Italy: Land, People, and the Enduring Roman Legacy
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Italy: Geography, Demographics, and Major Cities
Italy (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja] (listen)), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica Italiana [reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna]),[11][12][13][14] is a European country. It consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and is surrounded by several islands. Located in South-Central Europe,[15][16] Italy is also considered part of Western Europe.[17][18]
Geographical Footprint and Borders
The country covers a total area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi). It shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. Italy also has a territorial exclave in Switzerland (Campione) and a maritime exclave in the Tunisian Sea (Lampedusa).
Population and Key Urban Centers
With approximately 60 million inhabitants, Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union. The capital and largest city is Rome. Other major cities include Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, and Venice.
Italy's Rich History: From Ancient Peoples to Roman Empire
Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy has historically been home to a myriad of peoples and cultures.
Ancient Inhabitants and Early Settlements
Beyond the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout what is now modern-day Italy, the most predominant were the Indo-European Italic peoples, who gave the peninsula its name. Beginning from the classical era, several groups established significant presences:
- Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies, primarily in insular Italy.[19]
- Greeks established settlements in the region known as Magna Graecia in Southern Italy.
- Etruscans inhabited Central Italy.
- Celts inhabited Northern Italy.
The Rise of Rome: Kingdom, Republic, and Empire
An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC. This kingdom eventually evolved into a republic, governed by the Senate and the People. The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbors on the Italian peninsula, subsequently expanding its dominion across parts of Europe, North Africa, and Asia.
The Pax Romana and Roman Legacy
By the 1st century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin. It became a leading cultural, political, and religious center, inaugurating the Pax Romana – a period of more than 200 years during which Italy's law, technology, economy, art, and literature flourished.[20][21] Italy remained the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the empire, whose profound legacy is still observed globally in culture, governments, Christianity, and the Latin script.