligned the kingdom with
Prussia
during the
Austro-Prussian War, waging the
Third Italian War of Independence which allowed Italy to annex Venice. In
1870, as France during the disastrous
Franco-Prussian War abandoned its positions in
Rome, Italy rushed
to fill the power gap by taking over the
Papal State from French sovereignty. Italian unification finally was
achieved, and shortly afterwards Italy's capital was moved to Rome.
Kingdom of Italy during Liberalism and later Facism (1870 - 1922)
As
Northern Italy became
industrialized and
modernized,
Southern Italy and agricultural regions of the north remained
under-developed and stagnant, forcing millions of people to migrate to the
emerging
Industrial Triangle or abroad. The Sardinian
Statuto Albertino of 1848, extended to the whole
Kingdom of Italy in 1861, provided for basic freedoms, but the electoral
laws excluded the non-propertied and uneducated classes from voting. In 1913,
male universal suffrage was adopted. The
Socialist Party became the main political party, outclassing the traditional
liberal and conservative organisations. The high point of
Italian emigration was 1913, when 872,598 persons left Italy.[40]
Starting from the last two decades of the nineteenth century, Italy developed
into a colonial power by forcing
Somalia,
Eritrea and
later Libya and
the
Dodecanese under its rule.[41]
During
World War I, Italy at first stayed neutral but in 1915 signed the
Treaty of London, entering
Entente on the promise of receiving
Trento,
Trieste,
Istria,
Dalmatia
and parts of
Ottoman Empire. During the war, 600,000 Italians died, and the economy
collapsed. Under the
Peace Treaty of Saint-Germain, Italy obtained just
Bolzano-Bozen,
Trento,
Trieste and Istria in a victory described as "mutilated" by the public.
Kingdom of Italy during Facism and World War II (1922 - 1945)
The turbulence that followed the
devastation of World War I, inspired by the
Russian Revolution, led to turmoil and anarchy. The liberal establishment,
fearing a
socialist revolution, started to endorse the small
National Fascist Party, led by
Benito Mussolini. In October 1922 the fascists attempted a
coup
(the Marcia su Roma, "March
on Rome"), but the king ordered the army not to intervene, instead forming
an alliance with Mussolini. Over the next few years, Mussolini banned all
political parties and curtailed personal liberties, thus forming a dictatorship.
In 1935, Mussolini subjugated
Ethiopia
after a surprisingly lengthy campaign. This resulted in international alienation
and the exodus of the country from the
League of Nations. A first pact with
Nazi
Germany was concluded in 1936, and a second in
1938.
Italy strongly supported Franco in the
Spanish civil war. The country was opposed to
Adolf
Hitler's
annexations of Austria, but did not interfere with it. Italy supported
Germany's annexation of
Sudetenland, however[citation
needed].
On 7 April 1939 Italy occupied
Albania, a
de facto protectorate for decades, and entered
World
War II in 1940, taking part in the late stages of the
Battle of France. Mussolini, wanting a quick victory like Hitler's
blitzkriegs
in Poland and France, invaded
Greece in
October 1940 via Albania but was forced to accept a humiliating defeat after a
few months. At the same time, Italy, after initially conquering
British Somalia, saw an allied counter-attack lead to the loss of all
possessions in the
Horn of Africa. Italy was also defeated by
British forces in North Africa and was only saved by the urgently dispatched
German Africa Corps led by
Erwin
Rommel. Italy was invaded by the Allies in June 1943, leading to the
collapse of the fascist regime and the arrest of Mussolini. In September 1943,
Italy
surrendered. The country remained a
battlefield for the rest of the war, as the allies were moving up from the
south as the north was the base for loyalist Italian fascist and German Nazi
forces. The whole picture became more complex by the activity of the Italian
partisans; see
Italian resistance movement. The Nazis left the country on 25 April 1945 and
the remaining Italian fascist forces eventually disbanded. Nearly half a million
Italians (including civilians) died between June 1940 and May 1945. An estimated
200,000 partisans took part in the
Resistance, and German or fascist forces killed some 70,000 Italians (including
both partisans and civilians) for Resistance activities.[42]
The Italian
Republic (1946-)
In 1946,
Vittorio Emanuele III's son,
Umberto II, was forced to abdicate.
Italy became a republic after a
referendum held on 2 June 1946, a day celebrated since as
Republic Day. This was also the first time in Italy that Italian women were
entitled to vote.[43]
The Republican Constitution was approved and came into force on 1 January 1948.
