Capital City: Rome
Population: 59.9 million (fourth-largest in the EU)
Currency: Euro
Geography
-Borders: France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia
-Sardinia and Sicily are the two largest islands in the Mediterranean
-The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican are enclaves within Italy
-Italy is prone to natural disasters. In 2009, extensive flooding, forest fires, lethal landslides and an earthquake near the city of L’Aquila cost more than 300 lives.
Landscape: Mount Etna (on Sicily) is the largest active volcano in Europe; Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on mainland Europe (the only one to have erupted in the last 100 years). It was responsible for the destruction of Pompeii and the deaths of up to 25,000 people in 79AD; it has not erupted since 1944. When it erupted in 79AD, the eruption sent ash flying as far away as Constantinople (Istanbul), the sun was blocked out and the sea was sucked away and forced back by a tsunami.
Rivers: Italy’s largest river is the Po
Mountains: 75% of the Italian peninsula is mountainous; the Alps - a section of which are the Dolomites - form Italy’s Northern boundary, while the Appenine Mountains extend from North to South
Part of EU?: Yes, Italy was a founding member in 1957 (Italy was also a founding member of NATO)
Prime Minister: Silvio Berlusconi
SILVIO BERLUSCONI
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was born in Milan, and is the longest-serving Prime Minister of Italy (he has held the position three times, currently since 2008). He is the richest Italian and one of the richest men in the world (worth 6 billion). He owns A.C. Milan (his own party is named Forza Italia - Go Italy! - after a chant sung by AC Milan supporters), several media channels, newspapers, and over 150 other companies. He is a successful businessman, seems a lot younger than his 72 years (due in part to plastic surgery), and in good health; when he was attacked in 2009 by a statuette-wielding protestor, he got right out of the car to wave to the crowd, despite having a bloodied face, to show he was okay.
-There are 20 different political regions in Italy (including Umbria, Tuscany, Sardinia, Sicily, Piedmont, Lombardy, Calabria)
-Italy is a member of the G-8, and it is in a good economic position today, although the country entered a recession twice in the past decade. Italy doesn't have many multinational companies, rather it has purely Italian companies.
-In recent years, voters have been disenchanted with the government, citing corruption, debt,
influence of organized crime; the government has swung back and forth over the past few years
from centre-left party under Romano Prodi, who had to resign again in 2008, and centre-right
Berlusconi
QUICK HISTORY
Legend has it that Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, who appear in mythology as the twin sons of the God of War, Mars but were raised by a she-wolf so they were feral creatures, very in touch with nature. They stood on 2 hills and a swarm of birds flew over Romulus’ head, signifying that he should be the first King of Rome, so Romulus killed his brother, named himself King and named the city after himself. He stole a bunch of women from neighbouring tribes, and conquered other territories and populated Rome.
In around 55BC, Julius Caesar and his triumvirate came to power. They conquered the Gauls and invaded Britain. Caesar was a dictator, and heavily centralized the bureaucracy of the republic. But by the first century BC, as Rome got bigger and expanded overseas, this system stopped working, and a series of revolts against the Roman government began. Spartacus, a slave, led an uprising against the Patricians. Spartacus was one of many Gladiators (some 40,000 of them) who plotted their escape from slavery. They didn’t win, but their uprising was an inspiration to others. The trouble continued for decades, eventually leading to the assassination of Julius Caesar by a group of Senators hoping to restore the normal running of the Republic.
In 29 BC, after a long struggle, Julius Caesar’s nephew Octavius defeated his rivals (Antony and Cleopatra) and declared himself Emperor Augustus Caesar; the Roman Empire was born. Rome gained territory in Britain, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
This Pax Romana (time of peace) ended when the last great Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, died in 180 AD, and then a series of economic instability, barbarian invasions, domestic issues, combined with a lack of strong leadership, led to the decline of the Roman Empire and by the fourth century AD, it eventually split into two: The East thrived, becoming the Byzantine Empire, based out of the newly-built capital Constantinople, (now Turkey), while Rome, capital of the West, declined.
For the next thousand years (The Dark Ages), Italy stagnated and broke apart into a series of city-states, with Rome (the centre of the Catholic Church) the most powerful.
RELIGION
After the death of Jesus, the apostles started to travel, and found themselves in Rome. From as early as the 1st century, the Church of Rome was recognized as an authority because it was believed that the Apostles Peter and Paul had led the Church there. Roman and Catholicism are now synonymous, but the early Catholics in Rome were persecuted (by Emperors such as Diocletian) because they did not adhere to many of the pagan Roman practices.
Until 1054 AD Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism were branches of the same body. The slow process of separation was encouraged in 330 AD when Emperor Constantine decided to move the capital of the Roman Empire to the city of Byzantium (Byzantine Empire, modern-day Turkey) and called it Constantinople. When he died, his two sons divided their rule, one taking the Eastern portion of the empire and ruling from Constantinople and the other taking the western portion, ruling from Rome.
