Download italy - Space Teds` Adventures Around Europe

ITALY
ITALY
SPACE TEDS’ ADVENTURES AROUND EUROPE
ROMANIA1
• President: Giorgio Napolitano (2006)
• Prime Minister: Matteo Renzi (2014)
• Land area: 113,521 sq mi (294,019 sq km); total area: 116,305 sq
mi (301,230 sq km)
• Population (2012 est.): 61,261,254 (growth rate: .38%); birth rate:
9.06/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.36/1000; life expectancy: 81.86
• Capital: Rome, 3.357 million
• Other large cities: Milan 2.962 million; Naples 2.27 million; Turin
1.662 million; Palermo 872,000 (2009)
• Monetary unit: Euro (formerly lira)
Geography
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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 (488 km), Switzerland (740 km), Austria (430 km)
and Slovenia (232 km) 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).
It also contains two other (very small) countries: Vatican City and San
Marino. The distance between north to south is about 1200 kilometers.
From east to west the distance is never more than 170 and never less than
54 kilometers (except in the north).
History
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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. By 264
B.C. , all Italy south of Cisalpine Gaul was under the leadership of
Rome. For the next seven centuries, until the barbarian invasions
destroyed the western Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries
A.D. , the history of Italy is largely the history of Rome. From 800 on,
the Holy Roman Emperors, Roman Catholic popes, Normans, and
Saracens all vied for control over various segments of the Italian
peninsula. Numerous city-states, such as Venice and Genoa, whose
political and commercial rivalries were intense, and many small
principalities flourished in the late Middle Ages. Although Italy
remained politically fragmented for centuries, it became the cultural
center of the Western world from the 13th to the 16th century.
Languages
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Italian is the official language but in the
provence Bolzano (southern Tirol) a lot of people
speak German (about 200,000 people), in some
of the valleys of Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta
people speak French (about 100,000 people); in
the valleys of the Dolomites and the region
Friuli-Venezia Giulia some speak Raetoroman.
In the provence of Basilicata, southern Italy, a
part of the population even speaks Albanese.
Climate
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Italy has a predominantly Mediterranean
climate; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south. In
summertime the average temperatures in the
lowlands are 28°C in the south and 22°C in the
north. The winter is very cold in the Alps, cold
and foggy in the Po Plain and the central
Apennines; mild and even warm on the Ligurian
coast, the Neapolitan coast and in Sicilia.
Flora and fauna
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In Alpine regions, fauna includes marmots,
ibex and chamois, sometimes even brown
bears, lynx, ermines and blue hares.
Mountainous regions are abundant in vultures,
buzzards, falcons and kites. Reptile species that
are common in Italy comprise numerous lizards
and snakes, even poisonous vipers, some areas
show populations of scorpions. In the past, most
of Italy was covered by trees, however, intense
deforestation during centuries gone-by led to a
significant reduction in woodland.
Architecture
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Italy has a very broad and diverse architectural style, which cannot be
simply classified by period, but also by region, because of Italy's division
into several regional states until 1861. This has created a highly diverse and
eclectic range in architectural designs.
Italy is known for its considerable architectural achievements, such as the
construction of arches, domes and similar structures during ancient Rome,
the founding of the Renaissance architectural movement in the late-14th to
16th centuries, and being the homeland of Palladianism, a style of
construction which inspired movements such as that of Neoclassical
architecture, and influenced the designs which noblemen built their country
houses all over the world, notably in the UK, Australia and the US during the
late 17th to early 20th centuries. Several of the finest works in Western
architecture, such as the Colosseum, the Milan Cathedral and Florence
cathedral, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the building designs of Venice are
found in Italy.
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Duomo from Florence
Pisa tower
Duomo from Milan
Literature and theatre
• The basis of the modern Italian language was established by the
Florentine poet Dante Alighieri, whose greatest work, the Divine
Comedy, is considered among the foremost literary statements
produced in Europe during the Middle Ages. There is no shortage of
celebrated literary figures in Italy: Giovanni Boccaccio, Giacomo
Leopardi, Alessandro Manzoni, Torquato Tasso, Ludovico Ariosto,
and Petrarch, whose best-known vehicle of expression, the sonnet,
was created in Italy.
Dante
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From folk music to classical, music has always played an important role in
Italian culture. Instruments associated with classical music, including the
piano and violin, were invented in Italy, and many of the prevailing classical
music forms, such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata, can trace their
roots back to innovations of 16th- and 17th-century Italian music.
Italy is widely known for being the birthplace of opera. Italian opera was
believed to have been founded in the early 17th century, in Italian cities
such as Mantua and Venice.
Sport
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The most popular sport in Italy is, by far, football. Italy's Squadra Azzurra
has won four FIFA World Cups (1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006), currently
ranking as the world's second most successful national football team, just
after Brazil. Italy's club sides have won 27 major European trophies, making
them the most successful nation in European football.