Area Total | 301,340 sq km |
Climate | predominantly Mediterranean; alpine in far north; hot, dry in south |
Natural Resources | coal, antimony, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorspar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land |
Imports | Germany 16.3%, France 8.8%, China 7.1%, Netherlands 5.6%, Spain 5.3%, Belgium 4.5% (2017) – engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages, tobacco |
Government | parliamentary republic |
Capital | Rome |
Population | 62.2 million (July 2018 est.) |
Ethnicity | Italian (small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek Italians in the south) |
Language | Italian (official), German, French, Slovene |
Exports | Germany 12.5%, France 10.3%, US 9%, Spain 5.2%, UK 5.2%, Switzerland 4.6% (2017) – engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; foodstuffs, beverages, and tobacco; minerals, nonferrous metals |
News about Italy
- Inside Italy: The truth about jobs and why Berlusconi lives onby The Local on May 18, 2024
In this week's Inside Italy we see why no amount of positive employment figures mean the Italian job market is really thriving, and how Silvio Berlusconi continues to dominate Italian politics from beyond the grave…
- How to quickly get a US passport for a child born in Italyby The Local on May 18, 2024
What are the steps to apply for a baby's US passport from Italy? How long does it take? Here’s all the experience-based information and tips American parents in Italy should know before beginning the process.
- Can you still buy Italy’s one-euro homes in 2024?by The Local on May 18, 2024
A lot has changed since Italy's 'one-euro' home offers first made international headlines, so are they still available - or worth considering?
- ‘Worrying developments’: NGOs warn of growing pressure on Italian media freedomby The Local on May 17, 2024
Media freedom in Italy has come increasingly under pressure since Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government took office, a group of European NGOs warned on Friday following an urgent fact-finding summit.
- Vatican tightens rules on supernatural phenomena in crackdown on hoaxesby Harriet Sherwood (Italy | The Guardian) on May 17, 2024
Updated guidelines strip bishops of power to recognise ‘supernatural’ nature of purportedly divine eventsApparitions of the Virgin Mary and weeping statues have been part of Catholicism for centuries, but the age of social media has prompted the Vatican to issue a crackdown against potential scams and hoaxes.New rules issued on Friday say that only a […]
- Vatican updates guidelines on miracles to avoid 'confusion among the faithful'by The Local on May 17, 2024
The Vatican updated its rules for supernatural events on Friday, such as visions of Christ or the Virgin Mary, including the acknowledgement that overactive imaginations and outright "lying" risked harming the faithful.
- Why isn’t Pentecost Monday a public holiday in Italy?by The Local on May 17, 2024
Italy is known for being a particularly religious country, so why isn't Pentecost Monday a public holiday here?
- ‘A Brexit-style exit would not benefit Italy at all’: The Brit-Italian candidate running for MEP in Italyby The Local on May 17, 2024
Former British member of the European Parliament Sir Graham Watson is now an Italian candidate with a strongly pro-European message.
- Italy joins countries calling for asylum centres outside EUby The Local on May 17, 2024
Italy is one of 15 EU member states who have sent a joint letter to the European Commission demanding a further tightening of the bloc's asylum policy, which will make it easier to transfer undocumented migrants to third countries, such as Rwanda, including when they are rescued at sea.
- Italian word of the day: 'Piano'by The Local on May 17, 2024
When is a piano not a piano?
- Italy's national train strike on Sunday postponed after government orderby The Local on May 17, 2024
Italian Transport Minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday issued an injunction postponing a national rail strike planned for Sunday, May 19th, citing public order concerns due an overlap with the Emilia Romagna F1 Grand Prix.
- La Bella Vita: The Italian regions with the best beaches and unlucky Friday 17thby The Local on May 17, 2024
From the cleanest beaches in Italy to some distinctively Italian superstitions, our weekly newsletter La Bella Vita offers you an essential starting point for eating, talking, drinking and living like an Italian.
- Today in Italy: A roundup of the latest news on Fridayby The Local on May 16, 2024
Rai cancels Meloni-Schlein TV debate, Veneto on maximum alert for flood risk, Italy has three million fewer young people than 20 years ago, and more news from around Italy on Friday.
- Two-thirds of young Italians now living with parents as unemployment risesby The Local on May 16, 2024
The number of people aged 18-34 still living at home is now as high as 75 percent in some parts of Italy, new official data shows, as wages shrink and youth unemployment grows.
- Italian word of the day: 'Baffi'by The Local on May 16, 2024
You'll be licking your chops over this word.
- OPINION: Why Italy lags behind Europe on green policies - and things aren't changingby The Local on May 16, 2024
With climate protests by young Italians and talk of clean energy policy, will Italy finally change its ways and catch up with other European countries? Silvia Marchetti argues a much bigger cultural shift is needed before Italy could truly go green.
