Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. It is located on a peninsula that extends into the middle of the
Mediterranean Sea, with the
Alps on its northern land border, as well as several islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and two enclaves:
Vatican City and
San Marino. Its territory also includes
Campione (an exclave surrounded by Switzerland) and the
Pelagie Islands (an archipelago in the
African Plate). It is the tenth-largest country by land area in the European continent, covering an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi), and the third-most populous member state of the
European Union, with a population of nearly 60 million. Its capital and
largest city is
Rome.
In antiquity, the Italian peninsula was home to
numerous peoples; the
Latin city of Rome in central Italy, founded as a
Kingdom, became a
Republic that conquered the Mediterranean world and ruled it for centuries as an
Empire. With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of the
Catholic Church and of the
Papacy. During the
Early Middle Ages, Italy experienced the
fall of the Western Roman Empire and inward migration from Germanic tribes. By the 11th century,
Italian city-states and
maritime republics expanded, bringing renewed prosperity through commerce and laying the groundwork for modern capitalism. The
Italian Renaissance flourished in
Florence during the 15th and 16th centuries and spread to the rest of Europe. Italian explorers also discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, leading the European
Age of Discovery. However, centuries of rivalry and infighting between the Italian city-states among other factors left the peninsula divided into
numerous states until the late modern period. During the
17th and 18th centuries, Italian economic and commercial importance waned significantly. (Full article...)
The
cuisine of ancient Rome changed greatly over the duration of the civilization's existence. Dietary
habits were affected by the political changes from
kingdom to
republic to
empire, and
Roman trading with foreigners along with the empire's enormous expansion exposed Romans to many new foods, provincial culinary habits and cooking methods.
In the beginning, dietary differences between
Roman social classes were not great, but disparities developed with the empire's growth. (Full article...)
Image 11The
Roman Empire provided an inspiration for the medieval European. Although the
Holy Roman Empire rarely acquired a serious geopolitical reality, it possessed great symbolic significance. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 26The
Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 32The espresso comes from the Italian esprimere, which means "to express," and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 37The cover of the Corriere dei Piccoli on 11 July 1911 carries a cartoon strip in the Italian style without speech bubbles. (from Culture of Italy)