Under the
Paris Peace Treaties of 1947, the eastern border area was lost to
Yugoslavia, and, later, the free territory of Trieste was divided between
the two states. Fears in the Italian electorate of a possible Communist takeover
proved crucial for the first universal suffrage electoral outcome on the 18th of
April 1948 when the
Christian Democrats, under the leadership of
Alcide De Gasperi, won the election with 48 percent of the vote. In the
1950s Italy became a member of
NATO and allied
itself with the United States. The
Marshall Plan helped revive the Italian economy which, until the 1960s,
enjoyed a period of sustained economic growth commonly called the "Economic
Miracle". In 1957, Italy was a founder member of the
European Economic Community (EEC), which became the
European Union (EU) in 1993.
From the late 1960s till late 1980s the
country experienced a hard economic crisis and the
Years of Lead, a period characterized by widespread social conflicts and
terrorist acts carried out by extra-parliamentary movements. The Years of Lead
culminated in the assassination of the
Christian Democrat leader
Aldo Moro
in 1978, bringing to an end the "Historic
Compromise" between the DC and the
Communist Party. In the 1980s, for the first time since 1945, two
governments were led by non-Christian-Democrat premiers: a republican (Giovanni
Spadolini) and a socialist (Bettino
Craxi); the Christian Democrats remained, however, the main force supporting
the government. The
Socialist Party (PSI), led by
Bettino Craxi, became more and more critical of the Communists and of the
Soviet
Union; Craxi himself pushed in favour of US president
Ronald Reagan's positioning of
Pershing missiles in Italy, a move the Communists hotly contested.
From 1992 to 2009, Italy faced
significant challenges, as voters, disenchanted with past political paralysis,
massive government debt and extensive corruption (collectively called
Tangentopoli after being uncovered by
Mani
pulite – "Clean hands"), demanded political, economic, and ethical reforms.
The scandals involved all major parties, but especially those in the government
coalition: between 1992 and 1994 the
Christian Democrats underwent a severe crisis and was dissolved, splitting
up into several pieces, while the
Socialists and the other governing minor parties also dissolved. The 1994
elections put media magnate
Silvio Berlusconi into the Prime Minister's seat. However, he was forced to
step down in December of that year when the
Lega Nord
Party withdrew its support. In April 1996, national elections led to the victory
of a centre-left coalition under the leadership of
Romano
Prodi. Prodi's first government became the third-longest to stay in power
before he narrowly lost a vote of confidence, by three votes, in October 1998. A
new government was formed by
Massimo D'Alema, but in April 2000 he resigned.
In 2001,
national elections led to the victory of a centre-right coalition under the
leadership of
Silvio Berlusconi, who became prime minister once again. Mr. Berlusconi was
able to remain in power for a complete five-year mandate, but with two different
governments. The first one (2001–2005) became the longest-lived government in
post-war Italy. Under that government, Italy joined the
US-led military coalition in Iraq. The
elections in 2006 were won by the centre-left, allowing Prodi to form his
second government, but in early 2008 he resigned after losing a confidence vote
in Parliament. Mr. Berlusconi won the ensuing
elections in April 2008 to form a government for a third time.
Top
Geography
Topography
Italy is located in
Southern Europe and comprises the long, boot-shaped
Italian Peninsula, the land between the peninsula and the
Alps, and a number
of islands including
Sicily and
Sardinia.
Its total area is 301,230 km², of which 294,020 km² is land and 7,210 km² is
water. Including islands, Italy has a coastline and border of 7,600 km on the
Adriatic,
Ionian,
Tyrrhenian seas (740 km), and borders shared with
France
(488 km), Austria
(430 km),
Slovenia (232 km) and
Switzerland;
San Marino
(39 km) and the
Vatican
City (3.2 km), both entirely surrounded by Italy, account for the remainder.
The
Apennine Mountains form the peninsula's backbone; the
Alps form its
northern boundary. The largest of its northern lakes is
Garda
(143 sq mi/370 km2); in the centre is
Trasimeno Lake. The
Po, Italy's principal river, flows from the Alps on the western border and
crosses the great
Padan plain to the Adriatic Sea. Several islands form part of Italy; the
largest are Sicily
(9,926 sq mi/25,708 km2) and
Sardinia
(9,301 sq mi/24,089 km2).
