Italy

Repubblica Italiana Italian Republic
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Il Canto degli Italiani (De facto) (also known as Fratelli d'Italia)
Location of  Italy  (orange) – on the European continent  (camel & white) – in the European Union  (camel)
Capital (and largest city)	Rome 41°54′N 12°29′E
Official languages	Italian1 (de facto)
Government	Parliamentary republic
- President	Giorgio Napolitano
- Prime Minister	Romano Prodi
Formation
- Unification	17 March 1861
- Republic	2 June 1946
Accession to EU	March 25, 1957 (founding member)
Area
- Total	301,318 km² (71st) 116,346.5 sq mi
- Water (%)	2.4
Population
- July 2006 estimate	58,883,958 (22nd)
- October 2001 census	57,110,144
- Density	195 /km² (54th) 499.4 /sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2006 estimate
- Total	$1.727 trillion (8th)
- Per capita	$29,700 (21st)
GDP (nominal)	2006 estimate
- Total	$1.78 trillion (7th)
- Per capita	$30,200 (20th)
HDI (2004)	0.940 (high) (17th)
Currency	Euro (€)2 (EUR)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD	.it3
Calling code	+39
1 French is co-official in the Aosta Valley; German is co-official in Trentino-South Tyrol. 2 Prior to 2002: Italian Lira. 3 The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.

Italy (Italian: Italia, officially the Italian Republic; Italian: Repubblica Italiana), is a country located in Southern Europe, that comprises the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. It is also called by Italians lo Stivale ("the Boot", due to its boot-like shape), il Bel Paese ("the Beautiful Country") or la Penisola ("the Peninsula" as an antonomasia). Italy shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent countries of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland.

Italy was home to many well-known and influential European cultures, including the Etruscans, Greeks, and the Romans. Its capital Rome has been a historically important world city, especially as the core of ancient Rome and the Roman Catholic Church. For more than 3,000 years Italy experienced migrations and invasions from Germanic, Celtic, Frankish, Lombard, Byzantine Greek, Saracen and Norman peoples during the Middle Ages, followed by the Italian Renaissance period, in which the Italian Wars took place and various city-states were noted for their cultural achievements. Italy was divided into many independent states and often experienced foreign domination before the Italian unification, that created Italy as an independent nation-state for the first time in its history, took place. During the period under the Italian monarchy and during the world wars Italy experienced much conflict, but stability was restored after the creation of the Italian Republic.

Today, Italy is a highly-developed country with the 7th-highest GDP and the 17th-highest Human Development Index rating in the world. It is a member of the G8 and a founding member of what is now the European Union (having signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957), of the Council of Europe and of the Western European Union. It is considered by some as a great power. Starting from January 1, 2007, Italy is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Inhabitants of Italy are referred to as Italians (Italiani, or poetically Italici).

Origin of the name

The name appears to be a Greek form of Latin Vitelia, related to the Latin vitulus and Greek ἰταλός 'calf', but nature of the relationship is obscure: see Italus.

The name originally applied to a small part of southern Italy. According to Antiochus of Syracuse, it was originally just the southern portion of the Bruttium peninsula (modern Calabria), but by his time Oenotria and Italy were synonymous, and covered most of Lucania as well. It was only under Augustus that this denomination was applied to the whole peninsula.

History

Excavations throughout Italy have unearthed proof of humans presence in Italy dating back to the Palaeolithic period (the "Old Stone Age") some 200,000 years ago.

Greek migrations as early as 600 BC saw many Greek intelligentsia migrate to Western Europe — especially to Italy, including Pythagoras who built his University at Crotone, Calabria, Italy.

Italy has influenced the cultural and social development of the whole Mediterranean area, deeply influencing European culture as well. As a result, it has also influenced other important cu