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[[Image:Italyflag.gif|Right|thumb|Flag of Itlay]]

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|Official Language

|[[Italian]]

 

'''Italy''' is a country in [[Europe]]. It was the heart of the Renaissance and Italian [[Renaissance]] artists such as [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Donatello]], [[Michelangelo]], [[Titian]], [[Tintoretto]], [[Caravaggio]], and [[Giotto]] produced many great works. Major cities include Rome, Milan, Naples (Napoli), Legova (Livorno), Siena, and Gerona.

'''Italy''' is a country in [[Europe]]. It was the heart of the Renaissance and Italian [[Renaissance]] artists such as [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Donatello]], [[Michelangelo]], [[Titian]], [[Tintoretto]], [[Caravaggio]], and [[Giotto]] produced many great works. Major cities include Rome, Milan, Naples (Napoli), Legova (Livorno), Siena, and Gerona.

[[Rome]] is its capital. [[Vatican City]], the governmental center of the [[Roman Catholic Church]], lies entirely within the boundaries of Rome. The sovereign state of [[San Marino]] is also entirely within Italy.

The [[Vatican City]], the governmental center of the [[Roman Catholic Church]], lies entirely within the boundaries of the capital city, Rome. The sovereign state of [[San Marino]] is also entirely within Italy.  

==Geography==

==Geography==

'''Italy''', slightly larger than [[Arizona]], is a long peninsula shaped like a boot, surrounded on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and on the east by the Adriatic. It is bounded by [[France]], [[Switzerland]], [[Austria]], and [[Slovenia]] to the north. The [[Apennine Mountains]] form the peninsula's backbone; the Alps form its northern boundary. The largest of its many northern lakes is Garda (143 sq mi; 370 sq km); the Po, its principal river, flows from the [[Alps]] on '''Italy's''' western border and crosses the Lombard plain to the Adriatic Sea. Several islands form part of '''Italy'''; the largest are [[Sicily]] (9,926 sq mi; 25,708 sq km) and [[Sardinia]] (9,301 sq mi; 24,090 sq km).

'''Italy''', slightly larger than [[Arizona]], is a long peninsula shaped like a boot, surrounded on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and on the east by the Adriatic. It is bounded by [[France]], [[Switzerland]], [[Austria]], and [[Slovenia]] to the north. The [[Apennine Mountains]] form the peninsula's backbone; the Alps form its northern boundary. The largest of its many northern lakes is Garda (143 sq mi; 370 sq km); the Po, its principal river, flows from the [[Alps]] on '''Italy's''' western border and crosses the Lombard plain to the Adriatic Sea. Several islands form part of '''Italy'''; the largest are [[Sicily]] (9,926 sq mi; 25,708 sq km) and [[Sardinia]] (9,301 sq mi; 24,090 sq km).

==History==

==History==

Italy declared its neutrality upon the outbreak of World War I on the grounds that Germany had embarked upon an offensive war. In 1915, Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies but obtained less territory than it expected in the postwar settlement. Benito (“Il Duce”) Mussolini, a former Socialist, organized discontented Italians in 1919 into the Fascist Party to “rescue Italy from Bolshevism.” He led his Black Shirts in a march on Rome and, on Oct. 28, 1922, became prime minister. He transformed Italy into a dictatorship, embarking on an expansionist foreign policy with the invasion and annexation of Ethiopia in 1935 and allying himself with Adolf Hitler in the Rome-Berlin Axis in 1936. When the Allies invaded Italy in 1943, Mussolini's dictatorship collapsed; he was executed by partisans on April 28, 1945, at Dongo on Lake Como. Following the armistice with the Allies (Sept. 3, 1943), Italy joined the war against Germany as a cobelligerent. A June 1946 plebiscite rejected monarchy and a republic was proclaimed. The peace treaty of Sept. 15, 1947, required Italian renunciation of all claims in Ethiopia and Greece and the cession of the Dodecanese islands to Greece and of five small Alpine areas to France. The Trieste area west of the new Yugoslav territory was made a free territory (until 1954, when the city and a 90-square-mile zone were transferred to Italy and the rest to Yugoslavia).

