ITALIA

Officially the Italian Republic

Official language: Italian
Gentile: Italian

LOCATION
Italy is located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, in southern Europe. It occupies the
Italian peninsula, as well as the Padana plain, the islands of Sicily and Sardinia and around eight
hundred smaller islands, among which the Tremiti islands in the Adriatic Sea, the Campano and
Toscano archipelagos in the Tyrrhenian Sea, or the islands Pelagia in North Africa, among
others. In the north it is surrounded by the Alps and borders France, Switzerland, Austria and
Slovenia.

ROME
Rome, the capital of Italy, is a sprawling cosmopolitan city that showcases nearly 3,000 years of
globally-influenced art, architecture, and culture. Ancient ruins like the Forum and Colosseum
evoke the power of the ancient Roman Empire.
Rome is an Italian city, capital of the Lazio region and of Italy. With a population of 2,857,321
inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality in Italy and the third most populous city in the
European Union. Par excellence, it has been known since Antiquity as the City.

SEAT OF GOVERNMENT
Palazzo Chigi is a historic palace located in the center of Rome, Italy, between Piazza Colonna
and Via del Corso. Since 1961, it has been the seat of the Italian Government and residence of
the President of the Council of Ministers, located next to Palazzo Montecitorio. It is located in
the center of Rome, between Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Venezia. Since 1961, it has been the
seat of the Government of Italy and its main entrance is located in Piazza Colonna, in front of
the Column of Marco Aurelio, which is more than two thousand years old.

ECONOMY
According to the Human Development Index, the country enjoys a very high standard of living
and has the eighth highest quality of life in the world according to the European economics
magazine The Economist.
Historically, the country can be divided into three economic zones: the North is more
industrialized and developed, dominated by large private companies and where the country's
main financial center, Milan, is located; the Center has a situation in the European average;
while the South is more agricultural, less developed at an industrial and infrastructural level,
highly dependent on government subsidies, and with one of the highest unemployment rates in
the country.

DEMOGRAPHY
According to ISTAT (Italian Statistical Institute) data, Italy had 60,317,000 inhabitants on
January 1, 2020. Italy has the fifth highest population density in Europe, with an average of
199.68 inhab./km²

GASTRONOMY
Italian cuisine is an integral part of Mediterranean gastronomy, whose diet was declared
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010 by Unesco, and is imitated and practiced
throughout the world. Some of the most recognized preparations are pizza, risotto, many forms
of pasta, parmigiana, frittata, gelato or tiramisu. Italy also has a long tradition of wine, coffee,
chocolate, liquor, cheese or oil, among other products.

Traditions
Italians are very believers or religious.
They have a refined taste for painting that had Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo among its
top representatives. Among the Italians there are also great exponents of cinema, theater,
literature and music. Opera and lyrical singing are very present.