In 1054 AD a formal split (East-West Schism) occurred when the Pope in Rome excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, who in turn excommunicated him.
The Crusades were a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns designed to reclaim the Holy Land (Jerusalem). They were waged over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291. They were bloody, but they allowed for goods and knowledge to be brought into Italy from abroad.
The Church at the time influenced the development of western art, Renaissance Artists, and music (Catholic monks developed western notation, leading to the rise of European classical music).
RENAISSANCE ITALY
Things didn’t pick up again in Italy until the 14th Century AD, when cities such as Florence, Venice, Milan and Pisa became centres of trade, and the influx of wealth and contact with other nations turned Italy, once again, into Europe’s premier centre of culture. This was the Renaissance period.
Several factors contributed to the Renaissance, and many of them were not nice.
Italy had been in the Dark Ages ever since the East (Ottoman Empire) had taken over from Rome as the centre of power in Europe, and the Renaissance helped bring it back into the light. Due to the fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, Greek scholars and texts came into Italy during this time.
The Crusades, whilst bloody, had led to increased trade and knowledge coming into Italy (textiles from North Africa, Asia, etc.). Marco Polo also brought back knowledge from his travels, as did Christopher Columbus.
The Black Death had wiped out a third of Europe's population, so the reduced population was much wealthier, better fed, and had more money to spend on luxury items. Additionally, the collapse of two major banks in Italy cleared the way for the Medici to rise to prominence in Florence, and they became the Patrons of the Renaissance, allowing a burgeoning Italian art scene to flourish.
Their wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade, and when they took power of Florence, they created for an environment where art and humanism could flourish, thus inspiring the Renaissance. Artists at the time only made their works when they received commissions in advance, which the wealthy Medicis were able to provide.
The most significant addition to the list over the years was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), who produced work for a number of Medici, beginning with Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was said to be extremely fond of the young Michelangelo, inviting him to study the family collection of antique sculpture. Lorenzo also served as patron to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) for seven years. Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel just before the pontiff's death in 1534.
In addition to commissions for art and architecture, the Medici were prolific collectors and today their acquisitions form the core of the Uffizi museum in Florence.
After Lorenzo's death, a Dominican Friar, Girolamo Savonarola, rose in power. He hated the excessive luxury of the Medicis, and ordered many works of art to be destroyed in the "Bonfire of the Vanities" in 1497. The following year, he was burned at the stake in the same location as his bonfire.
The Medicis remained in power, with two 16th century popes, but were unable to stem the advance of the Reformation and eventually their power declined, but their legacy and contribution is still painted all across Florence.
MODERN ITALY
Things in Italy were carrying along fine, but not spectacularly, until the 20th century.
In 1919, a politician named Benito Mussolini launched a movement that called for the restoration of Italy as a great power. In 1922, impatient with electoral politics, Mussolini led his supporters, known as Fascists, on a march on Rome to seize power directly through a coup. Spooked, the Italian king did not put up a fight and allowed Mussolini to become supreme ruler of Italy.
Mussolini spent the next twenty years consolidating power and building up the Italian economy, calling himself Il Duce (‘Leader’) and dreaming of leading a new Roman Empire. When WWII broke out, Italy remained neutral at first, but once it appeared through the Fall of France that Germany would win, Mussolini eagerly joined Hitler, a fellow Fascist and longtime ally, in the war effort and rushed to invade Greece, the Balkans, and North Africa. Overextended and unprepared for such a large-scale effort, Italy quickly found that it could not maintain its military position and had to ask Germany for help. Before long, Mussolini saw himself losing control of his overseas possessions, and eventually his very own country to the Allies. Abandoned by a disgusted Hitler, Il Duce and his mistress were captured and executed by Italian partisans.
After the Second World War, Italy abolished the monarchy and declared itself a republic. With the strong support of the United States, Italy rebuilt its economy through loans, joined NATO and the EU and today, Italy is one of the most prosperous and democratic nations in Europe.
ITALIAN CORRUPTION
The government might be focusing too much on fighting crime and not enough on fighting corruption.
United Nations and European Union studies indicate that Italy's crime rates are below the European average. Rome is safer than London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam. But Italy is one of the worst offenders in Europe when it comes to corruption, and cases of corruption in Italy have increased 200% since 2008. On a scale from 1 to 180, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark are at the top, with Iraq, Myanmar and Somalia at the bottom. Italy comes in at 55.
SICILIAN MAFIA ("COSA NOSTRA")
The Casa Nostra originated in 19th century Sicily, led by families who ran their own territories, protecting their business interests again feudal land owners who intimidated poor employees into working for low wages. They were Italian Robin Hoods.
