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Italy, country of south-central Europe, occupying a peninsula that juts deep into the Mediterranean Sea. Italy comprises some of the most varied and scenic landscapes on Earth and is often described as a country shaped like a boot.
Italy - Alps, Mediterranean, Islands: To the north the Alps separate Italy from France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. Elsewhere Italy is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, in particular by the Adriatic Sea to the northeast, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, the Tyrrhenian Sea to the southwest, and the Ligurian Sea to the northwest.
Rome, historic city and capital of Roma provincia (province), of Lazio regione (region), and of the country of Italy. Rome is located in the central portion of the Italian peninsula, on the Tiber River about 15 miles (24 km) inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Italian language, Romance language spoken by some 66,000,000 persons, the vast majority of whom live in Italy (including Sicily and Sardinia). It is the official language of Italy, San Marino, and (together with Latin) Vatican City.
Italy - Politics, Regions, Unification: The Italian state grew out of the kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, where in 1848 King Charles Albert introduced a constitution that remained the basic law, of his kingdom and later of Italy, for nearly 100 years. It provided for a bicameral parliament with a cabinet appointed by the king.
flag of Italy. vertically striped green-white-red national flag. Its width-to-length ratio is 2 to 3. A rich history of flags and coats of arms has existed in Italy since at least the 1200s, but the lack of national unification meant that there was no recognized flag representing all Italian-populated areas.
Leaning Tower of Pisa, medieval structure in Pisa, Italy, that is famous for the settling of its foundations, which caused it to lean 5.5 degrees (about 15 feet [4.5 metres]) from the perpendicular in the late 20th century. Extensive work was subsequently done to straighten the tower, and its lean.
Italy - Resources, Power, Economy: The Italian peninsula is a geologically young land formation and therefore contains few mineral resources, especially metalliferous ones. What few exist are poor in quality, scant in quantity, and widely dispersed.
Italy - Politics, Regions, Constitution: For almost half a century after World War II, Italy’s electoral system was based on proportional representation, a system in which seats in an elected body are awarded to political parties according to the proportion of the total vote that they receive.
Italian literature, the body of written works produced in the Italian language that had its beginnings in the 13th century. Until that time nearly all literary work composed in Europe during the Middle Ages was written in Latin. Moreover, it was predominantly practical in nature and produced by.