Facts about Italy
15. Population: 61.3 million people live in Italy (2013).
14. The name Italy comes from the word italia, meaning “calf land,” perhaps because the bull was a symbol of the Southern Italian tribes.
13. Rome is further North than New York City. New York City is about the same latitude as Naples Italy.
12. Vatican City and San Marino are very small independent states located inside Italy.
11. Italy looks like a high-heeled boot jutting into the Mediterranean Sea. The boot seems to be kicking a weirdly shaped ball: the island of Sicily.
10. Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world, welcoming some 46 million foreign visitors annually.
9. The migrations of Indo-European peoples into Italy probably began about 2000 B.C. and continued until 1000 B.C. From about the 9th century B.C. until it was overthrown by the Romans in the 3rd century B.C., the Etruscan civilization was dominant.
8. For 22 centuries, Italians and their ancestors have cleared fields, grazed livestock, and hunted wild animals. Forests that once covered large areas are gone. But the country's remote places and many national parks still have wilderness largely untouched by humans.
7. Italy has three active volcanoes: Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli.
6. Italy has been nicknamed Bel Paese meaning beautiful country.
5. There are many dialects of the Italian language spoken throughout Italy. The official Italian language spoken today originates from the Tuscan dialect (of Latin).
4. Capital: Roma (Rome), which is often called 'Eternal City', with 2.6 mio inhabitants and Italy’s biggest city.
3. The official name of Italy is the Italian Republic (Repubblica Italiana).
2. Pizza was "invented" in Naples around 1860s.
1. Italy belongs to the continent of Europe. Countries that border Italy are Austria, France, Vatican City, San Marino, and Switzerland.
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