Mussolini cracked down on Cosa Nostra, and that is when many of them fled abroad to America and beyond. When Fascism fell after WWII, they slowly made their way back into Sicily where, today, it is estimated that the Sicilian Mafia costs the Sicilian economy more than €10 billion a year through protection rackets. 80% of Sicilian businesses pay protection money to Cosa Nostra; monthly payments can be up to €5,000. Cosa Nostra is estimated to have about 100 clans, with a total of at least 3,500 to 4,000 members. Most are based in western Sicily, almost half of them in the province of Palermo.
There are reports that the Forza Italia party has links to Cosa Nostra. Cosa Nostra controls about 80% of the cocaine trade in Europe. In recent years, it has deliberately murdered judges, priests and children. Palermo's Falcone-Borsellino Airport is named after two such judges.
While America has glamorized the Mafia in movies, Italians recognize that they are criminals, and no one outside their social class would aspire to be one.
In November 2007 Sicilian police reported to have found a list of "Ten Commandments" in the hideout of a mafia boss. They are thought to be guidelines on how to be a good, respectful and honourable mafioso.
-No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
-Never look at the wives of friends.
-Never be seen with cops.
-Don't go to pubs and clubs.
-Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife is about to give birth.
-Appointments must absolutely be respected.
-Wives must be treated with respect.
-When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
-Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
-People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.
ITALIAN FASHION
From the 11th-16th centuries (during the Renaissance), Italian fashion, just like other Italian art, was at its peak - although some might say its most important contribution to fashion was made during the height of the Roman Empire, when the bikini was first invented. During the court of Louis 14th in the 1600s, France took over as the fashion capital of Europe, but Italian fashion designers have made a comeback (the Italian School vs. French Haute Couture).
Today, the big names in Italian fashion are Armani, Valentino, Versace, Dolce and Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli, Prada. Milan is considered the World's Top Fashion Capital, and Rome is 4th.
Today, the big names in Italian fashion are Armani, Valentino, Versace, Dolce and Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli, Prada. Milan is considered the World's Top Fashion Capital, and Rome is 4th.
CUSTOMS: 67% of single Italian men stay at home until they marry (But even the number of marriages has fallen - with 257,880 couple tying the knot in 2003, less than half of the number in 1971). Italy is projected to actually lose 10 percent of its population by 2050, possibly a consequence of not leaving the home.
ITALIAN FOOD
-Local specialities abound, such as pesto in Liguria (Genoa and the Cinque Terre), pizza in Naples, bolognese sauce in Bologna, risotto in Milan;
-Italy is also the leading European country for organic or biological foods with some 50,000 farms committed to growing produce by natural methods without the use of chemicals.
-Coffee and espresso are widespread; cafe con leche; gelato; panna cotta
-Peroni is the national beer
ITALIAN WINE
The Etruscans and Greeks were cultivating wine long before the Romans arrived, but the Romans really advanced the industry, creating barrel-storage and bottles. In AD92, an Emperor actually had to destroy some vineyards to make room for food cultivation.
Italians drink 59 litres per capita, compared to the 7.7 per capita consumed in the States. Wine is cultivated in all 20 Italian regions, such as Chianti from Tuscany, Barolo, Montepulciano, Pinot Grigio,
ITALIAN PEOPLE
Explorers: Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo
Artists: Donatello, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael
Writers: Virgil (wrote The Aeneid), Dante (wrote The Divine Comedy in the 14th century); Petrarch (who invented the sonnet), Machiavelli (The Prince);
Scientists/Inventors: Gallileo; the inventors of the radio and the telephone; Frank Zamboni invented the Zamboni
Musicians: Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, tenor Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocellio, Eros Ramazotti; Mussolini
FILM: Sophia Loren, Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful)
SPORT: Italy’s football team is the second-most successful team in the world, with four World Cup victories (including the last one, in 2006); Turin hosted the 2006 Olympics; sports are often incorporated into popular festivals, like Il Palio in Siena and the Venice regatta.
GLADIATORS: They were often slaves who were forced to fight.
QUIRKY FACTS
-Roman gladiators were the first athletes to endorse products
-Roman Emperor Caligula appointed his horse to a senate position
-Roman statutes were made with detachable heads so new heads could be put on as leaders changed
-After poor performances, Roman commanders would kill every tenth Roman soldier, giving rise to the word ‘decimate’
-La Sapienza University in Rome is the largest university in Europe,184,000 students
-Italy is the 5th major tourist destination in the world
-Italy has the most UNESCO sites (43) in the world
-Italy has the eighth highest quality of life index
Language Tips
Goodbye: Ciao!
Please: per favore
Thank You: grazie
Excuse Me/Sorry: mi scusi
Yes: Si
No: No
Where is?: Dov’e
How much?: Quanto costa?
One: Uno
Two: Due
Three: Tre
Four: Quattro
Five: Cinque
Water: Acqua
Beer: Birra
Wine: Vino
Cheers!: Salute!: Cin cin!
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