• Italy

Information on Italy

Italy is a parliamentary republic that is a founder member of the European Union.

The population is around 59 million people, with an average density of 196 inhabitants per square kilometre. However, only three cities have more than one million inhabitants: Naples, Milan, and Rome, which as well as being the most populous Italian city (with around 2.5 million inhabitants), is also the Capital.

In administrative terms, the country is divided into 20 regions, 5 of which have a special statute, and 110 provinces, including the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano in Trentino Alto-Adige. Some of the other provinces are still in the definition phase. There are also two small independent states completely surrounded by Italian territory (the only such cases in the world): San Marino (its fortress is at the border between the regions of the Marches and Emilia-Romagna) and the Vatican, located within the city of Rome. The municipality of Campione d'Italia in Switzerland is also part of the Republic of Italy. In addition to being a member of the European Union, Italy has also been part of the United Nations since 1955 and of Nato since 1949, and is also one of the G8 countries.

The symbols of the Italian Republic are the tricolour flag (vertical stripes of green, white, and red), which was first used in Reggio Emilia in 1797, and the official emblem, which is a white five-pointed star on top of a five-spoked cogwheel surrounded by a oak branch and olive branch.

The offices for the national Government institutions are located in the capital: there is Montecitorio, which houses the Chamber of Deputies, one of the two branches of Parliament; Palazzo Madama, the seat of the Republican Senate, the other branch of Parliament; Palazzo Chigi, the seat of the Italian Government; and the Quirinale, the "house" of the President of the Republic.

The national anthem of Italy is also called the Mameli anthem, after the author of the lyrics who wrote the anthem in 1847. The music was subsequently composed by Michele Novaro. It has been the official anthem of Italy since 1946.

Food and wine in Itialy

The main characteristic of Italian cooking is its healthy balance, the excellent basic ingredients being simply cooked and retaining their original goodness and freshness. Simple and yet with such a variety of flavors and rich inventiveness in preparation, that even the most demanding gourmet is delighted.

Italian breakfast is quite different from American or English. Colazione is usually light: cappuccino (coffee and milk) and a brioche (sweet pastry), or simply espresso (black-short-strong coffee).

Pranzo (lunch) is the big meal except in the industrialized cities. It consists of antipasto (starter) a primo piatto (pasta, rice or soup), a secondo piatto (meat or fish) with contorno (vegetable or salad), then frutta ( fresh fruit). Finish with espresso and maybe a grappa or amaro (strong digestive liqueur).

Cena (dinner) is similar to lunch. Nowadays there is a tendency of having a light lunch, then dinner becomes the major meal.

Gelato (ice-cream) has hundreds of different flavours and can be enjoyed at anytime of the day as well as the granita (crushed ice with flavoured syrup).

Where to eat ?

There are thousands of ristoranti (restaurants): the most formal type of place to eat when one is not in a hurry, sometimes a little fancy and pricy and family-run; trattoria and osteria: less formal than a ristorante, where local specialties are served; panineria: a sandwich bar, where a quick meal can be had at any time of the day; pizzeria: is not only for pizza lovers!

Discover Regional Specialties & Recipes...

"Italy is not only the largest producer of wines, but above all a producer of great wines." Its climate, soil and very old traditions of viticulture make Italy a natural wine growing nation. The wines are as personal as a name, as different as the colors of the rainbow and as much a part of Italian life as almost 3,000 years of tradition can make them.

The Etruscans of North-Central Italy, who created one of the peninsula's earliest civilizations, left evidence of how to make wine.

The Greeks who soon after established themselves in the South gave Italy the name Enotria (the land of wine).

For centuries wine growing has been the cultivation which used most of the labor of the Italian farmers; this is still true today; a large part of the population is engaged in the vine and wine industry.

Other Italian drinks include aperitifs, blended principally over a base of the world-famous Piedmont Vermouth;dessert wines, such as Moscato, Marsala and Malvasia from Sicily and sparkling wines from Piedmont, Veneto, Tuscany and the Islands. Italy also has excellent beers and a great variety of effervescent mineral waters.

Hotels in Italy

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