The word italy in italian

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The etymology of the name of Italy has been the subject of reconstructions by linguists and historians. Considerations extraneous to the specifically linguistic reconstruction of the name have formed a rich corpus of solutions that are either associated with legend (the existence of a king named Italus) or in any case strongly problematic (such as the connection of the name with the grape vine, vitis in Latin).^[1]

One theory is that that the name derives from the word Italói, a term with which the ancient Greeks designated a tribe of Sicels who had crossed the Strait of Messina and who inhabited the extreme tip of the Italic Peninsula, near today’s Catanzaro.^[2] This is attested by the fact that the ancient Greek peoples who colonized present-day Calabria by integrating with the pre-existing peoples, referred to themselves as Italiotes, that is, inhabitants of Italy.^[3] This group of Italian people had worshiped the simulacrum of a calf (vitulus, in Latin), and the name would therefore mean «inhabitants of the land of calves».^[2] In any case, it is known that in archaic times the name indicated the part located in the extreme south of the Italian Peninsula.^[3]

The name of Italy originally applied only to the tip of the Italian boot.^[3] As time progressed, the name «Italia» was extended further and further north until it reached the Alps in Roman times and became synonymous with the whole Italian geographical region.^[4]

Hypothesis on etymology[edit]

The myth of Italus[edit]

The region, which is now called Italy, formerly held the Oenotrians; some time their king was Italus, and then they changed their name to Italics; succeeding Morgete, they were called Morgetes; later came a Siculus, who divided the peoples, who were then Morgeti and Sicels; and Italics were those who were Oenotrians

There are various legends about the character of Italus, king of the Oenotrians who, according to the myth, lived 16 generations before the Trojan War; the name «Italy» derives from him.^[6] Given first to the region corresponding to his kingdom, that is almost all of Calabria with the exception of the northern area. King Italus converted the Oenotrians from a nomadic people to a permanent one, establishing them in the extreme offshoot of the European coasts, in the current isthmus of Catanzaro between the Gulf of Squillace to the east and the Gulf of Saint Euphemia to the west.^[7] The capital of his kingdom, according to Strabo, was Pandosia Bruzia, today probably corresponding to the city of Acri.

According to Strabo, Antiochus of Syracuse (5th century BC) already spoke of the borders of Italy in his work On Italy,^[8] which identified it with the ancient Oenotrians. At that time it extended from the Strait of Sicily to the Gulf of Taranto (to the east) and the Gulf of Posidonia (to the west).^[9]

Italy as the land of calves[edit]

Not all ancient authors adhered to the mythological version. Marcus Terentius Varro who, citing Timaeus, derives the word Italia from calves («Italia a Vitulis«) for the abundance and beauty of the calf (Vitulus in Latin; Vitlu in Osco-Umbrian) in the region.^[10] The passage from the Vitalia form to Italia can in this case be explained by the simple fall of the initial consonant by means of classical Greek, in which the letter V is absent.^[11]

Other proposals that motivate the name beyond a real linguistic analysis can be remembered that of Domenico Romanelli, who, based on the ancient but never fully accepted the hypothesis that it was related to the bulls (taurus in Latin), explained it with the fact that those who came from the sea from the west saw bull-like silhouettes in the Bruttia and Japigia peninsulas.^[12]

In ancient times the lands of present-day Calabria were known as Italy.^[13] The ancient Greeks indicated the origin of the name in Ouitoulía from the word «Italói» (plural of Italós), a term with which the Achaeans settlers who arrived in the lands of present-day Calabria ambiguously designated the Vitulis, a population that inhabited the lands of current southern Calabria whose ethnonym was etymologically related to the word indicating the bull, an animal sacred to the Vitulis. The ancient Greek italós is of Italic derivation from the Osco-Umbrian uitlu, precisely bull (see the Latin uitellus, form with diminutive suffix meaning calf).^[13] Ouitoulía thus came to mean «land of the Vitulis» or «land of the bulls».^[13] In support of this hypothesis, it is highlighted that in the southern part of the Calabrian peninsula, and in the Sicilian coast of the Strait of Messina, there are toponyms of Magna Graecia origin (some translated into Latin by the Normans) probably belonging to the most ancient etymology of the land of the bulls (of cattle). These include Tauriana, a city destroyed by the Saracens in the 10th century whose name survives today in the municipalities of Gioia Tauro, Taurianova, and Terranova Sappo Minulio, Bova, Bovalino and Itala.

The similarity with the name «Italy» of the last toponym, «Itala», is evident. Danish archaeologist and philologist Frederik Poulsen, in a study on the origin of the name «Italia», claimed that it was used for the first time in the 5th century BC, precisely with reference to the territory south of Messina where Itala is situated and where a population of the Oenotrians lived, which had a bull as its emblem («Vitulus«).^[14] With the arrival of the ancient Greeks, the consonant V was eliminated from the word Vitulus, which disappeared in classical Greek, and only the word «Itulus» remained.^[11]

From the Oenotrians, the populations of the Italics, Morgetes and Sicels would then be distinguished. Subsequently, according to Poulsen, the name «Italy» was extended to the whole peninsula.

Catch from the Oenotrians, formerly Oenotria: now, as it is famous, having taken the name of Italus, Italy is called

— Virgil, Aeneid III, 165

Poulsen’s thesis, however, seems to be questioned by the fact that the oldest documentable toponymic form for Itala is that of Gitala, as shown by a donation diploma from Count Roger of 1093. The name would then undergo many variations over the centuries: Quitala, Gitalas, Gytalas, Kitala, Hitala and finally Itala.^[15]

Greek origin[edit]

In ancient Greek tradition the name revived the theory of expansion from south to north in that the ancient Greeks would gradually apply the name «Italy» to an ever wider region, until the time of the Roman conquest, when it was extended to the entire peninsula.^[3]

For some linguists who supported this theory, the name would be based on a hypothetical ancient Greek form such as Aιθαλία (Aithalìa) which in its initial part Aith- (typical of words referring to fire) would contain a reference to the volcanic dimension of the lands of the peninsula. This meaning would resist for example in the name of Etna, in ancient Greek «Aitna«. This proposal had already been advanced by Gabriele Rosa, according to whom the first ancient Greeks who arrived in the peninsula would have called it precisely:^[16]

Aιθαλια (Italy) volcanic, or flaming and sooty, for the same reason that the islands of Elba (Ilva), Lemnos and Chios, full of forges, said Aιθαλια

— Gabriele Rosa

Rosa, however, did not address and clarify the strictly linguistic arguments that had led him to such a solution, thus leaving his proposal in the pre-scientific dimension.^[1]

It was mainly Silvestri who recovered this theory, assuming three ancient Greek or Proto-Greek bases («Aitalía», «Eitalía», and «Etalía») in order to give scientific basis to the proposal. According to this theory, Italy would originally have meant «fiery land», «land of the fiery sunset» (or «land of the West»), or «smoking land».^[17]

Etruscan origin[edit]

This theory is opposed by that which, with a solution that has authoritative precedents and yet little remembered in its most recent revival, proposes an Etruscan solution of the name of Italy;^[18] it is a reconstruction that deems the «Greek» hypothesis inadmissible and implies conclusions symmetrically opposed to the latter, such as the fact that the name has spread from north to south.

Oscan origin[edit]

The ultimate etymology of the name is uncertain, in spite of numerous suggestions.^[1] According to the most widely accepted explanation, Latin Italia^[19]
may derive from Oscan víteliú, meaning «[land] of young cattle» (c.f. Latin vitulus «calf», Umbrian vitlu), via ancient Greek transmission (evidenced in the loss of initial digamma).^[20] The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War.^[21] On the coinage of the Social War, dating back to 90 BC, found in the ancient city of Corfinium (in Abruzzo), there is a personification of Italy as a goddess, accompanied by a legend that reproduces her name, ITALIA, in the Latin alphabet, or the equivalent VITELIU^[22] (Víteliú = Italy) in the Oscan alphabet. This is the first epigraphic testimony of the use of the name Italia.^[23]

Semitic origin[edit]

Another theory, rather contested, suggests that Italy derives from «Atalu», an Akkadian word (Semitic language like Phoenician) reconstructed by the scholar Giovanni Semerano, which would mean «land of sunset».^[24]

Conclusions[edit]

It can be observed that the notion of Italy is a dynamic and plural notion, in progress until the 3rd century BC. In fact, in the conception of Italy a Greek Italy (limited to the southern Italy), another Etruscan (separated from the Apennines, from the Gallic and ancient Greek world), and probably also a first Roman Italy, which initially coincided with the large western coastal region between northern Etruria and the ager Campanus, and which then absorbed the others.^[25]

Evolution of the territory called «Italy»[edit]

Italia, the ancient name of the Italian Peninsula, which is also eponymous of the modern republic, originally applied only to the «tip» of the Italian «boot» (in modern Calabria).^[3]

