Italy Information Guide & Facts

 Italy

Full Country Name: The Italian Republic
Area: 301,318 sq km
Population: 57,523 million
Capital City: Rome (population: 2.649 million)
People: Mostly Italian, with small populations of German, French and Slovene Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south. Life expectancy: men (74), women (81)
Language(s): Italian. However, German is the predominant language in the South Tyrol (Trentino-Alto Adige); French is predominant in the Valle d'Aosta region on the Swiss/French border and Slovene in the far west tip of Italy on the Slovene border
Religion(s): 83% Roman Catholic; remainder Jewish and Protestant and a growing Muslim immigrant community
Currency: euro (EUR)

History

Italy as a geographical area was mentioned as far back as during the age of the highly civilised Etruscan people, as is borne out by the manuscripts kept in some museums, especially in Tuscany and Latium. These in fact were the regions where most Etruscan settlements are found, although they also populated Umbria, Campania and some zones of what is now Emilia Romagna and Lombardy.

Then came the Romans who, starting from the 3rd century BC, unified the whole peninsular under their dominion (and indeed most of Europe in general).

The word Italia appears on a coin dating back to the 1st century BC which was minted by the confederation of the Italic peoples who rose up against Rome. The coin was found in the region of Abruzzo in Corfinio, the ancient Corfinium, capital of the confederation with the name of Italica. The long Roman domination (from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD) has left an indelible mark in Italy with its roads, aqueducts, temples, monuments, towns and cities, bridges, theatres and so on - all relics and memories of a past that is remote and yet also very present, a past that can be seen in every part of the country. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Italy was invaded and dominated for centuries by foreign populations, especially in the south and Sicily. Thanks to the success of independent city states in the Centre and North such as Venice, Florence, Siena, Genoa, and Milan, Italy nevertheless became a flourishing and civilised country of trade and the arts. Later however, the small independent states could not hold out against the invasions of the great states of Spain and Austria. Only the small kingdom of Piedmont remained independent and after the interlude of Napoleon's occupation it became the "driving force" behind il Risorgimento, the great movement that led to the unification of Italy in 1870 under the Royal House of Savoia. After the Second World War, in 1946 a popular referendum abolished the monarchy and proclaimed Italy a Republic. The rest is the history of recent times. An on-going, fascinating story to follow always. Italy and its regions: beyond the bounds of the big cities Is Rome in Latium or Campania? Is Milan in Veneto or Lombardy? Easy to answer for Italians perhaps, but for the rest of us it may be tricky to connect Rome, Naples, Florence, Milan and Venice with their respective regions of Latium, Campania, Lombardy and Veneto. Perhaps Tuscany is the exception in this regard as it has traditionally enjoyed a special relationship with foreigners, the British Isles and North America in particular. The holiday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair took in Tuscany in the summer of '98 has further fortified this bond. So how can we start talking about the regions? To start with, they are main territorial administrative divisions of the Italian state and there are 20 of them: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Latium, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Molise, Piedmont, Apulia, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, the Aosta Valley, and Veneto. Each has accumulated a historical, artistic and cultural heritage of extraordinary value over time that offers an attractive alternative to the great art cities. So why not come and venture into an Italy which, when stepping off the beaten track of the main tourism flows, is practically unknown. The Italy of the regions: more Italy than ever before!

Nature

The most effective way to fully protect nature and conserve it is through planned protection measures organised at state level. The amount of Italian territory under state protection in one way or another is 10%. Environmental protection laws have allowed many nature parks and reserves to be opened which are used solely for developing nature in all of its forms. In the Italian parks and nature reserves, therefore, not only are the animals untouchable but also the plants, minerals, water and even the air.

Italy has 18 National Parks, 89 Regional Parks, 270 Regional Reserves, 142 State Reserves, 47 Marsh reserves and 7 Marine Reserves, which are protected zones managed either by the State in some form - Regional Councils, Provincial Councils and Municipalities - or by the environmental and protection associations such as Italia Nostra, WWF, Lega Ambiente, Greenpeace, LIPU, Touring Club, etc. The National Parks are: Abruzzo (the oldest, officially opened in September 1922), Gran Paradiso (opened a few months after the Abruzzo park), Circeo, Stelvio, Calabria, Pollino, Monti Sibillini, Archipelago Tuscany, the Caserta Forests, the Belluno Dolomite mountains, Aspromonte, Cilento-Valle di Diano, Gargano, Gran Sasso-Laga, Maiella, Val Grande, Vesuvius, and Gennargentu-Asinara-Golfo di Orosei. What better reason, then, for planning a trip to at least one of Italy's "natural" attractions?