Volcanism
Italy is a volcanically active country,
containing the only active volcano in mainland Europe. The country's volcanism
is due chiefly to the presence, a short distance to the south, of the boundary
between the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate. The magma erupted by Italy's
volcanoes is thought to result from the upward forcing of rocks melted by the
subduction of one plate below another.
There are several active
volcanoes in
Italy:
Etna, the second-largest active volcano in Europe;[44]
Vulcano;
Stromboli;
and
Vesuvius, the only active volcano on the
mainland of Europe.
Climate
The climate in Italy is highly diverse
and can be far from the stereotypical
Mediterranean climate depending on the location. Most of the inland northern
areas of Italy, for example
Turin,
Milan and
Bologna, have
a
continental climate often classified as
humid subtropical (Köppen
climate classification Cfa). The coastal areas of
Liguria and
most of the peninsula south of
Florence
generally fit the Mediterranean stereotype (Köppen
climate classification Csa). The coastal areas of the peninsula can be very
different from the interior higher altitudes and valleys, particularly during
the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often
snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters and warm and generally dry summers,
although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer.
Top
Cities and
metropolitan areas
| |
Rank |
City |
Location |
Pop. |
Rank |
City |
Location |
Pop. |
|
1 |
Rome |
Lazio |
2,722,907 |
11 |
Venice |
Veneto |
270,055 |
|
2 |
Milan |
Lombardy |
1,294,797 |
12 |
Verona |
Veneto |
265,795 |
|
3 |
Naples |
Campania |
963,522 |
13 |
Messina |
Sicily |
243,315 |
|
4 |
Turin |
Piedmont |
909,193 |
14 |
Padua |
Veneto |
211,632 |
|
5 |
Palermo |
Sicily |
659,623 |
15 |
Trieste |
Friuli-Venezia Giulia |
205,466 |
|
6 |
Genoa |
Liguria |
611,556 |
16 |
Taranto |
Apulia |
194,042 |
|
7 |
Bologna |
Emilia-Romagna |
374,561 |
17 |
Brescia |
Lombardy |
190,809 |
|
8 |
Florence |
Tuscany |
365,744 |
19 |
Reggio Calabria |
Calabria |
185,602 |
|
9 |
Bari |
Apulia |
320,676 |
18 |
Prato |
Tuscany |
185,193 |
|
10 |
Catania |
Sicily |
296,816 |
20 |
Modena |
Emilia-Romagna |
181,704 |
|
2008
ISTAT estimates |
According to the
OECD,[57]
the largest metropolitan areas are:
| Metropolitan area |
Population |
|
Milan |
7.4 million |
|
Rome |
3.7 million |
|
Naples |
3.1 million |
|
Turin |
2.2 million |
Main Cities
A list and description of Italy's five
main and biggest cities by population:
-
Rome
(English pronunciation: /roʊm/;
Italian: Roma,
pronounced [ˈroːma];
Latin: Roma) is the
capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality
(central area), with over 2.7 million residents in 1,285.3 km2
(496.3 sq mi), while the population of the
urban
area is
estimated by
Eurostat
to be 3.46 million.[58]
The
metropolitan area of
Rome is estimated
by
OECD to have a population of 3.7 million.[59]
It is located in the central-western portion of the
Italian Peninsula, on the
Tiber river.
Rome's history as a city spans over two and a half thousand years, as one of
the founding and most powerful cities of
Western Civilisation. It was the centre of the
Roman
Empire, which dominated
Europe,
North
Africa and the
Middle
East for over four hundred years from the
1st Century BC until the
4th Century AD, and during the Ancient Roman era, the city was the most
powerful in Europe.[60]
Besides being Italy's administrative capital,
Rome is a major
European centre for
politics,
religion,
culture and
finance,
home of worldwide organizations such as
FAO.[10]
The city itself is Italy's richest by purchasing power, with a
GDP
of €94.376 billion ($121.5 billion),[61]
and is the world's 18th most expensive city (in 2009).[62]
Home of the
Vatican City, where the
pope, the head of
the
Roman Catholic Church, resides,
Rome is a global
centre for pilgrimage, and is one of the world's most visited cities,[63]
containing numerous priceless works of
art,
archaeological sites,
palaces,
museums,
churches, parks
and villas.