According to Antiochus of Syracuse, it included only the southern portion of the Bruttium peninsula:^{[26][27][28][29]} the actual province of Reggio Calabria and part of the modern provinces of Catanzaro and Vibo Valentia. The town of Catanzaro has a road sign (in Italian) also stating this fact.^[30] But by this time, Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. Coins bearing the name Víteliú in Oscan (𐌅𐌝𐌕𐌄𐌋𐌉𐌞) were minted by an alliance of Italic peoples (Sabines, Samnites, Umbrians and others) competing with Rome in the 1st century BC.^[3]

The ancient Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, but it was during the Roman Republic, in 264 BC, that the territory called «Italy» was extended to the Italian Peninsula south of the Arno and Rubicon rivers, to then include, thanks to the addition of Sulla in 81 BC, also Liguria, the addition of Caesar in 45 BC of Cisalpine Gaul and even Istria in 7 AD, this latest addition by Augustus.^[31] The term «Italy» also included Liguria up to the Varo river and Istria up to Pola.^[9] All its inhabitants were considered Italic and Roman.^[9]

The northern area of Cisalpine Gaul was occupied by Rome in the 220s BC and became considered geographically and de facto part of Italy,^[32] but remained politically and de jure separated. It was legally merged into the administrative unit of Italy in 42 BC by the triumvir Augustus as a ratification of Caesar’s unpublished acts (Acta Caesaris).^{[33][34][35][36][37]}

Under Emperor Diocletian the Roman region called «Italia» was further enlarged with the addition in 292 AD of the three big islands of the western Mediterranean Sea: Sicily (with the Maltese archipelago), Sardinia and Corsica, coinciding with the whole Italian geographical region.^[4]

The borders of Roman Italy, Italia, are better established. Cato’s Origines, the first work of history composed in Latin, described Italy as the entire peninsula south of the Alps.^[38] According to Cato and several Roman authors, the Alps formed the «walls of Italy».^[39]

The Latin term Italicus was used to describe «a man of Italy» as opposed to a provincial. For example, Pliny the Elder notably wrote in a letter Italicus es an provincialis? meaning «are you an Italian or a provincial?».^[40]
The adjective italianus, from which are derived the Italian (and also French and English) name of the Italians, is medieval and was used alternatively with Italicus during the early modern period.^[41]

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which was caused by the invasion of the Ostrogoths, the Kingdom of Italy was created. After the Lombard invasions, «Italia» was retained as the name for their kingdom, and for its successor kingdom within the Holy Roman Empire, which nominally lasted until 1806, although it had de facto disintegrated due to factional politics pitting the empire against the ascendant city republics in the 13th century.^[42]

See also[edit]

• History of Italy

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Origin of the name «Italia»

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WordReference English-Italiano Dictionary © 2023:

Principal Translations/Traduzioni principali
Inglese		Italiano
Italy n	(country)	Italia nf
	Italy is surrounded by the Mediterranean on three sides.
	L’Italia è circondata dal Mediterraneo su tre lati.

WordReference English-Italiano Dictionary © 2023:

Compound Forms/Forme composte Italy
Inglese		Italiano
northern Italy n	(northernmost Italian regions)	Italia settentrionale, Nord Italia nf
Southern Italy n	(southerly Italian region)	Italia meridionale nf

Nella descrizione in inglese:

Italiano:

Princeton’s WordNetRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. Italy, Italian Republic, Italianoun

   a republic in southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula; was the core of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Italynoun

   A country in southern Europe, one of the states of the European Union. Official name: The Italian Republic (in Italian, la Repubblica Italiana).

2. Etymology: From Italy, Italie, from Italia, from Italia, via Ἰταλία, from (a name for the southwestern tip of the boot of Italy), meaning «land of bulls» in Oscan; usually assumed to be a cognate of vitulus, despite the different length of the i.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Italy

   Italy (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja] (listen)), officially the Italian Republic, or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, it consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands; its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region.
   Italy shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. It has a territorial exclave in Switzerland, Campione. Italy covers an area of 301,230 km2 (116,310 sq mi), with a population of about 60 million. It is the third-most populous member state of the European Union, the sixth-most populous country in Europe, and the tenth-largest country in the continent by land area. Italy’s capital and largest city is Rome.
   Italy was the native place of many civilizations such as the Italic peoples and the Etruscans, while due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, the country has also historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures, who immigrated to the peninsula throughout history. The Latins, native of central Italy, formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC, which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People. The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula, eventually expanding and conquering a large part of Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural, political and religious centre, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a period of more than 200 years during which Italy’s law, technology, economy, art, and literature developed.During the Early Middle Ages, Italy endured the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Barbarian Invasions, but by the 11th century, numerous city-states and maritime republics, mostly in the North, became prosperous through trade, commerce, and banking, laying the groundwork for modern capitalism. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, and art. During the Middle Ages, Italian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, helping to usher in the European Age of Discovery. However, centuries of rivalry and infighting between the Italian city-states, and the invasions of other European powers during the Italian Wars of the 15th and 16th centuries, left Italy politically fragmented. Italy’s commercial and political power significantly waned during the 17th and 18th centuries with the decline of the Catholic Church and the increasing importance of trade routes that bypassed the Mediterranean.By the mid-19th century, rising Italian nationalism, along with other social, economic, and military events, led to a period of revolutionary political upheaval. After centuries of political and territorial divisions, Italy was almost entirely unified in 1861 following a war of independence, establishing the Kingdom of Italy. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Italy rapidly industrialised, mainly in the north, and acquired a colonial empire, while the south remained largely impoverished and excluded from industrialisation, fuelling a large and influential diaspora. Despite being one of the victorious allied powers in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil, leading to the rise of the Italian fascist dictatorship in 1922. The participation of Italy in World War II on the Axis led to the Italian surrender to Allied powers and its occupation by Nazi Germany helped by Fascists, followed by the rise of the Italian Resistance and the subsequent Italian Civil War and liberation of Italy. After the war, the country abolished its monarchy, established a democratic unitary parliamentary republic, and enjoyed a prolonged economic boom, getting a major advanced economy.Italy is a highly developed country, ranking 30th in the Human Development index. Having the tenth-largest nominal GDP (third in the European Union) in the world, the ninth-largest national wealth and the third-largest central bank gold reserve. It ranks highly in life expectancy, quality of life, healthcare,and education. The country is a great power, and it has a significant role in regional and global economic, military, cultural, and diplomatic affairs. Italy is a founding and leading member of the European Union and a member of numerous international institutions, including the United Nations, NATO, the OECD, the G7, the Latin Union, the Schengen Area, and many more. The source of many inventions and discoveries, the country is considered a cultural superpower and has long been a global centre of art, music, literature, philosophy, science and technology, tourism and fashion, as well as having greatly influenced and contributed to

FreebaseRate this definition:3.0 / 3 votes

1. Italy

   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 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.
   Rome, the capital of Italy, has for centuries been a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance. Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into numerous city and regional states, but was unified in 1861. In the late 19th century, through World War I, and to World War II, Italy possessed a colonial empire.

The Nuttall EncyclopediaRate this definition:3.0 / 1 vote

1. Italy

   the central one of three peninsulas stretching into the Mediterranean Sea, in the S. of Europe, has the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas respectively on the E. and W., and is separated from France, Switzerland, and Austria in the N. by the various ranges of the Alps. Between the Alps and the Apennines lies the extensive, fertile plain of Lombardy, watered by the river Po, and containing several large lakes, such as Garda, Como, and Maggiore. The Apennines form a very picturesque chain of mountains 5000 ft. high down the centre of the country. The climate varies in different districts, but is mostly warm. Malaria curses many parts in autumn. Agriculture is extensive, but primitive in manner, and the peasantry are very poor. The most important crops are cereals, including rice and maize, grapes, olives, and chestnuts, and in the S. oranges and lemons. Italian wines are of indifferent quality. Coal and iron are scarce; sulphur is produced in large quantities in Sicily. There are large quarries of marble and alabaster. The most important industries are silk, glass, and porcelain. There is an extensive foreign trade, chiefly with France and Great Britain; the exports consist of silk, sulphur, marble, fruit, and wine; the imports of coal, iron, and textile goods. The religion is Roman Catholic; education is now compulsory. The Gothic kingdom of Italy was founded on the ruins of the Roman Empire, A.D. 489. In succession the country was conquered by the forces of the Byzantine Empire, by the Lombards, and by the Franks. From the 11th century onwards its history has been one of constant internal strife and confusion. The presence of the papal power in Rome, the rise of such rich trading republics as the cities of Milan, Florence, Naples, Genoa, and Venice, the pretensions of French kings and German emperors, and factions like those of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, produced endless complications and ruinous wars. In the 16th century the influence of the Austro-Spanish house of Charles V. became dominant; his son, Philip II., was king of Milan and Naples. In more recent times the small states of Italy were continually involved in the wars which devastated Europe, and passed in alliance or in subordination into the hands of Austria, France, and Spain alternately. The last 50 years have seen the unification of the kingdom. After the abortive movement of Mazzini came Cavour and Garibaldi, who, after severe struggles against the Austrians in the North and the despots of Southern Italy, proclaimed Victor Emmanuel king of Italy in 1861. By various steps the whole of the peninsula, with the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, have been brought into the kingdom. The temporal power of the Pope ceased in 1870. The Government is a constitutional monarchy. Franchise is exercised by every citizen who can read and write. Conscription is in force for army and navy. These are both strong, the navy one of the best in Europe. Finances are bad; the debt amounts to £520,000,000, and taxation is ruinous.

