Italy, officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Italia, IPA: /i'talja/ or Repubblica Italiana, IPA: /re'pubblika ita'ljana/), is a Southern European country, situated on the western side of the European continent. It comprises the Italian peninsula, the Po River valley, and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia, and shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. The country also shares a sea border with Croatia, and France. The independent countries of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory. It is shaped like a boot, and for this reason it is commonly called lo stivale (Italian for boot).
Area:
total: 301,230 sq km
land: 294,020 sq km
water: 7,210 sq km
Climate:
predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south Terrain:
mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands Population:
58,057,477 Languages:
Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area) Capital:
Rome
Countries