-
Milan (Italian:
Milano Italian
pronunciation: [miˈla(ː)no];
Western Lombard: Milan
(listen)), is the capital of the region of
Lombardia and of the
province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million,
while the urban area is the
fifth largest in the
E.U.
with an estimated population of 4.3 million.[64]
The
Milan metropolitan area, by far the largest in Italy, is estimated by
OECD to have a population of 7.4 million.[65]
Milan is, along
with Rome, Italy's
capital of
business,
design,
finance, media
and industry.
The city proper is Italy's second richest, with a
GDP
of $115 billion, whilst the
metropolitan area has Europe's 4th highest
GDP,
that of € 241.2 billion (US$ 312.3 billion) in 2004, which means that were
Milan a
country, it would be the world's 28th richest, near in size to that of the
economy of Austria. Milan is also a major international
fashion capital, annually competing with other centres such as
Paris,
New
York City,
London,
Los
Angeles and
Tokyo.[66]
The city also hosted the World Exposition in 1906 and will host the
Universal Expo in
2015,
and currently the
FieraMilano fair is considered the largest in Europe.
-
Naples (Italian:
Napoli IPA: /ˈna(ː)poli/,
Neapolitan: Napule) is the
capital of the region of
Campania
and of the
province of Naples. The city proper has a population of around 1 million
people, while the population of
urban area is estimated by
Eurostat
to be 2.25 million. The
Naples metropolitan area, according to different sources, is the
second after the
Milan
metropolitan area (with 4.434.136 inhabitants according to SVIMEZ DATA[67]
or 4.996.084 according to CENSIS INSTITUTE[68])
or the third (3.1 million inhabitants according to
OECD[69])
most populated
metropolitan area in Italy.Naples is ranked fourth in Italy, for economic
strength, after Rome,
Milan and
Turin.
Naples is a
thriving and cosmopolitan metropolis with a
GDP
of $43 billion.[70]
Naples is one of the oldest cities of the
western world, whose current urban structure retains elements of its long
and eventful history. Founded by the
Ancient Greeks as "Νεάπολις",
Neápolis
(New City), it held an important role in
Magna Graecia and then as part of the
Roman Republic in the central province of the
Empire. The city has seen a multitude of civilizations come and go, each
leaving their mark and now the historic city centre is listed by
UNESCO as a
World Heritage Site. Naples was the capital city of a kingdom which bore
its name from 1282 until 1816 in the form of the
Kingdom of Naples, then in union with
Sicily it was the capital of the
Two Sicilies until the
Italian unification.
Naples has
profoundly influenced many areas of Europe and beyond.[71]
-
Turin (Italian:
Torino pronounced
[toˈri(ː)no];
Piedmontese: Turin; pronounced
[tyˈɾiŋ])
is a major city as well as a business and cultural centre in
northern Italy,
capital of the
Piedmont
region, located mainly on the left bank of the
Po River surrounded by the
Alpine arch. The
population of the city proper is 909,193 (November 2008) while the population
of the
urban area is estimated by
Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants; the Turin
metropolitan area is estimated by
OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.[59]
Turin is well
known as the home of the
Shroud of Turin, the football teams
Juventus F.C. and
Torino
F.C., the headquarters of automobile manufacturers
Fiat,
Lancia and
Alfa
Romeo, and as host of the
2006 Winter Olympics. Several
International Space Station modules, such as
Harmony and
Columbus, were also manufactured in the city. It was the capital of the
Duchy of Savoy from 1563, then of the
Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the Royal House of Savoy and finally the
first capital of a
unified Italy.[72]
Turin ranks
third, after Rome
and Milan, for
economic strength,[73]
with a
GDP
of $58 billion. It is often referred to as "the Capital of the Alps". Turin is
also known as "the Automobile Capital of Italy" or the Detroit of Italy;
in Italy it is also called "[La] capitale Sabauda".
-
Palermo
(IPA (Italian pronunciation): /paˈlɛrmo/,
Sicilian: Palermu,
Latin: Panormus, from
Greek: Πάνορμος,
Panormos)
is a historic city in
Southern Italy, the
capital of the
autonomous region
Sicily and
the
Province of Palermo. The population of the Palermo
urban area is estimated by
Eurostat
to be 855,285, while its
metropolitan area is the fifth most populated in Italy with around 1.2
million people. In the central area, the city itself has a population of
around 670 thousand people, the inhabitants are known as Palermitans or
poetically panormiti, the languages spoken by its inhabitants are the
Italian language and the
Sicilian language. The city is noted for its rich
history,
culture,
architecture and
gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it
is over 2,700 years old.
