Italy

Italy is in southern Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is shaped like a boot and has 20 States. It's capital is Rome. It borders on France in the northwest, the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, the Ionian Sea in the south, the Adriatic Sea in the east, Slovenia in the northeast, and Austria and Switzerland in the north.

Italy has a largely temperate climate with regional variations. In summer the Northern parts of Italy are warm with occasional rainfall, the central region is somewhat stifled by humidity and the south scorches under the dry heat. In winter, conditions in Milan, Turin and Venice are dominated by cold, damp and fog and Tuscany's winter temperatures approach freezing, while temperatures in the south of the country are more favorable averaging 50-60°F (10-20°C). Most people visit Italy between June and August, however the best time to visit is in Spring (April-May) and Autumn (September-October) when the weather is good and the tourists are few. The sea is warm enough for swimming between June and September. Most Italians take their vacation in August and many shops and restaurants are closed during this period. The ski season runs between December and April and the best time to walk in the Alps is between June and September.

The Italian economy has changed dramatically since the end of World War II. From an agriculturally based economy, it has developed into an industrial state ranked as the world's fifth-largest industrial economy. Italy has few natural resources. With much of the land unsuited for farming, it is a net food importer. There are no substantial deposits of iron, coal, or oil. Proven natural gas reserves, mainly in the Po Valley and offshore Adriatic, have grown in recent years and constitute the country's most important mineral resource. Most raw materials needed for manufacturing and more than 80% of the country's energy sources are imported. Italy's economic strength is in the processing and the manufacturing of goods, primarily in small and medium-sized family-owned firms. Its major industries are precision machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electric goods, and fashion and clothing. The Italian Government has found it difficult to bring the budget deficit down to a level that would allow a rapid decrease of that debt. The worsening of the economic situation is expected to jeopardize this effort.Italy's closest trade ties are with the other countries of the European Union, with whom it conducts about 60.1% of its total trade (2007 data). Italy's largest EU trade partners, in order of market share, are Germany (12.9%), France (11.4%), and the United Kingdom (5.8%). The Italian economy is also affected by a large underground economy--worth some 27% of Italy’s GDP. This production is not subject, of course, to taxation and thus remains a source of lost revenue to the local and central government. Agriculture products are wheat, rice, grapes, olives, citrus fruits, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans beef, dairy products. Main industry are tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics.

Goriziais a town in northeastern Italy.Gorizia emerged as a popular summer residence of the Austrian nobility, and became known as the "Austrian Nice". Bari, an industrialized port city, strong traditions based on its Saint Nicholas. Bari is known throughout Italy for its strong, often crude, spoken dialect, particularly in the Old Town, parts of which originated from a pidgin between Italian and Greek fishermen in the past, and which fishermen in Greece can still understand today. Asti was one of the first free communes of Italy, and in 1140 received the right to mint coins of its own by Conrad II. Belluno is the capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Dolomiti's region. With its roughly 35,000 inhabitants, it the largest populated area of Valbelluna. Fermo is located on a hill, the Sabulo (319 m of altitude) with a fine view, on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway.

Italian is the official language and is spoken by the vast majority of the population. Other languages spoken in Italy include French, Slovene, German, and Fruilian, which is related to the Romansch language spoken in Switzerland. Religion are Roman Catholicsim; small amounts of Protestantism, Judaism, and Greek Orthodoxy.

Capitoline Hill was the original capitol of the ancient city and continues to serve as the seat of the city's government. The main feature of the area is Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio, a testimony to the superiority of Renaissance town planning. The piazza is bordered by three palaces: the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the twin structures of the Palazzo dei Senatori and Palazzo Nuovo which house the Musei Capitolini, containing the largest collection of classical statues in the world. The stately Pantheon is one of the world's most inspiring architectural designs. Fittingly built as a temple to the Gods by Hadrian in 120AD, its perfectly proportioned floating dome rests seductively on sturdy marble columns. The only light source flowing through the central oculus was used by the Romans to measure time (with the aid of a sundial) and the dates of equinoxes and solstices. The Sistine Chapel's famous ceiling painted by Michelangelo looms above the frescoes on the side walls that were painted by an illustrious team of artists that included Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Roselli, Pinturicchio, Signorelli and della Gatta. The Ponte Vecchio's status as the oldest bridge in Florence saved it from destruction during the Nazi retreat from Italy in 1944. Montepulciano is Tuscany's highest hilltop town, built along a narrow limestone ridge at 1,950ft (605m) above sea level.

Italy's national food is pasta. It is served in many varieties: ravioli in the north of the country, lasagne and tortellini in Bologna, cannelloni in Sicily, spaghetti with tomato or clam sauce in Naples. Northern Italians eat much less pasta. They prefer rice and polenta, a mush made with corn, barley, or chestnut flour. One regional dish that has become particularly well known is pizza, which originated in Naples.