Italy

Capital: Rome Population: 60,813,326 Official Languages: Italian Time Zone: +1 / Summer +2 Dialing Code: +39

Government: Unitary parliamentary Area: 301,338 km2 largest city: Rome Currency : Euro ISO 3166 code: IT

Basic Info

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Southern Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.8 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.

Geography

Italy is located in Southern Europe and comprises the boot-shaped Italian Peninsula and a number of islands including the two largest, Sicily and Sardinia. It lies between latitudes 35° and 47° N, and longitudes 6° and 19° E.

Climate

Thanks to the great longitudinal extension of the peninsula and the mostly mountainous internal conformation, the climate of Italy is highly diverse. In most of the inland northern and central regions, the climate ranges from humid subtropical to humid continental and oceanic. In particular, the climate of the Po valley geographical region is mostly continental, with harsh winters and hot summers.

The coastal areas of Liguria, Tuscany and most of the South generally fit the Mediterranean climate stereotype (Köppen climate classification Csa). Conditions on peninsular coastal areas can be very different from the interior's higher ground and valleys, particularly during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer. Average winter temperatures vary from 0 °C (32 °F) on the Alps to 12 °C (54 °F) in Sicily, like so the average summer temperatures range from 20 °C (68 °F) to over 30 °C (86 °F).

Religion

Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religion in the country, although Catholicism is no longer officially the state religion. The proportion of Italians that identify themselves as Roman Catholic is 87.8%, although only about one-third of these described themselves as active members (36.8%). Most Italians believe in God, or a form of a spiritual life force. According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005: 74% of Italian citizens responded that 'they believe there is a God', 16% answered that 'they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force' and 6% answered that 'they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force'

Administrative divisions

Italy is subdivided into 20 regions (regioni, singular regione), five of these regions having a special autonomous status that enables them to enact legislation on some of their local matters. The country is further divided into 110 provinces (province) and 8,100 municipalities

#	Region	Capital	Area (km²)	Area (sq mi)	Population
01	Abruzzo	L'Aquila	10,763	4,156	1,342,177
02	Aosta Valley	Aosta	3,263	1,260	128,129
03	Apulia	Bari	19,358	7,474	4,090,577
04	Basilicata	Potenza	9,995	3,859	587,680
05	Calabria	Catanzaro	15,080	5,822	2,011,537
06	Campania	Naples	13,590	5,247	5,833,131
07	Emilia-Romagna	Bologna	22,446	8,666	4,429,766
08	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	Trieste	7,858	3,034	1,235,761
09	Lazio	Rome	17,236	6,655	5,724,365
10	Liguria	Genoa	5,422	2,093	1,616,993
11	Lombardy	Milan	23,844	9,206	9,909,348
12	Marche	Ancona	9,366	3,616	1,564,886
13	Molise	Campobasso	4,438	1,713	319,834
14	Piedmont	Turin	25,402	9,808	4,456,532
15	Sardinia	Cagliari	24,090	9,301	1,675,286
16	Sicily	Palermo	25,711	9,927	5,050,486
17	Tuscany	Florence	22,993	8,878	3,749,074
18	Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol	Trento	13,607	5,254	1,036,639
19	Umbria	Perugia	8,456	3,265	906,675
20	Veneto	Venice	18,399	7,104	4,936,197

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