Palermo is
located in the
north west of the island of Sicily, right by the
Gulf of Palermo
in the
Tyrrhenian Sea. It is Sicily's
cultural,
economic
and touristic
capital, and Palermo's main industrial sectors include
tourism,
services,
commerce and
agriculture.[74]
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Tourism
A view of
Florence,
one of Italy's most popular destinations for tourists.
Tourism is one of the fastest growing and most profitable sectors the
national economy: with 43.7 million international tourist arrivals and total
receipts estimated at $42.7 billion, Italy is the fourth highest tourist earner
in the world.[143]
Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world, behind
France (76.0 million),
Spain (55.6 million),
United States (49.4 million), and
China (46.8). People mainly come to Italy for its rich
art,
cuisine,
archaeology,
history,
fashion, and
culture, its beautiful coastline and beaches, its good
Mediterranean
weather, its mountains, its lakes, and priceless ancient monuments,
especially those from the
Greek civilization and
Roman civilization.
Rome, Italy's capital, is one of the most visited cities in the world, with
an average of 7-10 million tourists a year.[144]
The Colosseum
(4 million tourists) and the
Vatican Museums (4.2 million tourists) are the 39th and 37th (respectively)
most visited places in the world, according to a recent study.[145]
Other main sights in the city include the
Pantheon, the
Trevi Fountain,
Piazza Navona,
St Peter's Basilica, the
Roman
Forum,[146]
Castel Sant'Angelo, the
Basilica of St. John Lateran,[147]
the
Spanish Steps,
Villa Borghese park,
Piazza del Popolo, the
Trastevere
and the
Janiculum.[148]
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Northern and Central
Italy
Northern Italy is the wealthiest and most prosperous of Italian regions.
Lombardy (GDP:
€ 311 billion (2006)[156]),
Lazio (GDP:
€ 161 billion (2006)[156]),
Veneto (GDP:
€ 140 billion (2006)[156]),[157]
Emilia-Romagna (GDP:
€ 129 billion (2006)[156])
and Piedmont
(GDP:
€ 120 billion (2006)[156])
are Italy's wealthiest regions. The cities of
Milan,
Turin and
Genoa together
form Italy's famous "industrial triangle",[158]
which is characterized by heavy
industry,
machinery,
production and
commerce.
Also, the
Province of Bolzano-Bozen is Italy's richest province
GDP
per capita (€32,900; 135.5% of
EU
average),[156]
followed by
Lombardy (€32,800; 135.1% of
EU
average)[156]
and
Emilia-Romagna (€30,700; 126.6% of
EU
average).[156]
Also, with
Northern Italy having a 2007 nominal GDP estimated in €834.7 billion,
Northern Italy accounts for almost 54% of the national economy.
Southern Italy
Southern Italy is the country's less
affluent and less prosperous area. Even though cities in the Southern part of
the peninsula (such as
Naples) have
had a remarkable
economic growth in the post-war period, there are problems such as high
unemployment,
corruption, inefficient levels of
bureaucracy,
tax evasion and
organized crime (the
Sicilian Mafia,
Camorra and
'Ndrangheta are all based in regions of Southern Italy).[159]
Although southern Italy was less
affluent than
northern Italy throughout
modern history, at times southern Italy had prosperous and advanced areas,
culturally and economically wealthier than northern or central Italy, mainly
prior to the
Renaissance. Southern Italy was a leader in European cultural and
political
affairs. The Norman
Kingdom of Sicily was prosperous and politically powerful, becoming one of
the wealthiest states in Europe.[160]
In the 11th and
12th
centuries, Sicily and the
Kingdom of Naples played a major role in European affairs and exhibited many
signs of prosperity. By the middle of the 13th century, due to fiscal policies
that prevented the growth of a strong merchant class, the region became
economically backward compared to the other Italian states.[161]
Following unification with the rest of
the
Italian peninsula in 1861, factory technology (which the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies had gained from the British) was taken away to
Piedmont,
Lombardy
and Liguria.[161]
After unification southern Italy
experienced a huge demographic expansion which provoked mass emigration,
especially between 1892 and 1921.[162]
In addition, corruption was such a large problem that the
prime-minister
Giovanni Giolitti once conceded that places existed "where the law does not
operate at all".[163]
One study released in 1910 examined tax
rates in north, central and southern Italy indicated that northern Italy with
48% of the nation's wealth paid 40% of the nation's taxes, while the south with
27% of the nation's wealth paid 32% of the nation's taxes.[164]
Today, Southern Italy has Italy's lowest
GDP
per capita, that of € 16,300-16,600 in 2006,[165]
and a 2003
GDP
nominal of US$369 billion. The area's richest region,
Campania,
has a
GDP nominal of € 94.3 billion in 2006, and a
GDP
per capita of € 16,294.