Italy declared its neutrality upon the outbreak of World War I on the grounds that Germany had embarked upon an offensive war. In 1915, Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies but obtained less territory than it expected in the postwar settlement. Benito (“Il Duce”) Mussolini, a former Socialist, organized discontented Italians in 1919 into the Fascist Party to “rescue Italy from Bolshevism.” He led his Black Shirts in a march on Rome and, on Oct. 28, 1922, became prime minister. He transformed Italy into a dictatorship, embarking on an expansionist foreign policy with the invasion and annexation of Ethiopia in 1935 and allying himself with Adolf Hitler in the Rome-Berlin Axis in 1936. When the Allies invaded Italy in 1943, Mussolini's dictatorship collapsed; he was executed by partisans on April 28, 1945, at Dongo on Lake Como. Following the armistice with the Allies (Sept. 3, 1943), Italy joined the war against Germany as a cobelligerent. A June 1946 plebiscite rejected monarchy and a republic was proclaimed. The peace treaty of Sept. 15, 1947, required Italian renunciation of all claims in Ethiopia and Greece and the cession of the Dodecanese islands to Greece and of five small Alpine areas to France. The Trieste area west of the new Yugoslav territory was made a free territory (until 1954, when the city and a 90-square-mile zone were transferred to Italy and the rest to Yugoslavia).

Italy became an integral member of NATO and the European Economic Community (later the EU) as it successfully rebuilt its postwar economy. A prolonged outbreak of terrorist activities by the left-wing Red Brigades threatened domestic stability in the 1970s, but by the early 1980s the terrorist groups had been suppressed. “Revolving door” governments, political instability, scandal, and corruption characterized Italian politics in the 1980s and 1990s.

Italy became an integral member of NATO and the European Economic Community (later the [[EU]]) as it successfully rebuilt its postwar economy. A prolonged outbreak of terrorist activities by the left-wing Red Brigades threatened domestic stability in the 1970s, but by the early 1980s the terrorist groups had been suppressed. “Revolving door” governments, political instability, scandal, and corruption characterized Italian politics in the 1980s and 1990s.

Italy adopted the euro as its currency in Jan. 1999. Treasury Secretary Carlo Ciampi, who is credited with the economic reforms that permitted Italy to enter the European Monetary Union, was elected president in May 1999. Italy joined its NATO partners in the Kosovo crisis. Aviano Air Base in northern Italy was a crucial base for launching air strikes into Kosovo and Yugoslavia.

Italy adopted the [[euro]] as its currency in January 1999. Treasury Secretary Carlo Ciampi, who is credited with the economic reforms that permitted Italy to enter the European Monetary Union, was elected president in May 1999. Italy joined its NATO partners in the Kosovo crisis. Aviano Air Base in northern Italy was a crucial base for launching air strikes into Kosovo and Yugoslavia.

In June 2001, Silvio Berlusconi, a conservative billionaire, was sworn in as prime minister. He pledged to reduce unemployment, cut taxes, revamp the educational system, and reform the bureaucracy. His critics were alarmed by the apparent conflict of interest of a prime minister who also owned 90% of Italy's media. He was accused of Mafia connections and was under indictment for tax fraud and bribery. Found guilty in three out of four of his trials, he was acquitted in all of them on appeal. Several other cases are pending.

In June 2001, Silvio Berlusconi, a conservative billionaire, was sworn in as prime minister. He pledged to reduce unemployment, cut taxes, revamp the educational system, and reform the bureaucracy. His critics were alarmed by the apparent conflict of interest of a prime minister who also owned 90% of Italy's media. He was accused of Mafia connections and was under indictment for tax fraud and bribery. Found guilty in three out of four of his trials, he was acquitted in all of them on appeal. Several other cases are pending.