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. italy

   A peninsula in the south of Europe. The invading Pelasgians from Greece, and the aborigines (Umbrians, Oscans, and Etruscans), combined, formed the renowned Latin race still possessing the southern part of Europe. The history of Italy is soon absorbed into that of Rome, founded 753 B.C. Previous to the 15th century it was desolated by intestine wars and the interference of the German emperors; since then, Spain, France, and Germany have struggled for the possession of the country, which has been divided among them several times. Spain predominated in Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries; but was compelled to yield to the house of Austria at the beginning of the 18th century. The victories of Bonaparte in 1797-98 changed the government of Italy; but the Austrian rule was re-established at the peace of 1814. In 1848 the Milanese and Venetians revolted and joined Piedmont, but were subdued by Radetzky. The hostile feeling between Austria and Piedmont gradually increased till war broke out in April, 1859, in which the Austrians were defeated, and the kingdom of Italy was re-established in 1861. Another war with Austria was declared in June, 1866, but peace was signed in October, same year, and Venetia was ceded to Italy. For other details, see Rome and the various Italian cities throughout this volume.

Etymology and OriginsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Italy

   The modern form of the Roman description of the country, Latium, or “broad plain.” This resulted in the designation of all the tribes of the conquered districts as Latini, or the Latins.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word ‘ITALY’ in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2024

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word ‘ITALY’ in Written Corpus Frequency: #3452

How to pronounce ITALY?

How to say ITALY in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of ITALY in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of ITALY in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of ITALY in a Sentence

1. Angelino Alfano:

   In Europe and obviously not only in Italy, there have to be some centres in which irregular migrants must wait to be repatriated without being able to escape.

2. South Korean lawmakers:

   Thae Yong-ho, Pyongyang’s former deputy envoy to the United Kingdom who defected in 2016, said Italy Wednesday at a press conference in Seoul. Read More.

3. Nourredine Mahjoub:

   When I saw my brother on television in detention in Italy, I really believed he was under the influence of drugs or something like that, the ones who are responsible are the recruiters and the smugglers. But him, he is just another victim of lawless Libya.

4. Nick Twidale:

   The market has turned its focus to the continuing political situation in Italy.

5. Andrew Kenningham:

   Many sectors of the eurozone economy have closed completely, and others are operating well below capacity, activity has fallen furthest in Italy and Spain because the restrictions there have been the most draconian.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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I dig Italy. 

Италия мне по душе.

He is holidaying in Italy. 

Он проводит отпуск в Италии.

Italy lies south of France. 

Италия расположена к югу от Франции.

Italy’s thriving tourist industry 

процветающий туристический бизнес Италии

He came to think of Italy as his home. 

Он стал считать Италию своей родиной.

Brazil thrashed Italy 5-0. 

Бразилия разгромила Италию со счётом 5 — 0.

We went on a tour of Italy. 

Мы отправились в тур по Италии.

ещё 23 примера свернуть

Southern Italy  

We’re going to Italy next summer.  

This car is an import from Italy.  

Для того чтобы добавить вариант перевода, кликните по иконке ☰, напротив примера.

What is the Etymology of Italia (Italy)?

Question: What is the Etymology of Italia (Italy)?

What Is the Etymology of Italia? Did Hercules Found Italy?

I received an email including the following:

«Something seldom mentioned when discussing ancient Rome is that Romans never referred to themselves as Italian any more than one mentions the Italian Empire. Italia and Roma have distinct meanings often seen from different poles. It is believed that the word Italia comes from an older word — Vitulis — which may mean ‘sons of the bull god’ or ‘the bull king.’ This was first limited to the southern part of the peninsula.

I am taking the email as an explicit request that I include an article addressing the question «what is the etymology of Italia (Italy)?» I hadn’t done so because there is no definitive answer.

Answer: Here are some of the theories on the etymology of Italia (Italy):

1. Italia (Italy) may come from a Greek word for calf:
   

   » But Hellanicus of Lesbos says that when Hercules was driving the cattle of Geryon to Argos a calf escaped from the herd, while he was by now travelling through Italy, and in its flight traversed the whole coast and, swimming over the strait of sea in between, reached Sicily. Hercules constantly enquired of the inhabitants wherever he came as he pursued the calf if anyone had seen it anywhere, and when the people there, who knew little of the Greek tongue, called the calf uitulus (as it is still called) in their native language when indicating the animal, he named the whole country that the calf had crossed Vitulia, after the animal.«»A Yoke Connecting Baskets: «Odes» 3.14, Hercules, and Italian Unity,» by Llewelyn Morgan; The Classical Quarterly (May, 2005), pp. 190-203.

2. Italia (Italy) may come from an Oscan word or be connected with a word related to cattle or a proper name (Italus):
   

   » Italy from L. Italia, perhaps from a Gk. alteration of Oscan Viteliu «Italy,» but originally only the southwestern point of the peninsula, traditionally from Vitali, name of a tribe that settled in Calabria, whose name is perhaps somehow connected with L. vitulus «calf,» or perhaps the country name is directly from vitulus as «land of cattle,» or it might be from an Illyrian word, or an ancient or legendary ruler Italus.«Online Etymology

3. Italia (Italy) may come from an Umbrian word for calf:
   

   » [T]he symbol of the Italics in revolt at the time of the Social War (91-89 bc) is well known: the bull crushes the Roman she-wolf on the coins of the insurgents with the legend víteliú. There is a complex network of implicit references here (Briquel 1996): first the etymology, distorted but current, which made out of Italy «land of the calves» (Italia/Ouphitouliôa < calf/vitlu Umbr.); then the reference to the civilizing epic of Hercules, who brings back the oxen of Geryon through the peninsula; finally the allusion to the legendary Samnite origins.«A Companion to Roman Religion. Edited by Jörg Rüpke (2007)

4. Italia (Italy) may come from an Etruscan word for a bull:
   

   » [Heracles] went through Tyrrhenia [Greek name for Etruria]. One bull broke away (aporregnusi) from Rhegium, and quickly fell into the sea and swam to Sicily. Having crossed the neighboring land-called Italy from this (for the Tyrrheni called a bull an italos)-it came to the field of Eryx, who ruled the Elymi.«»Systematic Genealogies in Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca and the Exclusion of Rome from Greek Myth,» by K. F. B. Fletcher; Classical Antiquity (2008) 59-91.

Possibly one of the first things you will be asked as a foreigner traveling or living in Italy, it will be: “Sei straniero? Da dove vieni?” (“Are you a foreigner? Where do you come from?”). That is why it is important to be able to answer with the appropriate vocabulary. And while it is certainly easy to learn and remember the vocabulary related to your nationality, you should be prepared to sustain a conversation about other countries and nationalities, of which there are quite a lot! But don’t worry, once you learn the names of the countries and the name of the nationalities in Italian, you will automatically also know the name of the language and the general adjective for anything related to that country.

Parlo francese ma non amo la cucina francese.  (“I speak French but I don’t like french cooking.”)

Table of Contents

1. Italian Citizenship
2. Countries & Continents
3. Conversations About Nationalities
4. Country, City, Nationality & Language
5. Conclusion

1. Italian Citizenship

Even if we often use it to mean the same thing, nationality and citizenship are not necessarily the same. Nationality mainly indicates the cultural, religious, and traditions that link us to a country or to a state. On the other hand, citizenship represents your socio-political belonging to the country that issues your passport. So, if you have Italian citizenship, you can legally obtain an Italian passport, vote in the Italian elections, apply to public service, etc. In other words, you have full civil and political rights

If you have at least one Italian parent, you are immediately recognized as an Italian citizen whether you were born in Italy or a foreign country. This rule is called the “ius sanguinis“, which in Latin means, rather dramatically, “law of the blood.” This law also applies to adopted children.

But there are other ways to become Italian citizens. In fact, in the last few years in Italy there has been an increasing number of people applying for Italian citizenship. 

So, what are the requirements to apply for citizenship in Italy?

• Citizenship by marriage (after two years of marriage)
• Citizenship by residence (after five years of uninterrupted residence)
• Citizenship by descent (by demonstrating that you descent from an Italian ancestor)

Over a million people have acquired Italian citizenship in the last decade, of which nearly 800,000 in the last five years. The most represented citizenships of origin are Albanian (26,000 acquisitions, 20.5% of the total), Moroccan (12.5%), Brazilian (8.4%), and Romanian (8%). 