LGBT rights
Italy legally accepts homosexuals and
transgenders, however they may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT
residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Italy, but
same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for
the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.
Italian opinions have changed in the
past and people now tend to be more supportive and liberal of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights, but tend to be more repressive than other
European nations. Tolerance is seen in a peculiar way that is due to the
religious influence of the
Roman Catholic Church, which has been ingrained in Italian society for 1,700
years. Conservative Italian politicians such as
Silvio Berlusconi have often been opposed to increasing gay rights.[186]
A
Eurobarometer survey published on December 2006 showed that 31% of Italians
surveyed support same-sex marriage and 24% recognise same-sex couple's right to
adopt (EU-wide
average 44% and 33%).[187]
A recent 2007 poll asking whether they supported the civil partnership law for
gays. Support for the measure was at 45% support, with 47% oppose. 8% said they
were unsure.[188]
Homosexuals are also allowed to serve fully in
military service.
Top
Italian people
Over the centuries, Italy has boasted
numerous
people of excellence in many fields,[189]
including some of the most renowned geniuses, architects, actors, polymaths,
artists and politicians of all time. Examples include
Julius Caesar,
Petrarch,
Marco Polo,
Dante,
Botticelli,
Machiavelli,
Leonardo da Vinci,
Palladio,
Michelangelo,
Raphael,
Bernini,
Canaletto,
Vivaldi,
Garibaldi,
Cavour,
Mazzini,
Verdi,
Puccini,
Maria Montessori,
Salvatore Ferragamo,
Federico Fellini,
Federico Faggin,
De Chirico,
Aldo Moro
and
Pavarotti, to name a few.
Daily life and leisure
Italians' social customs and daily lives
have profoundly changed since
World
War II, transforming the nation from a highly traditional,
agricultural-based society, into a progressive and modernized one.[190]
This is especially reflected in the fact that women play a far greater role
today in politics and higher education than they did before.
Most Italians currently favour doing
activities such as going to the
cinema, reading
newspapers,
watching the
television
and listening to the
radio; reading books and playing sport has proved less popular.[190]
According to some surveys, Italians are generally highly satisfied with social
relations and family,
healthcare, daily life and friendship relations; however, Italians find
economic status and job opportunites generally less satisfying, especially with
the fact that
Southern Italy still suffers from relatively high unemployment.[190]
Also, meeting up and socializing with friends in the country's abundant
piazzas, going
to bars,
discos,
pizzerias and
restaurants and finding other forms of entertainment remain popular with
Italians, especially the younger generations.[190]
Automobiles still hold a strong part of Italian daily life, however this results
in many cities being congested.[190]
Top
Public Holidays
List of
Public holidays in Italy:
Architecture
Italy boasts a long period of different
architectural styles, from Classical Roman and Greek, Gothic, Renaissance,
Baroque, Neo-Classical, Art Nouveau to Modern. Italian architecture began with
Ancient Greece,
Ancient
Rome and
Etruscans, when both civilizations built
temples,
basilicae,
columns,
fora,
palaces,
aqueducts,
walls and
public baths.[191]
After these classical civilizations, Italian developed a renowned
Gothic architecture,[192]
especially towards the
12th
century. Cities such as
Venice,
Vicenza,
Florence,
Siena,
Assisi and
Pisa[193]
were mainly affected by the Gothic and Romanesque architectural periods. Italy
then was, in the 15th and 16th centuries, considered the birthplace of the
Renaissance,[5]
with Florence[194]
and Rome as its
main centres. Examples of renowned Renaissance buildings include
Florence Cathedral, the
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the
Basilica of St. John Lateran, the
Capitoline Museums, the
Uffizi and the
Pitti Palace, to name a few. Italy then became a main European centre for
the baroque, with diverse baroque architectural styles emerging, especially in
Sicily (see
Sicilian baroque). Later, in the 18th and 19th centuries neo-classical style
buildings began to appear in
Rome,
Milan,
Turin and all
around Italy. Currently, modern Italian architecture and design is considered
world-class and is very renowned,[195]
