ITALY

LOCATION

• Italy is located in Southern Europe on the long, boot-shaped Italian Peninsula, including Sicily and Sardinia and It has borders with: France, Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within the Italian Peninsula.

• Its Capital city: is Roma

FLAG OF ITALY

GEOGRAPHY

• The Apennine Mountains• The Alps• And the Po, is the principal river

CLIMATE

• North: Continental Climate• Costal Areas: Mediterranian Climate

POLITICS IS CONCERNED

• Governament: Parlamentary, democratic republic.

• Presidents of the Italian republic: Giorgio Napolitano

• And the Prime Minister: Silvio Berlusconi

FOREIGN RELATIONS

• Member of the European Nations, the United Nations, North Atlantic. Treaty Organization and the OECD

ECONOMY. (INDUSTRY, SCIENCE,TECHNOLOGY, RESOURCES…)

•A developed INDUSTRIAL NORTH •A primarily AGRICULTURAL.SOUTH

MAJOR EXPORTS ARE:

• Motor vehicles• Chemicals and petrochemicals• Energy and electric engineering • Home appliances• Aerospace and defense technologies• Firearms• Fashion• Food processing• Sport and luxury vehicles• Yachts• Wine

TOURISM

• Is one of the fastest growing and most profitable sector is the the national economy. Italy is the highest tourist earner and the fifth most visited country in the world.

RELIGION

• ROMAN CATHOLICISM is by far the largest religion in the country.

CULTURE

ARCHITECTURE

• Different architectural styles, from Classical Roman and Greek, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Art Nouveau to Modern.

• The nation contains several architectural monuments, such as:

• The Pantheon• The Coliseum• The Leaning Tower of Pisa• Villa Olmo• The Pirelli Tower

• Italy is equally as rich and impressive, with churches, basilicas, cathedrals and fountains such as:

• St Peter’s Basilica• Florence Cathedral• St Mark’s Basilica• Milan Cathedral• The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore• Siena Cathedral• La Fontana de Trevi• Italy has also been home to nomerous famous architects, surch

as: Andrea Palladio, Filippo Brunrlleschi, bernini and Renzo Piano.

PAINTING AND SCULPTURE

• Italian painting is traditionally characterized by a warmth of colour and light and a preoccupation with religious figures and motifs. Notable artists include Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Botticelli, fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Bernini, Titian and Raphael.

LITERATURE

• Literary figures in Italy:• Giovanni Boccaccio• Giacomo Leopardi• Alessandro Manzoni• Petrarch (who invented the sonnet) • Dante Alighieri (who wrote the Divine

Comedy)

SCIENCE• The most important scientists were:• Leonardo da Vinci• Galileo Galilei (Scientific Revolution)• Enrico Fermi (First nuclear reactor)• Giovanni Domenico Cassini• Alessandro Volta (Electric battery)• Guglielmo Marconi (Nobel Prize in Physics.

Invention of the radio).

MUSIC

• The Renaissance composer: Monteverdi• Baroque :Vivaldi• Classical:Rossini• Romantic:Verdi and Puccini.

CINEMA

Film directors :• Vittorio De Sica• Federico Fellini• Sergio Leone• Pier Paolo Pasolini• Roberto Benigni• Films : La dolce Vita, il buono,il brutto,il

cattivo,La vita è bella

EDUCATION

• Italy’s public education is free and compulsory from 6-14 years of age.

SPORTS

• Popular sports include: football, basketball, volleyball, waterpolo, fencing, rugby, cycling, ice hockey, roller hockey and motor racing..

CUISINE

Cheese and wine are major parts of the cuisine.Coffee, and more specifically espresso and

capuccino has become highly important to the cultural cuisine of Italy.

Some famous dishes include pasta, pizza, lasanga, focaccia and gelato.