Italy

National name: Repubblica Italiana

Government Republic

Geography
Italy, 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 (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.

Historical Background
Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC).

Name

Italian Republic

Capital

Rome

Government

Unitary parliamentary republic - President Giorgio Napolitano -  Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (PdL)

Area

Total 301,338 km2 (71st) 116,346 sq mi

Population

April 2010 estimate 60,418,711[2] (23rd) -  2001 census 56,995,744

GDP (PPP)

2010 estimate-Total $1.771 trillion[3]

GDP (nominal)

2010 estimate - Total $2.036 trillion[3]

Currency

Euro (€)2 (EUR)

Time zone 

CET (UTC+1)  - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)