2. Countries & Continents

1- Gender and Agreement

In Italian, most countries are singular feminine (l’Italia, la Francia, la Tunisia, l’Irlanda, la Cina, etc. (“Italy, France, Tunisia, Ireland, China,”), but there are exceptions. Some countries are singular masculine, like il Canada (Canada) or il Giappone (Japan), while others are plural, like gli Stati Uniti (The USA) or i Paesi Bassi (The Netherlands).

As you can see from the examples, when talking about a country you always use the article in front of the country name. In fact, if you learn the countries vocabulary together with the article, it will help you remember the gender and use the right agreement.

La Francia è bellissima. (“France is beautiful.”)

La verde Irlanda è molto piovosa in autunno. (“The green Ireland is very rainy in autumn.”)

Gli Stati Uniti sono entrati in guerra nel 1941. (“The United States entered the war in 1941”)

La Sicilia è bellissima! (“Sicily is very beautiful!”)

 2- Names and Adjectives

Once you know the country’s name, you could try and guess how to say the word for the people living there and the language spoken there. In fact, the name of the inhabitants and the language spoken in any specific country are the same. 

And don’t forget, if you are talking about the people of a specific country, you should use the initial capital letter (gli Italiani, i Canadesi). At the same time, if it’s simply an adjective, there is no need to capitalize, even if you are talking about people (un ragazzo italiano, un ristorante cinese, etc. “an Italian guy, a Chinese restaurant”). 

Here are a few examples:

Country’s name	Noun	Adjective
L’Italia (“Italy”)	Un italiano, Un’italiana (An Italian)	italiano (Italian)
L’Inghilterra (“England”)	Un inglese, Un’inglese (An Englishman/woman or a British person)	inglese (English)
La Cina (“China”)	Un cinese, Una cinese (A Chinese)	cinese (Chinese)

Did you notice how, to make an adjective out of the name of the country, you sometimes add the suffix -ano/ana (italiano, americana, etc.), other times you add -ese (inglese, cinese, giapponese). These are by far the most common, but you can find other (and sometimes bizarre) ways to for the adjective, such as spagnolo, austriaco, guatemalteco, yemenita. 

And in some cases, the adjective has absolutely nothing to do with the root of the country’s name, as in the case of la Germania >> il tedesco… (“Germany >> German”).

There is no rule there, so, unfortunately, you will have to memorize them…

3- Who Comes to Italy, How, and Why?

The majority of the tourists visiting Italy come from neighboring countries. Lately, because of Covid, the number and the proportion of nationalities have changed. In this study prepared by Banca d’Italia, we see the ranking of nationalities visiting Italy in 2019:

17.2%	Germany	La Germania (F)	Tedesco/a
12.5%	United States	Gli Stati Uniti (M, PL)	Americano/a
9.9%	France	La Francia (F)	Francese
8.6%	United Kingdom	Il Regno Unito (M)	Britannico/a
5.7%	Switzerland	La Svizzera (F)	Svizzero/a
4.8%	Austria	L’ Austria (F)	Austriaco/a
4.2%	Canada	Il Canada (M)	Canadese
3.8%	Spain	La Spagna (F)	Spagnolo/a
3%	Nederland	I Paesi Bassi (M, PL) Incorrectly called: L’Olanda (M)	Olandese
2.5%	Australia	L’Australia (F)	Australiano/a

The study made by the Bank of Italy also mentions what are the main reasons for foreigners to travel to Italy, how they travel and how and other information that may not be so interesting to you… but they are a good way to increase the Italian vocabulary needed to hold a conversation about your trip and visit to Italy. Or maybe to be more comfortable when you go through customs at the airport or at any Italian borders.

Motivo del viaggio? (“Reason to travel?”)

Motivo del viaggio? (“Reasons to travel?”)

– Vacanza. (“Vacation.”)
– Visita a parenti o amici. (“Visit to friends or relatives.”)
– Motivi personali. (“Personal reasons.”)

Dove alloggi? (“Where do you stay?”)

– Albergo. (“Hotel.”) 
– Ospite da parenti o amici. (“With relatives and friends.”)
– Casa in affitto. (“Rental house.”)
– Bed & breakfast.

Che tipo di destinazione preferisci? (“What type of destination do you prefer?”)

– Culturale, città d’arte. (“City, art, culture.”) 
– Al mare.  (“At the beach.”)
– Al lago. (“At the lake.”)
– In montagna. (“In the mountains.”)

Come sei arrivato in Italia? (“How did you arrive to Italy?”)

–In aereo. (“Flying.”)
– In macchina. (“By car.”)
– In treno. (“By train.”)
– In nave. (By ship.”)

➜ Do you need to learn more Vocabulary for Nationalities? Check out ItalianPod101 for the perfect free vocabulary list for you!

4- Continents in Italian

Europe	L’Europa (F)	Europeo/a
Asia	L’Asia (F)	Asiatico/a
Africa	L’Africa (F)	Africano/a
America	L’America (F)	Americano/a
Oceania	L’Oceania(F)	Oceaniano/a*
Antarctica	L’Antartide	Do people live there?

*This noun or adjective is rarely used, and Italians tend to call people from Oceania -improperly- Australiani (“Australians”) even when they are Neozelandesi (“New Zealanders”).

Vengo dall’Antartide. (“I come from Antarctica.”)

Especially when talking about great geographical areas, you might need a bit more geographical references such as points and their use:

North	Il nord
South	Il sud
East	L’est
West	L’ovest

For example:

Il nord Africa. (“North Africa.”)

Il sud America. (“South America.”)

L’Europa dell’est. (“Eastern Europe.”)

Il Polo nord e il Polo sud. (“North and South Pole.”)

but also

North	Il settentrione / settentrionale
South	Il meridione / meridionale
East	L’oriente / orientale
West	L’occidente / occidentale

For example:

Milano si trova nell’Italia settentrionale. (“Milan is in northern Italy”)

Il meridione comprende le regioni italiane a sud di Roma. (“Southern Italy includes all regions below Rome.”)

Il muro di Berlino separava la Germania orientale e occidentale. (“The Berlin Wall used to separate East and West Germany.”)

3. Conversations About Nationalities

When you meet someone new in a foreign country, one of the first topics of conversation that comes up is countries and nationalities. People will ask you where you’re from and possibly how and why you are traveling.

As always with Italian, depending if you are talking to friends or people your age, you will use the casual form of address, or the formal mode, if you are talking with older people or if you are in a very formal setting.

Conversations about nationalities are great icebreakers.

1- Questions & Answers

How to Ask Someone Their Nationality

In this part, introduce a few common ways to ask about nationality. You can briefly explain the differences.

English	[Casual >> tu]	[Formal >> Lei]
Where are you from?	Da dove vieni? or Di dove sei?	Da dove viene? or Di dov’è?
What country are you from?	Da quale paese vieni?	Da quale paese viene?
What is your nationality?	Qual è la tua nazionalità?	Qual è la sua nazionalità?
Are you from France?	Vieni dalla Francia?	Viene dalla Francia?
Are you French?	Sei francese?	È francese?

Here are some examples on how to answer questions about nationalities:

• Sei inglese? No, sono Giapponese. (“Are you British? No, I’m Japanese.”)
• Sono americana, ma i miei genitori vengono dalla Cina. (“I am American, but my parents come from China.”)
• Da dove vieni?  Vengo dall’Austria, sono austriaca. (“Where do you come from? I come from Austria, I am Austrian.”)
• Sei tedesco? Sì, sono tedesco, di Berlino. (“You are German? Yes, I’m German, from Berlin.”)

And a few more advanced ones:

• Sono nata in Cile ma sono cresciuta in Italia. (“I was born in Chile, but I grew up in Italy.”)
• Sono brasiliano e italiano. Ho la doppia cittadinanza. (“I’m Brazilian and Italian. I have dual citizenship.”)
• Sono cinese ma vivo in Svizzera. (“I’m Chinese, but I live in Switzerland.”)
• Sono cinese ma abito in Svizzera. (“I’m Chinese, but I live in Switzerland.”)
• Sono italiana ma vivo in Francia da tre anni. (“I’m Italian, but I’ve been living in France for three years.”)
• Mi trasferisco in Inghilterra l’anno prossimo.  (“I am moving to England next year.”)

➜ For more ice-breakers and conversation starters, we have a free vocabulary list on ItalianPod101 with the Top 15 questions you should know.

2- Prepositions

One thing you definitely need to pay attention to when you talk about places, countries, and cities is the choice of the preposition you need to use.

The general rule is that 

• when you are, or when you go to a country, a continent, or an island, you use in;
• When you are, or when you go to a city, you use a;

Vado in vacanza a Roma, in Italia. ​​(“I’m going on vacation to Rome, Italy.”)

Abito in Francia, a Parigi. (“I live in France, in Paris.”)

Sono cresciuta in Sicilia, a Palermo. (“I grew up in Sicily, in Palermo.”)

But notice that when you come back, then the preposition changes into:

• Da when you are coming back from a city;
• Da + article when you are coming back from a country, a continent, an island;

Mario è tornato dall’Italia, da Roma. (“Mario has returned from Italy, from Rome.”)

Quando partirai dalla Sardegna? (“When will you leave Sardinia?”)

