Italy Flag - Italian Flag

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Brief History. In 1861, Italy became a nation-state, when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor Emmanuel II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito Mussolini established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. The monarchy was replaced by a democratic republic in 1946 and economic revival followed. It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north.

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Country Information

Local name: Italia

Capital: Rome

Population: 58,133,509

Government: republic

Currency: euro (EUR)

Land size: 301,230 sq km

Topography: mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands

Typical foods: pizza, pasta, spaghetti, macaroni

Major exports: engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals, and nonferrous metals

Information on the People

Official language: Italian

Other languages spoken: German, French, Slovene

Religions: approximately 90% Roman Catholic (about one-third regularly attend services); mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community

Literacy rate: 98.6%

Male/Female Ratio: 0.96 male(s) to every 1 female

Life expectancy: 79.81 years

Ethnic groups: Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)

Internet users: 28.87 million

Famous people: Sophia Loren, Frank Sinatra

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