- Former British MEP running for election to European parliament in Italyby Lisa O'Carroll in Brussels (Italy | The Guardian) on May 16, 2024
Sir Graham Watson says rise of far right has led him to stand in North-East ItalyA former British MEP is hoping to stage a return to the European parliament in June after being invited to run in Italy by an alliance backed by the country’s former prime minister Matteo Renzi.Sir Graham Watson, a Liberal Democrat, used to represent South West England […]
- 'Not even that ancient': The harshest TripAdvisor comments about Italy's sightsby The Local on May 16, 2024
From Roman ruins to grand Gothic palaces, Italy’s most popular tourist attractions welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors every year – but not everyone leaves satisfied.
- Today in Italy: A roundup of the latest news on Thursdayby The Local on May 16, 2024
Milan hit by flooding, PM Meloni slams 'cowardly' assassination attempt on Slovak premier, Swedish tourist dies after falling from Tiber embankment in Rome, and more news from around Italy on Thursday.
- Unlucky Friday 17th - and 12 other Italian superstitions to beware ofby The Local on May 15, 2024
Friday 17th is considered an unlucky date in Italy. But that's not the only surprising Italian superstition you'll need to know about.
- How many people successfully apply for Italy's flat tax for pensioners?by The Local on May 15, 2024
Italy's flat tax rate of just seven percent for people who choose to retire in the sunny south of the country has garnered a lot of interest worldwide - but how many people are really able to take advantage of it?
- Rome, Open City review – Rossellini’s blazingly urgent masterpiece from a city in ruinsby Peter Bradshaw (Italy | The Guardian) on May 15, 2024
Roberto Rossellini’s 1945 neorealist drama is unsparing in its depiction of the heavy price of both resistance and collaboration with the Nazi occupationRoberto Rossellini’s 1945 film is a blazingly urgent and painful bulletin from the frontline of Italy’s historical agony: the Axis power that had belatedly turned against the Mussolini fascists only […]
- Naples pizzeria whose founder cooked for Bill Clinton seized in mafia investigationby Angela Giuffrida in Rome (Italy | The Guardian) on May 15, 2024
Owner of Dal Presidente and his wife among five arrested on suspicion of business being linked to Camorra’s Contini clanA pizzeria in the heart of Naples that was founded by a man who made a pizza for Bill Clinton has been seized by police in a mafia-related investigation.Thecurrent owner of Dal Presidente and his wife are among five people arrested on […]
- MAP: Which regions of Italy have the most Blue Flag beaches in 2024?by The Local on May 14, 2024
The list of Italy's high quality beaches has grown by 27 this year. Here are the Italian regions where you can find the most beaches that meet the highest global standards.
- 'It's an emergency': Climate protesters disrupt Italian Open – videoby (Italy | The Guardian) on May 13, 2024
Climate activists disrupted the Italian Open on Monday to protest against water shortages. Members of the climate group Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) poured white paint and threw confetti on the Foro Italico tennis court during the match between Madison Keys and Sorana Cirstea. Activists also tried to secure themselves in place in the stands during a […]
- Vatican Museums faces unprecedented legal dispute over job conditionsby Angela Giuffrida in Rome (Italy | The Guardian) on May 13, 2024
Petition by 49 employees could lead to Holy See being taken to court for ‘undermining dignity and health’Forty-nine employees at the Vatican Museums have started an unprecedented legal dispute over job conditions and workplace safety, which could lead to the Holy See being taken to court.The staff, mostly custodians who have worked at the museums for […]
- The Guardian view on Giorgia Meloni’s Italy: the politics of ‘illiberal democracy’ | Editorialby Editorial (Italy | The Guardian) on May 12, 2024
A strike by journalists at the state broadcaster sends a disturbing signal in one of the European Union’s most important member statesAccording to the latest audit of press freedom by Reporters Without Borders, Italy has tumbled down its international rankings. A crucial factor in its report was the desire of Giorgia Meloni’s radical right government […]
- Briton with cancer living in Italy unable to get care he is entitled to after Brexitby Lisa O'Carroll in Brussels (Italy | The Guardian) on May 12, 2024
Withdrawal agreement means Graham Beresford is eligible for free treatment but Italian authorities have said he must payA British man settled in Italy who has a rare cancer has been unable to receive the free healthcare he is entitled to because local officials do not understand the Brexit withdrawal agreement, he has said.Graham Beresford, 61, has spoken […]
- Sun, sea and delicious food: 10 wonderful agriturismos in Italyby Liz Boulter (Italy | The Guardian) on May 12, 2024
From a family farm where you can help yourself to lemons and oranges in the orchard to an old shepherd’s house with views of the seaYou can’t beat an agriturismo. Rural locations, owners whose main job is farming, plus food and drink produced on site all add up to a charmingly informal stay. There is rarely a reception desk and there’ll be dogs and […]
- ‘This gesture made history’: watch given to Gina Lollobrigida by Fidel Castro is to go on saleby Angela Giuffrida in Rome (Italy | The Guardian) on May 12, 2024
After the actor turned photojournalist interviewed the communist leader, he gave her his watch – one of many items of her memorabilia up for auctionIt was one of the most unusual interviews: she was the glamorous 1950s Italian film star, once described as the “most beautiful woman in the world”; he was the gruff communist leader of Cuba.But Gina […]