with Milan as the
country's capital. Numerous modern Italian architects, such as
Renzo
Piano, are famous worldwide.[196]
Italian Gothic
architecture
Elaborately ornate facade of the
Duomo di Orvieto
Gothic architecture appeared in Italy in
the 12th century, but did not mature into a regionally distinct style until the
13th century, partly due to geographic factors. Due to its comparatively late
maturity, the influence of Byzantine and classical art, and the fact that
brick--not stone--was the most common building material and marble the most
common decorative material, Italian Gothic architecture maintained peculiar
characteristics which differentiated its evolution from that in France, where it
had originated, and in other European countries. In particular, the
architecturally daring solutions and technical innovations of the French Gothic
cathedrals rarely appeared. With the exception of the
Cathedral of Milan, the product of a centuries-long collaboration between
Italian, French, and German minds, few Italian churches show the emphasis on
vertical development, clustered shafts, ornate tracery and complex ribbed
vaulting that characterise
Gothic in other parts of Europe. Notable examples of Italian Gothic
architecture include
Basilica of Santa Croce,
Orvieto Cathedral, and
Siena Cathedral, where the distinctively ornate Italian realization of
façade design is evident.[197]
Italian
Renaissance architecture
The Romanesque Baptistry of
Florence was the object of Brunelleschi's studies of perspective
Italy of the 15th century, and the city
of Florence in particular, was home to the Renaissance. It is in Florence that
the new architectural style had its beginning, not slowly evolving in the way
that
Gothic grew out of
Romanesque, but consciously brought to being by particular architects who
sought to revive the order of a past "Golden
Age". The scholarly approach to the architecture of the ancient coincided
with the general revival of learning. A number of factors were influential in
bringing this about.
Italian architects had always preferred
forms that were clearly defined and structural members that expressed their
purpose. Many Tuscan Romanesque buildings demonstrate these characteristics, as
seen in the Florence Bapistry and Pisa Cathedral.
Italy had never fully adopted the Gothic
style of architecture. Apart from the
Cathedral of Milan, largely the result of a French-Italian collaboration,
few Italian churches show the emphasis on vertically, the clustered shafts,
ornate tracery and complex ribbed vaulting that characterise
Gothic in other parts of Europe.
The presence, particularly in Rome, of
ancient architectural remains showing the ordered
Classical style provided an inspiration to artists at a time when philosophy
was also turning towards the Classical.
Top
Palaces and Palazzi
in Italy
Italy boasts a wide variety of palaces,
in various cities, mainly
Rome,
Florence,
Venice,
Milan,
Turin,
Bologna and
Naples, built
in a wide variety of different styles, from
Roman,
Byzantine,
Romansque,
Medieval and
Gothic, to
Renaissance,
Baroque, Rococo,
Neo-Classical and
Fascism. In Italian, the word "Palazzo"
is more broadly used in Italy than its English equivalent “palace”. In Italy, a
palazzo is a grand building of some architectural ambition that is the
headquarters of a family of some renown or of an institution, or even what the
British would call a “block of flats” or a tenement. In Venice, most palaces are
referred to as "Ca'", which is short for "Casa", meaning "house" in Italian, for
example Ca'
Pesaro or
Ca'
Rezzonico. However, the word "palazzo" has started to be used abroad, for
instance,
The Palazzo in
Las Vegas.[199]
Examples of major and famous Italian palaces include
Palazzo Spada,
Palazzo Laterano,
Palazzo Quirinale,
Palazzo Vecchio,
Palazzo Pitti,
Palace of Caserta,
Royal Palace of Turin,
Royal Palace of Capodimonte,
Royal Palace (Naples),
Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi,
Palazzo Litta,
Palazzo del Te,
Ca' d'Oro,
Ca' Foscari,
Doge's
Palace and
Ca'
Rezzonico, to name a few.
Italian
Renaissance Gardens and Villas
Gardens of the Villa Lante.
Villa Torrigiani in
Lucca.
The
Italian Renaissance garden was a new style of garden which emerged in the
late fifteenth century at villas in
Rome and
Florence,
inspired by classical ideals of order and beauty, and intended for the pleasure
of the view of the garden and the landscape beyond, for contemplation, and for
the enjoyment of the sights, sounds and smells of the garden itself.