Molti sono emigrati dall’Europa in America. (“Many have emigrated from Europe to America.”)

➜ If you want to get deeper into Italian prepositions, check out this lesson on ItalianPod101.

4. Country, City, Nationality & Language

Now, let’s go back to a list of countries and expand with what we’ve learned: Name of the country, name of the nationality and language, and name of the major city. You will notice that some of the city’s names are translated… does it happen in your native language too?

How many of these languages do you speak?

Let’s start with the same table we saw earlier, adding more countries and nationalities.

Country	Italian	Nationality/Language	Major City
Germany	La Germania (F)	Tedesco/a	Francoforte (Frankfurt)
United States	Gli Stati Uniti (M, PL)	Americano/a	New York
France	La Francia (F)	Francese	Parigi (Paris)
United Kingdom	Il Regno Unito (M)	Britannico/a	Londra (London)
Switzerland	La Svizzera (F)	Svizzero/a	Zurigo (Zurich)
Austria	L’ Austria (F)	Austriaco/a	Vienna
Canada	Il Canada (M)	Canadese	Toronto
Spain	La Spagna (F)	Spagnolo/a	Barcellona (Barcelona)
Nederland	I Paesi Bassi (M, PL)	Olandese	Amsterdam
Australia	L’Australia (F)	Australiano/a	Sidney
Brazil	Il Brasile(M)	Brasiliano/a	Rio de Janeiro
Russia	La Russia (F)	Russo/a	Mosca (Moscow)
India	L’India (F)	Indiano/a	Nuova Delhi (New Delhi)
Japan	Il Giappone (M)	Giapponese	Tokyo
Peru	il Peru (M)	Peruviano/a	Lima
Portugal	Il Portogallo (M)	Portoghese	Lisbona (Lisbon)
Tunisia	La Tunisia (F)	Tunisino/a	Tunisi (Tunis)
China	La Cina (F)	Cinese	Pechino (Beijing)
Kenia	Il Kenia (F)	Keniano	Nairobi
Turkey	La Turchia (F)	Turco/a	Istanbul

Now you have all you need to use the vocabulary about nationalities, countries, languages, and cities, and you are ready to combine them all to introduce yourself and start a conversation.

Here are some examples:

• Sono tedesca. Sono nata a Francoforte, ma adesso vivo a Ginevra, in Svizzera.
  (“I’m German. I was born in Frankfurt, but now I live in Geneva, Switzerland.”)
• Sono americano, ma sono cresciuto nel Nord Africa.
  (“I’m American, but I grew up in Northern Africa.”)
• Siamo brasiliani, ma abitiamo a Londra da qualche anno con la nostra famiglia.
  (“We are Brazilians but we’ve been living in London for a few years with our family.”)
• Sono francese e vivo a Montreal, in Canada. Sapevi che in Quebec si parla francese?
  (“I’m French and I live in Montreal, Canada. Did you know that in Quebec they speak French?”)
• Mi sono trasferita in Brasile tre mesi fa. Non parlo ancora bene il portoghese.
  (“I moved to Brazil three months ago. I still don’t speak Portuguese well.”)

• Sono italiano e brasiliano. Sono cresciuto e Rio de Janeiro e ha la doppia cittadinanza.
  (“I am Italian and Brazilian. I grew up in Rio de Janeiro and have dual citizenship.”)
• È spagnola, ma parla benissimo il francese e fa un corso di cucina francese.
  (“She is Spanish, but speaks French very well and takes a French cooking class..”)

➜ Telling where you’re from and what language you speak is a great starting point. To go a bit further, you can check out our vocabulary list with ten lines to introduce yourself in Italian on ItalianPod101.

5. Conclusion

In this guide, you have learned everything about nationalities, from the names of countries and cities to adjectives and languages, capitalization rules, gender agreement, and prepositions. You also learned about the countries that are often visiting Italy, and how they spend their stay.

You should now be ready to break the ice in any situation, introduce yourself at your arrival, and even form some complex sentences with all these new words.

Did I forget any important topic on nationalities or country names you’re interested in? Feel free to share it with your fellow students in the comments below!

A good exercise to practice nationality vocabulary is to create fictional introductions where you combine the name of countries and cities, languages, and adjectives, using the right genders and prepositions. You can start simple and gradually add more complexity when you feel comfortable enough.

ItalianPod101 also has tons of vocabulary lists with audio recordings and free resources to boost your studies and keep your Italian learning fresh and entertaining!

Remember that you can also use our Premium PLUS service, MyTeacher, to get personal 1-on-1 coaching with your own private teacher so that you can practice these new words and much more.

Along with assignments, personalized exercises, and recording audio samples just for you, your teacher will review your work and help improve your pronunciation. Have fun with ItalianPod101!

Repubblica Italiana Italian Republic
Anthem: Il Canto degli Italiani  The Song of the Italians
Capital (and largest city)	Rome 41°54′N 12°29′E
Official languages	Italian1[1]
Demonym	Italian
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic
—	President	Sergio Mattarella
—	Prime Minister	Mario Draghi
Legislature	Parliament
—	Upper House	Senate of the Republic
—	Lower House	Chamber of Deputies
Formation
—	Unification	March 17, 1861
—	Republic	June 2, 1946
EU accession	March 25, 1957 (founding member)
Area
—	Total	301,338 km² (71st) 116,346 sq mi
—	Water (%)	2.4
Population
—	2021 estimate	62,390,364 [2] (23rd)
—	2011 census	59,433,744[3]
—	Density	201.7/km² (63rd) 521.2/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2021 estimate
—	Total	$2,598.14 trillion[4] (12th)
—	Per capita	$43,139.24[4] (33rd)
GDP (nominal)	2021 estimate
—	Total	$2,111.65 trillion[4] (8th)
—	Per capita	$35,061.62[4] (25th)
Gini (2019)	32.8 [5]
Currency	Euro (€)2 (EUR)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
—	Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD	.it3
Calling code	[[+394]]
1	French is co-official in the Aosta Valley; Slovene is co-official in the province of Trieste and the province of Gorizia; German and Ladin are co-official in the province of South Tyrol.
2	Before 2002, the Italian Lira. The euro is accepted in Campione d’Italia, but the official currency there is the Swiss Franc.[6]
3	The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.
4	To call Campione d’Italia, it is necessary to use the Swiss code +41.

Italy (Italia), officially the Italian Republic, is a Southern European country with a population of approximately 60 million. It comprises the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Called «il Belpaese» (beautiful country) by its inhabitants due to the variety of its landscapes and for having the world’s largest artistic patrimony; Italy is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites of any nation in the world.

The Italian Republic shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The country also shares a sea border with Croatia, Slovenia and France. The independent countries of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory. Also belonging to the republic is the commune of Campione d’Italia, an enclave in the territory of the Italian Switzerland. The Republic includes only the 92 percent of Italian physical region, delimited conventionally by the alpine watershed; besides the above-mentioned enclaves, the following territories do not belong to the country: the Principality of Monaco, Nice with Briga and Tenda, some strips of the Alps near the French border (Monginevro, Moncenisio and Piccolo San Bernardo), the Italian Switzerland (Canton Ticino and some valleys of Grigioni), the peninsula of Istria and a piece of Venezia Giulia, the island of Corsica and the archipelago of Malta.

Today, Italy is a highly developed country, a member of the G8 and a founding member of what is now the European Union, having signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957.

Italy was home to many well-known and influential European civilizations, including the Etruscans, Greeks and the Romans. For more than 3,000 years Italy experienced migrations and invasions from Germanic, Celtic, Frankish, Lombard, Byzantine Greek, Saracen, Norman, and Angevin peoples, and was divided into many independent states until 1861 when it became a nation-state.

Both the internal and external facets of Western Civilization were born on the Italian peninsula, whether one looks at the history of the Christian faith, philosophy, art, science or social customs and culture.

Geography

Italy consists predominantly of a large peninsula (the Italian Peninsula) with a distinctive boot shape that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, where together with its two main islands Sicily and Sardinia it creates distinct bodies of water, such as the Adriatic Sea to the north-east, the Ionian Sea to the south-east, the Tyrrhenian Sea to the south-west and finally the Ligurian Sea to the north-west.

The Apennine mountains form the backbone of this peninsula, leading north-west to where they join the Alps, the mountain range that then forms an arc enclosing Italy from the north. A large alluvial plain called the Po-Venetian plain is drained by the Po River—which is Italy’s biggest river with 652 km—and its many tributaries flowing down from the Alps.

Major rivers include the Tiber (Tevere) (405 km), Adige (410 km), Arno (241 km), Piave (220 km), Reno (212 km), Volturno (175 km), Tagliamento (170 km), Liri-Garigliano (158 km), Isonzo (136 km).

Its highest point is Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) at 4,810 metres (15,781 feet). Italy is more typically associated with two famous volcanoes: the currently dormant Vesuvius near Naples and the very active Etna on Sicily.