Ministero dell'Ambiente | Corpo Forestale | www.parks.it | WWF Italia

Arts and Culture

A trip to Italy is always a tour artistique. There are so many artistic treasures and of such quality that to describe Italy as an open-air art gallery in its own right is hardly an exaggeration. No other country in the world can vaunt the same treasures of culture and art as Italy. Indeed, half of the world's historic and artistic assets are within its boundaries (UNESCO).

Found almost everywhere and referring to every historical era, they are preserved and protected in hundreds of archaeological sites and over 3,000 museums scattered throughout the country. Tourists, visitors and academics alike may admire and study these remnants - large and small - of centuries gone by. Theatres and other buildings date back to Greek and Roman times; whole cities, roads and districts once buried have today been returned to the light by patient and skilful excavations; temples, statues, coins, inscriptions, and objects of daily use. In Italy an exceptionally rich store of memories await to remind us all of Europe's past. The imposing and often elegantly embellished Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals - built after the eleventh century - are found mainly in the Centre and North. The ancient religious architecture in the southern regions amounts instead to an enthralling crucible of Byzantine, Muslim and Norman elements. In all the regions, then, in every city and town we will find relics - from buildings to the personal affects - of a deeply rooted artistic tradition that is spread throughout Italy.

Renaissance art was the great cultural movement which began in Italy in the 15th century and which profoundly influenced the history of culture and European civilisation as a whole. The Renaissance culture placed man and the secular world again at the centre of the Universe after the marginal position Man was afforded with respect to the gods during the difficult centuries of the medieval period. Those who exemplified it and have become icons of culture itself are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Masaccio, Botticelli, Piero della Francesca, Mantegna, Donatello, Raffaello, Antonello da Messina, Bramante, Correggio, Tintoretto, Giorgione - all artists, sculptors, painters or architects who have become known as the world's greatest exponents of artistic genius.

Their works are the source of a constant attraction for tourists and academics alike, people who are curious to unveil something of the secrets of that art which, even if produced today, would result as an expression of the breathtaking creativity. For the arts and architecture, the Renaissance is synonymous with masterpieces, inventive genius and creativity. Philosophers like Giordano Bruno and Tommaso Campanella, scientists like Copernico and Galilei, scholars like Machiavelli, poets like Ariosto, musicians like Palestrina and Monteverdi: great men of the Renaissance who, with their modern vision of the world and society that was shared and supported by a rich and enterprising bourgeoisie, succeeded in radically changing forever the way of thinking, living and creating. The great Renaissance season left its magnificent marks everywhere in Italy, not only in the great cities like Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan and Naples but also in many other centres of Italy's regions. Paintings, statues, churches, buildings, palaces and fountains: a sparkling series of signs through which the visitor can ideally reconstruct a civilisation that really did change the world.

Food and Drink

Viva! Viva spaghetti, pizza, tomatoes, olive oil, espresso coffee and cappuccino! But is it all really Italian in origin? The answer is of course "no" but even food products from other continents have been enhanced in a way only the Italians know. A thousand mouth watering dishes await the intrepid traveller, hundreds of gastronomy specialities, a host of truly tasty typical products, and all kept very much alive by a modern agricultural system that is careful about preserving the traditional flavours and nutritional values.

Wholesomeness and freshness are the watchwords in all Italy's table specialities, in all of their countless variants, from the Piedmont's fondue in the north to Sicily's caponata in the south, from the risotto alla milanese to Campania's mozzarella cheese, from the Veneto's risi e bisi (sweet-peas and rice) to Rome's porchetta, from the trenette al pesto of the Ligurian coast to the Florentine steaks, to the lasagna of Emilia Romagna or the spaghetti alla chitarra of Abruzzo.

Another great reason for coming to Italy is therefore (and in many cases, indeed, simply is) the desire to taste Italian cooking as the Italians really make it. So whether you're enticed by the food at one of the best-known restaurants in the cities famous for their gastronomy, or are quite happy to try the fare of the thousand small trattorie dotted around the country, you are sure not to be disappointed. Or, to try something slightly different, what about the family-run osterie (literally hostels) and ristoranti you can come across in the most characteristic parts of the historic centres? They specialise in reinventing traditional dishes or rediscovering typical agricultural products such as spelt, barley, wheat, vegetables, and olive oil. The perfect way to delight your taste buds without adding to your waistline. To complement your meal perfectly you will want to order a good wine that is free from the chemical processes so much in use today. So relax and choose an Italian wine - again, the choice is broad, but always satisfying; the bright whites to go with white meats, the robust reds for red meats, and then there are the rosés, the sparkling wines, the fortified wines, the liqueurs and the grappas: something to go with every stage of your meal, from an aperitivo at the beginning to a refreshing lemon or strawberry sorbet to round off a perfect evening.

In sum, never has there been a better time to eat and drink well in Italy.