User:Juanpdp/Italy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Italy [ˈɪtəli]ⓘ (Italian: Italia), officially the Italian Republic, (Italian: Repubblica Italiana), is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within the Italian Peninsula, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland.
Italian Republic Repubblica Italiana | |
---|---|
Anthem: Il Canto degli Italiani (also known as Inno di Mameli) The Song of the Italians | |
Capital and largest city | Rome 41°54′N 12°29′E |
Official languages | Italian1 |
Demonym(s) | Italian |
Government | Parliamentary republic |
Giorgio Napolitano | |
Silvio Berlusconi | |
Formation | |
17 March 1861 | |
• Republic | 2 June 1946 |
Area | |
• Total | 301,318 km2 (116,340 sq mi) (71st) |
• Water (%) | 2.4 |
Population | |
• October 2007 estimate | 59,619,290[1] (23rd) |
• October 2001 census | 57,110,144 |
• Density | 197.6/km2 (511.8/sq mi) (54th) |
GDP (PPP) | 2007 estimate |
• Total | $1.888 trillion[2] (8th) |
• Per capita | $32,319[3] (20th) |
GDP (nominal) | 2007 estimate |
• Total | $2.067 trillion[4] (7th) |
• Per capita | $35,386[5] (21st) |
Gini (2000) | 36 medium |
HDI (2005) | 0.941 Error: Invalid HDI value (20th) |
Currency | Euro (€)2 (EUR) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
UTC+2 (CEST) | |
Calling code | 39 |
ISO 3166 code | IT |
Internet TLD | .it3 |
|
Italy has been the home of many European cultures, such as the Etruscans and the Romans, and later was the birthplace of the movement of the Renaissance, that began in Tuscany and spread all over Europe. Italy's capital Rome was for centuries the center of Western civilization, it also spawned the Baroque movement and seats the Catholic Church.
Today, Italy is a democratic republic and a developed country with the 20th highest GDP per capita, the 8th-highest Quality-of-life index,[7] and the 20th-highest Human Development Index rating in the world. It is a founding member of what is now the European Union (having signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957), and also a member of the G8 (having the world's 7th largest nominal GDP), NATO, OECD, the Council of Europe, the Western European Union, the Central European Initiative, and a Schengen state. On January 1 2007, Italy began a two year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.