The city of Venice, often called «the city of water,» stretches across numerous small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in the northeast section of the country. The city is world-famous for its canals. It is built on an archipelago of 122 islands formed by about 150 canals in a shallow lagoon. The islands on which the city is built are connected by about 400 bridges. In the old center, the canals serve the function of roads, and every form of transport is on water or on foot. In the 19th century a causeway to the mainland brought a railway station to Venice, and an automobile causeway and parking lot was added in the 20th century. Beyond these land entrances at the northern edge of the city, transportation within the city remains, as it was in centuries past, entirely on water or on foot. Venice is Europe’s largest urban carfree area, unique in Europe in remaining a sizable functioning city in the 21st century entirely without motorcars or trucks.

Climate

The Italian climate is unique in each region. The north of Italy (Turin, Milan, and Bologna) has a true continental climate, while below Florence it becomes more and more Mediterranean.

The climate of the coastal areas of the Peninsula is very different from that of the interior, particularly during the winter months. The higher areas are cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions, where most of the large towns are located, have a typical Mediterranean climate with mild winters and hot and generally dry summers. The length and intensity of the summer dry season increases southwards (compare the tables for Rome, Naples, and Brindisi).

Italy is subject to highly diverse weather conditions in autumn, winter, and spring, while summer is usually more stable.

The least number of rainy days and the highest number of hours of sunshine occur in the extreme south of the mainland and in Sicily and Sardinia. Here sunshine averages from four to five hours a day in winter and up to ten or eleven hours in summer.

In the north the precipitation is quite well distributed during the year. Between November and March the Po valley is often covered by fog, above all the central zone (Pavia, Cremona, and Mantua). Snow is quite common between early December and mid-February in cities like Turin, Milan and Bologna.

History

The word Italy derives from the Homeric (Aeolic) word ιταλός, which means bull. Excavations throughout Italy have found proof of people in Italy dating back to the Paleolithic period (the «Old Stone Age») some 200,000 years ago. The first Greek settlers, who arrived in Italy from Euboea island in the eighth century B.C.E., were possibly the first to use the reference land of bulls.

Italy has influenced the cultural and social development of the whole Mediterranean area, deeply influencing European culture as well. As a result it has also influenced other important cultures. Such cultures and civilizations have existed there since prehistoric times. After Magna Graecia, the Etruscan civilization and especially the Roman Republic and Empire that dominated this part of the world for many centuries, Italy was central to European science and art during the Renaissance.

Serving as the center of the Roman civilization for centuries, Italy lost its unity after the collapse of the Roman Empire and subsequent barbaric invasions. Briefly reunited under Byzantium (552), Italy was occupied by the Longobards in 568, resulting in the peninsula becoming seriously divided. For centuries the country was the prey of different populations, resulting in its ultimate decline. Most of the population fled from cities to take refuge in the countryside under the protection of powerful feudal lords. After the Longobards came the Franks (774). Italy became part of the Holy Roman Empire, later to become the Holy Roman Germanic Empire. Pippin the Short created the first nucleus of the State of the Vatican, which later became a strong countervailing force against any unification of the country.

Population and economy started to pick up slowly after 1000, with the resurgence of cities, trade, arts and literature. During the later Middle Ages the fragmentation of the peninsula, especially in the northern and central parts of the country, continued, while the southern part, with Naples, Apulia and Sicily, remained a single dominion. Venice created a powerful commercial empire in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea.

The Black Death (1348) inflicted a terrible blow to Italy, resulting in one third of the population being killed by the disease. The recovery from this disaster led to a new resurgence of cities, trade and economy which greatly stimulated the successive phase of Humanism and the Renaissance (XV-XVI) when Italy again returned as the center of Western civilization, exerting strong influence on the other European countries.

Domination by other countries

After a century where the fragmented system of Italian states and principalities were able to maintain a relative independence and a balance of power in the peninsula, the French king Charles VIII in 1494 opened the first of a series of invasions, that lasted half of the sixteenth century, and created a competition between France and Spain for the possession of the country. Ultimately Spain prevailed (the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis in 1559 recognized the Spanish possession of the Kingdom of Naples) and for almost two centuries became the hegemon in Italy. The alliance between reactionary Catholic Spain and the Holy See resulted in the systematic persecution of any Protestant movement, with the result that Italy remained a Catholic country with marginal Protestant presence. The Spanish domination and the control of the Church resulted in intellectual stagnation and economic decadence, also attributable to the shifting of the main commercial routes from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean.

Austria succeeded Spain as hegemon in Italy after the Peace of Utrecht (1713), having acquired the State of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples. The Austrian domination, thanks also to the Illuminism embraced by Habsburg emperors, was a considerable improvement upon the Spanish one. The northern part of Italy, under the direct control of Vienna recovered its economic dynamism and intellectual fervor.

The French Revolution and the Napoleonic War (1796-1851) introduced the modern ideas of equality, democracy, law and nation. The peninsula was not a main battle field as in the past but Napoleon completely changed its political map by destroying the Republic of Venice in 1799, which never recovered its independence. The states founded by Napoleon, with the support of minority groups of Italian patriots, were short-lived and did not survive the defeat of the French Emperor in 1815.

The Restoration saw all the pre-Revolution states restored with the exception of the Republic of Venice (previously under Austrian control) and the Republic of Genoa (under Savoy domination). Napoleon rule give birth to the first national movement for unity and independence. Albeit formed by small groups with almost no contact with the masses, the Italian patriots and liberals staged several uprisings in the decades up to 1860. Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi created the most economic reform for the impoverished masses. From 1848 onwards the Italian patriots were openly supported by Vittorio Emanuele II, the king of Sardinia, who put his arms in the Italian tricolor dedicating the House of Savoy to Italian unity.

Unification

The unification of Italy was declared on March 17, 1861, after a successful war (the Second War of Independence) against Austria with the support of France, and after Giuseppe Garibaldi organized an invasion of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies (Naples and Sicily) in 1860. Vittorio Emanuele II became the first king of the united Italy.

The national territory was enlarged to Veneto and Venice in 1866 after the third War of Independence, fought by allied Italy and Prussia against Austria. Rome itself remained for a little less than a decade under the Papacy thanks to French protection, and became part of the Kingdom of Italy on September 20, 1870, after Italian troops stormed the city.

The first unified state was plagued by a gruesome rebellion of the Southern populations opposed to the new domination, by economic stagnation, misery, illiteracy and a weak national consciousness. Italian was spoken by a small part of the population while the rest spoke local dialects.

In 1878 Umberto I succeeded his father Vittorio Emanuele II as King of Italy. He was killed by an anarchist in 1900 and succeeded by his son Vittorio Emanuele III.

Industrialization and modernization, at least in the northern part of the country, started in the last part of the nineteenth century under a protectionist regime. The south, meanwhile, stagnated under overpopulation and underdevelopment, forcing millions of people to search for employment and better conditions abroad. This lasted until 1970. It is calculated that more than 26 million Italians migrated to France, Germany, Switzerland, United States, Argentina, Brazil, and Australia.

Democracy

Democracy made its first appearance at the beginning of the twentieth century. The 1848 Constitution provided for basic freedoms but the electoral laws excluded the disposed and the uneducated from voting. It wasn’t until 1913 that male universal suffrage was allowed. The Socialist Party became the main political party, replacing the traditional liberal and conservative organizations. The path to a modern liberal democracy was interrupted by the tragedy of the World War I (1914-1918), which Italy fought along with France and Great Britain. Italy was able to beat the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in November 1918. It obtained Trento and Trieste and a few territories on the Dalmatian coast. (Zara) was considered a great power, but the population had to pay a heavy price. The war produced more than 600,000 dead, inflation and unemployment, economic and political instability, which in the end allowed the fascist movement to reach power in 1922 with the tacit support of King Vittorio Emanuele III, who feared civil war and revolution.

Mussolini

The fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini lasted from 1922 to 1943 but in the first years Mussolini maintained the appearance of a liberal democracy. After rigged elections in 1924 gave Fascism and its conservative allies an absolute majority in the Parliament, Mussolini canceled all democratic liberties in January 1925. He then proceeded to establish a totalitarian state. Political parties were banned, independent trade unions were closed. The only permitted party was the National Fascist Party. A secret police (OVRA) and a system of quasi-legal repression (Tribunale Speciale) ensured the total control of the regime upon the Italians who, while in the majority, either resigned themselves to or welcomed the dictatorship, many considering it a last resort to stop the spread of communism. While relatively benign in comparison to Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia, several thousand people were incarcerated or exiled for their opposition and many were killed by fascist thugs (Carlo Rosselli) or died in prison (Antonio Gramsci). Mussolini tried to spread his authoritarian ideology to other European countries and dictators such as Salazar in Portugal, General Francisco Franco in Spain and Hitler in Germany. Conservative, democratic leaders in Great Britain and United States were favorable to Mussolini in the early years of his governance.