In the late
Renaissance, the gardens became larger, grander and more symmetrical, and
were filled with fountains, statues, grottoes, water organs and other features
designed to delight their owners and amuse and impress visitors. The style was
imitated throughout Europe, influencing the gardens of the
French Renaissance and the
English garden.
Top
Culture
Italy did not exist as a state until the
country's unification in 1861. Due to this comparatively late unification, and
the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the
Italian Peninsula, many traditions and customs that are now recognized as
distinctly Italian can be identified by their regions of origin. Despite the
political and social distinction of these regions, Italy's contributions to the
cultural and historical heritage of Europe and the world remain immense. Italy
is home to the greatest number of
UNESCO
World Heritage Sites (44) to date, and has rich collections of world
art,
culture and
literature
from many different periods
Visual Art
Main article:
Art
of Italy
Italian painting is traditionally
characterized by a warmth of colour and light, as exemplified in the works of
Caravaggio
and Titian, and
a preoccupation with religious figures and motifs. Italian painting enjoyed
preeminence in Europe for hundreds of years, from the
Romanesque and
Gothic
periods, and through the
Renaissance and
Baroque
periods, the latter two of which saw fruition in Italy. Notable artists who fall
within these periods include
Michelangelo,
Leonardo da Vinci,
Donatello,
Botticelli,
Fra
Angelico,
Tintoretto,
Caravaggio,
Bernini, Titian
and Raphael.
Thereafter, Italy was to experience a continual subjection to foreign powers
which caused a shift of focus to political matters, leading to its decline as
the artistic authority in Europe. Not until 20th century
Futurism,
primarily through the works of
Umberto Boccioni and
Giacomo Balla, would Italy recapture any of its former prestige as a seminal
place of artistic evolution. Futurism was succeeded by the metaphysical
paintings of
Giorgio de Chirico, who exerted a strong influence on the
Surrealists and generations of artists to follow.
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Music
Main article:
Music of Italy
From
folk music to
classical, music has always played an important role in Italian culture.
Having given birth to
opera, Italy provides many of the foundations of the classical music
tradition. Instruments associated with classical music, including the
piano and
violin, were
invented in Italy, and many of the prevailing classical music forms, such as the
symphony,
concerto,
and sonata, can
trace their roots back to innovations of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century
Italian music. Italy's most famous composers include the
Renaissance composers
Palestrina and
Monteverdi, the
Baroque composers
Alessandro Scarlatti,
Corelli and
Vivaldi, the
Classical composers
Paganini and
Rossini, and the
Romantic composers
Verdi and
Puccini. Modern Italian composers such as
Berio
and Nono
proved significant in the development of
experimental and
electronic music. While the classical music tradition still holds strong in
Italy, as evidenced by the fame of its innumerable opera houses, such as
La Scala of
Milan and San
Carlo of Naples, and performers such as the pianist
Maurizio Pollini and the late tenor
Luciano Pavarotti, Italians have been no less appreciative of their thriving
contemporary music scene. Introduced in the early 1920s,
jazz took a
particularly strong foothold in Italy, and remained popular despite the
anti-American cultural policies of the Fascist regime. Today, the most notable
centers of jazz music in Italy include Milan, Rome, and Sicily. Later, Italy was
at the forefront of the
progressive rock movement of the 1970s, with bands like
PFM and
Goblin. Today, Italian pop music is represented annually with the
Sanremo Music Festival, which served as inspiration for the
Eurovision song contest, and the
Festival of Two Worlds in
Spoleto.
Singers such as
pop diva
Mina,
classical crossover artist
Andrea Bocelli,
Grammy winner
Laura
Pausini, and European chart-topper
Eros Ramazzotti have attained international acclaim.
Cuisine
The modern Italian
cuisine has
evolved through centuries of social and political changes, with its roots
reaching back to the 4th century BC. Significant change occurred with the
discovery of the
New World,
when vegetables such as
potatoes,
tomatoes,
bell
peppers, and
maize became available. However, these central ingredients of modern Italian
cuisine were not introduced in scale before the 18th century.[205]
Ingredients and dishes vary by region.
However, many dishes that were once regional have proliferated in different
variations across the country. Cheese and wine are major parts of the cuisine,
playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many
variations and
Denominazione di origine controllata (regulated appellation) laws.
Coffee, and
more specifically
espresso,
has become highly important to the cultural cuisine of Italy. Some famous dishes
and items include
pasta, pizza,
lasagna,
focaccia,
espresso,
and gelato.
Top
Informations source
: www.wikipedia.org
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