Italy , officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a country located partly on the European Continent and partly on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within the Italian Peninsula, and Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers 301,338 km² and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.2 million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country in Europe, and the twenty-third most populous in the world.

Italy's capital, Rome, was for centuries the political centre of Western civilisation, as the capital of the Roman Empire. After its decline, Italy would endure numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Normans and later, the Byzantines, among others. Centuries later, Italy would become the birthplace of the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.

Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into numerous kingdoms and city-states (such as the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Duchy of Milan), but was unified in 1861, following a tumultuous period in history known as the "Risorgimento". In the late 19th century, through World War I, and to World War II, Italy possessed a colonial empire, which extended its rule to Libya, Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, Ethiopia, Albania, Rhodes, the Dodecanese and a concession in Tianjin, China.

Modern Italy is a democratic republic. It has been ranked the world's eighteenth most-developed country and its Quality-of-Life Index has been ranked in the top ten in the world. Italy enjoys a very high standard of living, and has a high nominal GDP per capita. It is a founding member of what is now the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Italy is also a member of the G7, G8 and G20. It has the world's seventh-largest nominal GDP, tenth highest GDP (PPP) and the fifth highest government budget in the world. It is also a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, the Council of Europe, the Western European Union and the United Nations. Italy has the world's ninth-largest defence budget and shares NATO's nuclear weapons.

Italy plays a prominent role in European and global military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, and it is affiliated with worldwide organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Glocal Forum, and the NATO Defence College, which are headquartered in Rome. The country's European political, social and economic influence make it a major regional power, alongside the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Russia, and Italy has been classified in a study, measuring hard power, as being the eleventh greatest worldwide national power. The country has a high public education level, high labour force, is a globalised nation, and also has 2009's sixth best international reputation. Italy also has the world's nineteenth highest life expectancy, and in 2000 its healthcare system was ranked the second best in the world by the World Health Organization Report. In 2007 it was the world's fifth most visited country, with over 43.7 million international arrivals, and boasts a long tradition in the arts, science and technology, including the world's highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites to date (44).

Italian Republic Repubblica italiana
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Il Canto degli Italiani (also known as Inno di Mameli) The Song of the Italians
Location of Italy (dark green) – on the European continent (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union (light green) — [Legend]
Capital (and largest city)		Rome 41°54′N 12°29′E / 41.9°N 12.483°E / 41.9; 12.483
Official language(s)		Italian
Demonym		Italian
Government		Parliamentary republic
-	President	Giorgio Napolitano
-	Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi (PdL)
Legislature		Parliament
-	Upper House	Senate of the Republic
-	Lower House	Chamber of Deputies
Formation
-	Unification	17 March 1861
-	Republic	2 June 1946
EU accession		25 March 1957 (founding member)
Area
-	Total	301,338 km2 (71st) 116,346 sq mi
-	Water (%)	2.4
Population
-	2009 estimate	60,200,060 (23rd)
-	2001 census	56,995,744
-	Density	199.8/km2 (54th) 517.4/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2009 estimate
-	Total	$1.740 trillion
-	Per capita	$29,109
GDP (nominal)		2009 estimate
-	Total	$2.118 trillion
-	Per capita	$35,435
Gini (2006)		32
HDI (2007)		▲ 0.951 (very high) (18th)
Currency		Euro (€)2 (EUR)
Time zone		CET (UTC+1)
-	Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the		Right
Internet TLD		.it3
Calling code		394

Tourism in Italy: With more than 43.7 million tourists a year, Italy is the fourth highest tourist earner, and fifth most visited country in the world, behind France (76.0 million), Spain (55.6 million), United States (49.4 million), and China (46.8). People mainly come to Italy for its rich art, cuisine, history, fashion and culture, its beautiful coastline and beaches, its mountains, and priceless ancient monuments, especially those from the Greek civilization and Roman civilization. Tourism is one of Italy's fastest growing and most profitable industrial sectors, with an estimated revenue of $42.7 billion.

Apart from Rome, Milan, Venice and Florence are the top destinations for tourism in Italy. Other major tourist locations include Turin, Naples, Padua, Bologna, Perugia, Genoa, Sicily, Sardinia, Salento and Cinque Terre. Two factors in each of these locations are history and geography. The Roman Empire, middle ages, and renaissance have left many cultural artifacts for the Italian tourist industry to use. Many northern cities are also able to use the Alps as an attraction for winter sports, while coastal southern cities have the Mediterranean Sea to draw tourists looking for sun.

Italy is home to forty four UNESCO World Heritage Sites, more than any other country, including many entire cities such as Verona, Siena, Vicenza, Ferrara, San Gimignano, and Urbino. Ravenna hosts an unprecedented eight different internationally recognized sites.

In Italy there is a broad variety of hotels, going from 1-5 stars. There were 33,557 hotels with 1,020,000 rooms and 2,028,000 beds. The number of hotels, according to their rating, went like this:

• 7-star hotels: 1 with 25 rooms (the Town House Galleria located in Milan).
• 5-star hotels: 232 with 20,686 rooms and 43,150 beds.
• 4-star hotels: nearly 3,700 with 247,000 rooms and 502,000 beds.
• 3-star hotels: 14,500 with 483,000 rooms and 940,000 beds.
• 2-star hotels: 5,000 with 116,000 beds.
• 1-star hotels: 2,000 with 157,000 beds.

Tourism in Italy