In 1929 Mussolini formed a pact with the Holy See, resulting in the rebirth of an independent state of the Vatican for the Catholic Church in the heart of Rome. In 1935 he declared war on Ethiopian it was subjugated in few months. This resulted in the alienation of Italy from its traditional allies, France and Great Britain, and its nearing to Nazi Germany. A pact with Germany was concluded in 1936 and then another in 1938 (the Iron Pact). Italy supported Franco’s revolution and Hitler’s advances in central Europe, accepting the annexation of Austria to Germany in 1938, even though the disappearance of a buffer state between mighty Germany and Italy was unfavorable for the country. In October 1938 Mussolini managed to avoid the eruption of another war in Europe, bringing together Great Britain, France and Germany at Czechoslovakia’s expense.

In April 1939 Italy occupied Albania, a de-facto protectorate for decades, but in September 1939, after the invasion of Poland, Mussolini decided not to intervene on Germany’s side, due to the poor preparation of the Italian armed forces. Italy entered the war in June 1940 when France was almost defeated. Mussolini hoped for a quick victory but Italy suffered from the very beginning from the poor training of its army and the lack of experience of its generals. Italy invaded Greece in October 1940 via Albania but after a few days was forced to withdraw. After conquering British Somalia in 1940, a counter-attack by the Allies led to the loss of the whole Italian empire in the Horn of Africa. Italy was also defeated in Northern Africa and saved only by the German armed forces led by Rommel.

After several defeats, Italy was invaded in May 1943. In July 1943, King Vittorio Emanuele III staged a coup d’etat against Mussolini, having him arrested. In September 1943 Italy surrendered. It was immediately invaded by Germany and for nearly two years the country was divided and became a battlefield. The Nazi-occupied part of the country, where a puppet fascist state under Mussolini was reconstituted, was the theater for a savage civil war between freedom fighters («partigiani») and Nazi and fascist troops. The country was liberated by a national uprising on April 25, 1945 (the Liberazione).

Republic

Agitation against the king ran high in the north where leftist and communist armed partisans wanted to depose him. Vittorio Emanuele gave up the throne to his son Umberto II who again faced the possibility of civil war. Italy became a Republic after a popular referendum held on June 2, 1946, a day now celebrated as Republic Day. The republic won with a 9 percent margin; the north of Italy voted prevalently for a republic, the south for the monarchy. The Republican Constitution was approved and went into effect on January 1, 1948. It included a provisional measure banning all male members of the house of Savoy from Italy. This stipulation was redressed in 2002.

Since then Italy has experienced a strong economic growth, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, which lifted the country to the position of being one of the most industrialized nations in the world, albeit with perennial political instability. The Christian Democratic Party and its liberal and social democratic allies ruled Italy without interruption from 1948 until 1994, marginalizing the main opposition party, the Italian Communist Party, until the end of the cold war.

In 1992-1994 a series of scandals (nicknamed «Tangentopoli») and the ensuing Mani pulite investigation destroyed the post-war political system. New parties and coalitions emerged: on the right, Forza Italia of the media-mogul Silvio Berlusconi became the main successor of the Christian Democrat party. On the left the Democratici di Sinistra (Democrats of the Left) became the moderate successors of the Communist Party, while the most liberal and progressive Catholic politicians became a part of La Margherita (the Daisy). In 1994 Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and its allies (National Alliance and the Northern League) won the elections but the government collapsed after only a few months because the Northern League split out. A technical government cabinet led by Lamberto Dini, supported by the left-wing parties and the Northern League, lasted until Romano Prodi’s new center-left coalition won the 1996 general election. In 2001 the center-right took the government and Berlusconi was able to remain in power for five years. The 2006 elections returned Prodi with a slim majority.

Italy is a founding member of the European Community, European Union and NATO.

Government and Politics

The 1948 Constitution of Italy established a bicameral parliament (Parlamento), consisting of a Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) and a Senate (Senato della Repubblica), a separate judiciary, and an executive branch composed of a Council of Ministers (cabinet) (Consiglio dei ministri), headed by the prime minister (Presidente del consiglio dei ministri).

The President of the Republic (Presidente della Repubblica) is elected for seven years by the parliament sitting jointly with a small number of regional delegates. The president nominates the prime minister, who proposes the other ministers (formally named by the president). The Council of Ministers must retain the support (fiducia) of both houses.

The houses of parliament are popularly and directly elected through a complex electoral system which combines proportional representation with a majority prize for the largest coalition (Chamber). The electoral system in the Senate is based upon regional representation. The Chamber of Deputies has 630 members, the Senate 315 elected senators; in addition, the Senate includes former presidents and other persons (no more than five) appointed senators for life by the President of the Republic according to special constitutional provisions. Both houses are elected for a maximum of five years. If the majority coalition no longer supports the government, the Prime Minister can be ousted with a vote of no confidence, at which point the President can either appoint a new Prime Minister capable of forming a government with the support of Parliament, or dissolve Parliament and call for new elections.

A peculiarity of the Italian Parliament is the representation given to Italians permanently living abroad (more than two million). Among the 630 Deputies and the 315 Senators there are respectively 12 and 6 elected in four distinct foreign constituencies. Those members of Parliament were elected for the first time in April 2006 and they enjoy the same rights as members elected in Italy. In addition, the Italian Senate also has a small number of senators for life, appointed by the President of the Italian Republic «for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field.» Former Presidents of the Republic are ex officio life senators.

Legislative bills may originate in either house and must be passed by a majority in both. The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law modified by the Napoleonic code and later statutes. A constitutional court, the Corte Costituzionale, passes on the constitutionality of laws, and is a post-World War II innovation.

All Italian citizens older than 18 can vote. However, to vote for the senate, the voter must be at least 25 or older.

Administrative divisions

Italy is subdivided into 20 regions (regioni, singular regione). Five of these regions enjoy a special autonomous status that enables them to enact legislation on some of their specific local matters, and are marked by an *:

1. Abruzzo (with capital L’Aquila)
2. Basilicata (Potenza)
3. Calabria (Catanzaro)
4. Campania (Naples, Napoli)
5. Emilia-Romagna (Bologna)
6. Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Trieste)
7. Latium, Lazio (Rome, Roma)
8. Liguria (Genoa, Genova)
9. Lombardy, Lombardia (Milan, Milano)
10. Marches, Marche (Ancona)
11. Molise (Campobasso)
12. Piedmont, Piemonte (Turin, Torino)
13. Apulia, Puglia (Bari)
14. Sardinia, Sardegna (Cagliari)
15. Aosta Valley, Valle d’Aosta / Vallée d’Aoste (Aosta, Aoste)
16. Tuscany, Toscana (Florence, Firenze)
17. Trentino-South Tyrol, Trentino-Alto Adige / Trentino-Südtirol (Trento, Bolzano-Bozen)
18. Umbria (Perugia)
19. Sicily, Sicilia (Palermo)
20. Veneto (Venice, Venezia)

All regions except the Aosta Valley are further subdivided into two or more provinces.

Economy

Italy’s capitalistic economy remains divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed agricultural south. Italy’s economy has deceptive strength because it is supported by a substantial “underground” economy that functions outside government controls. Most new materials needed by industry and the majority of energy requirements are imported.

Italy joined the Euro from its conception in 1999. Italy’s economic performance has at times lagged behind that of its EU partners, and the current government has enacted numerous short-term reforms aimed at improving competitiveness and long-term growth. It has moved slowly, however, on implementing certain structural reforms favored by economists, such as lightening the high tax burden and overhauling Italy’s rigid labor market and expensive pension system, because of the current economic slowdown and opposition from labor unions.

Italy has been less successful in terms of developing world class multinational corporations. Instead, the country’s main economic strength has been its large base of small and medium size companies. These companies typically manufacture products that are moderately advanced technologically and therefore increasingly face crushing competition from China and other emerging Asian economies. Meanwhile, a base of corporations able to compete in markets for advanced goods and services is underdeveloped or lacking entirely. It is not obvious how Italy will overcome this significant structural weakness in the short run, and Italy has therefore been referred to as the new «sick man of Europe.»^[7]

Science and technology

The contributions of revered Italian visionaries such as Galileo Galilei and Leonardo da Vinci made considerable advancements toward the scientific revolution. Other notable Italian scientists and inventors include Fermi, Cassini, Volta, Lagrange, Fibonacci, Marconi, and Meucci.

The Italians love of automobiles and speed has made Italy famous for its production of many of the world’s most famous sports cars and the industry that flourishes there. Some of the world’s most elite vehicles were developed in Italy: Lamborghini, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Masarati are but a few of the well-known luxury cars that originated in Italy.

Demographics

Italy’s population density is higher than that of most Western European countries. However, the distribution of the population is widely uneven. The most densely populated areas are the Po Valley (that accounts for almost a half of the national population) and the metropolitan areas of Rome and Naples, while vast regions such as the Alps and Apennines highlands, the plateaus of Basilicata and the island of Sardinia are very sparsely populated.

The population of Italy almost doubled during the twentieth century, but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven because of large-scale internal migration from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North, a phenomenon which happened as a consequence of the Italian economic miracle of the 1950–1960s. High fertility and birth rates persisted until the 1970s, after which they started to decline, and the population rapidly aged.

