Facts about Italy
Topic: Facts
Here is some information about la Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic)

NOTE: All this information below was taken from: The World FactBook.


ITALY

Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor Emmanuel II.

Location:
Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia .

Population:
58,057,477 (July 2004 est.)

Ethnic groups:
Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south).

Religions:
predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community.

Languages:
Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)

Capital:
Rome

Independence:
17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally unified until 1870)

President:
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (since 13 May 1999)

Telephones:
- main lines in use:
26.596 million (2003)
- mobile cellular:
55.918 million (2003)

Posted by Alejandra at 23:12 EDT
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