From the late nineteenth century until the 1960s Italy was a country of mass emigration. Between 1898 and 1914, the peak years of Italian diaspora, approximately 750,000 Italians emigrated each year.^[8]

Starting from the early 1980s, until then a linguistically and culturally homogeneous society, Italy begun to attract substantial flows of foreign immigrants.^[9] After the fall of the Berlin Wall and, more recently, the enlargements of the European Union, large waves of migration originated from the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe (especially Romania, Albania, Ukraine and Poland). An equally important source of immigration is neighboring North Africa (in particular, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia), with soaring arrivals as a consequence of the Arab Spring.

The distribution of immigrants is largely uneven in Italy: 87 percent of immigrants live in the northern and central parts of the country (the most economically developed areas), while only 13 percent live in the southern half of the peninsula.

Religion

Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religion in the country. Although the Roman Catholic Church has been separated from the state, it still plays a role in the nation’s political affairs partly due to Holy See’s location in Vatican City, within Rome itself. Some 80 percent of Italians are Christian, with the vast majority being Roman Catholic and very small groups of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Protestants)^[2] Other Christian groups in Italy include Jehovah’s Witnesses

Italy has received several waves of immigrants and as a result there are some 800,000 to 1 million Muslims.^[2]

Languages

The official language of Italy is Standard Italian, descendant of Tuscan dialect and a direct descendant of Latin. (Some 75 percent of Italian words are of Latin origin.) However, when Italy was unified, in 1861, Italian existed mainly as a literary language, and was spoken by less than three percent of the population. Different languages were spoken throughout the Italian peninsula, many of which were Romance languages which had developed in every region, due to political fragmentation of Italy. Each historical region of Italy had its own so-called ‘dialetto’ (with ‘dialect’ usually meaning, improperly, a non-Italian Romance language), with variants existing at the township-level.

Massimo d’Azeglio, one of Cavour’s ministers, is said to have stated, following Italian unification, that having created Italy, all that remained was to create Italians. Given the high number of languages spoken throughout the peninsula, it was quickly established that ‘proper’ or ‘standard’ Italian would be based on the Florentine dialect spoken in most of Tuscany (given that it was the first region to produce authors such as Dante Alighieri, who between 1308 and 1321 wrote the Divina Commedia). A national education system was established — leading to a decrease in variation in the languages spoken throughout the country over time. But it was not until the 1960s, when economic growth enabled widespread access to the television programs of the state television broadcaster, RAI, that Italian truly became broadly-known and quite standardized.

Today, despite regional variations in the form of accents and vowel emphasis, Italian is fully comprehensible to most throughout the country. Nevertheless certain dialects have become cherished beacons of regional variation—the Neopolitan dialect which is extensively used for the singing of popular folk-songs, for instance, and in recent years many people have developed a particular pride in their dialects.

In addition to the various regional variations and dialects of standard Italian, a number of separate languages are spoken.

Culture

Italy, as a state, did not exist until the unification of the country came to a conclusion in 1861. Due to this comparatively late unification, and the historical autonomy of the many regions that comprise the Italian Peninsula, many traditions and customs that we now recognize as distinctly Italian can be identified by their regions of origin, which further reflect the influence of the many different peoples that occupied those areas, and of the importance of religion, especially Roman Catholicism. Despite the pronounced political and social isolation of these regions that prevailed throughout Italy’s history, Italy’s contributions to the cultural and historical heritage of Europe and western civilization at large, remain immense.

Architecture

Architectural ruins from antiquity throughout Italy testify to the greatness of cultures past. Italy’s great treasures are seen by visitors from all over the world today. The history of architecture in Italy is one that begins with the ancient styles of the Etruscans and Greeks, progressing to classical Roman, then to the revival of the classical Roman era during the Renaissance and evolving into the Baroque era. During the period of the Italian Renaissance it had been customary for students of architecture to travel to Rome to study the ancient ruins and buildings as an essential part of their education. Three of the greatest architects of the Renaissance period are Brunelleschi, Alberti, and Palladia.

Today the unmistakable contributions of the ancient and classical architecture forms from this region of the world are everywhere evident in public buildings throughout the world. Classic Greco-Roman columns and domes have been used in the building of capitols and government buildings worldwide.

Art

Italy has been a seminal place for many important artistic and intellectual movements that spread throughout Europe and beyond, including the Renaissance and Baroque. Perhaps Italy’s greatest cultural achievements lie in its long artistic heritage, which is validated by the names of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Bernini, Titian, and Raphael, among many others.

The history and development of art in western culture is grounded in hundreds of years of Italian history. Florence, Venice, and Rome, in particular, are brimming with art treasures in museums, churches, and public buildings.

Cuisine

Italian cuisine is also popular worldwide. From delicious tiramisu ice creams to pasta, pastries, and wines, there are numerous regional specialties which run the full gamut of culinary experience. Italian cuisine has become universally loved; from the simple spaghetti dish or casual pizza to the sophisticated anti-pasta, and several course gourmet experiences. Italy produces legendary fine wines and it is customary to call on the expertise of the local restauranteur to pair a particular wine with the food being served the customer.

Fashion

Italy is one of the world centers of modern high fashion clothing and accessory design. Fashion houses such as Armani, Benetton, Fendi, Gucci, Versace, and Prada have become household words. Many of Italy’s top fashion designers have boutiques that can be found around the world. The popularity and influence of Italian-style fashion design also reaches into the area of interior design and furniture making.

Literature

Beginning with the eminent Florentine poet, Dante Alighieri, whose greatest work, the Divina Commedia is often considered the foremost literary statement produced in Europe during the Middle Ages, there is no shortage of celebrated literary figures. The writers and poets Boccaccio, Giacomo Leopardi, Alessandro Manzoni, Tasso, Ludovico Ariosto, and Petrarca, are best known for their sonnets. Prominent philosophers include Bruno, Ficino, Machiavelli, and Vico. Modern literary figures and Nobel laureates are nationalist poet Giosuè Carducci in 1906, realist writer Grazia Deledda in 1926, modern theater author Luigi Pirandello in 1936, poets Salvatore Quasimodo in 1959 and Eugenio Montale in 1975, and satirist and theater author Dario Fo in 1997.

Music

From folk to classical, music has always played an important role in Italian culture. Having given birth to opera, for example, Italy provides many of the very foundations of the classical music tradition. Some of the instruments that are often associated with classical music, including the piano and violin, were invented in Italy, and many of the existing classical music forms can trace their roots back to innovations of sixteenth and seventeenth century Italian music (such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata). Some of Italy’s most famous composers include the Renaissance composers Palestrina and Monteverdi, the Baroque composers Corelli and Vivaldi, the Classical composers Paganini and Rossini, and the Romantic composers Verdi and Puccini. Modern Italian composers such as Berio and Nono proved significant in the development of experimental and electronic music.

Sports

Football (calcio) is a popular spectator and participation sport. The Italian national team has won the World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006). Major Italian clubs frequently compete at a high level of European competitions. Rugby union is very popular in Italy; clubs compete domestically in the Super 10, as well as the European Heineken Cup tournament. The national team competes in the Six Nations Championship, and is a regular at the Rugby World Cup. Basketball (pallacanestro) is a sport gaining rapid popularity in Italy, although national teams have existed since the 1950s. The nation’s top pro league, Lega, is widely regarded as the third best national league in the world after the American NBA and Spain’s ACB. In some cities, (see Bologna, Siena, Pesaro or Varese) basketball is the most popular sport. Cycling is also a well represented sport in Italy. Italians are second only to Belgium in winning the most World Cycling Championships. The Giro d’Italia is a world famous long distance bicycle race held every May and constitutes one of the three Grand Tours along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, each of which last approximately three weeks. Auto racing receives much attention in Italy, while the nation is host to a number of notable automobile racing events, such as the famed Italian Grand Prix. The Italian flair for design is legendary, and Ferrari has won more Formula Ones than any other manufacturer.

Notes

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Allen, Beverley. Revisioning Italy: National Identity and Global Culture. University of Minnesota Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0816627271
• Bonechi, Monica, and Giovannella Masini.Rome and the Vatican: complete guide for visiting the city. Gold guides. Florence, Italy: Bonechi, 2001. ISBN 8847601363
• Coppa, Frank J., and William Roberts. Modern Italian History: An Annotated Bibliography. (Bibliographies and indexes in world history, no. 18) New York, NY: Greenwood Press, 1990. ISBN 0313248125
• Euvino, Gabrielle. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Italian History and Culture. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha, 2002. ISBN 0028642341
• Holmes, George. The Oxford History of Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0198205279
• Os, H. W. van. Dreaming of Italy. The Hague: Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, 2006. ISBN 9040082227
• Welch, Evelyn S. Art and Society in Italy, 1350-1500. (Oxford history of art.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0192842455

External links

All links retrieved September 22, 2021.

• Italy CIA World Factbook
• Italy Magazine
• Life in Italy
• Italian History Index
• Italian Government Tourist Board