Italy

General facts

Italian Republic is the formal name of Italy.
Population: 58 742 000
Capital: Rome 2 628 000
Area: 301 333 km2

Italy has 2 independent states :
Vatican city and the Republic of San Marin.

Italy’s capital Rome is known as an eternal city.
It’s age is almost 3000 years.

Geography

4/5th of the area is made up of hills
or mountains.

No other country in Europe has as many volcanoes as Italy.

This is because the Italian peninsula stands on a fault line.
Three major volcanoes (Etna, Stromboli, and Vesuvius)
have erupted in the last hundred years.

The highest peak in Europe is in Italy.

Monte Bianco (White Mountain) is 4810 metres high
and is part of the Alps

Language

Grammatical system of Italian remains same with the
Latin language. Italian language has adopted more than
90% of Latin words.

Most of the Italian personal names end with “I” or “o”.
Russo is the most common surname for Italians.

There are a number of dialects of the language spoken
in the country, including Sardinian, Friulian,
Neapolitan, Sicilian, Ligurian, Piedmontese,
Venetian and Calabrian.

Phrases

Non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco

“Not all doughnuts come out with a hole.”

Cavoli riscaldati

‘’reheated cabbage.’’

Conosco i miei polli

‘’I know my chickens’’

Paparazzi

“Buzzing Mosquitoes”

Cuisine

Wine, cheese and pasta
is a very important part of Italian meals.

You can find the usage of pasta in
variety of foods. Normally it is used
in different combinations along with
vegetables, tomato sauce, meat and cheese.

Traditional foods differ in
different regions of Italy.

In Italy walking whilst eating is
considered disrespectful. Someone
spent time and effort preparing the
food for you to eat and enjoy which
you can’t do if you’re worrying about
where you need to be next.
The Caesar «Cardini» salad is named
after an Italian chef and creator of
the recipe, not Roman general Caesar.
Italian government recently passed a
new law aimed at making it easier for
both retailers and consumers to
prevent food waste.

In Italy every village has its own little festival,
often related to the typical food of the region, but
the most well known are, probably the Truffles
Festival of Alba and the Chocolate Festival
of Turin (where Nutella was born).

Art and Architecture

Italy has given rise to a number of
architectural styles, including classical
Roman, Renaissance, Baroque
and Neoclassical.
Italy is home to some of the most
famous structures in the world,
including Colosseum and
the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Italy counts 51 UNESCO World Heritage Sites
within its borders, the most of any country on
the World Heritage List.

Music

The language of music is Italian.
The word “scale” comes from scala,
meaning “step.” And andante , allegro,
presto, and vivace are just a few
of the many Italian musical notations.

Performers of Italian folk music use old-fashioned
instruments like simple flutes and even a
bagpipe-like instrument called the piva.
Regional differences create a lot of variety, so
you can find Italian folk music with Celtic,
Spanish and even Arabic influences.

Italian pop music is similar to pop music in
the rest of the world, incorporating rock,
hip-hop, jazz and electronic dance music.
However, Italian pop stars incorporate
traditional Italian music into their works.
Opera is a major Italian music tradition,
achieving its greatest popularity in the
1800s.
In fact, opera was created in Italy, evolving
from raucous performances of singing and
dancing with exciting stage effects meant
to entertain Roman crowds in between
acts of the actual play.

Famous dances include the southern tarantella;
perhaps the most iconic of Italian dances,
and is part of a folk ritual intended to cure the
poison caused by tarantula bites.

Tradicional clothing

In Italy, each region has a traditional costume,
however, nowadays, people only wear traditional
costume during special celebrations (these are
often agricultural festivals such as the end of the
harvest season) and historical parades.

Laws

In Venice all gondolas are required to be painted
in black by law.
In Milan it's a legal requirement to smile at all
times, except during funerals or hospital visits.
It's illegal to die in Falciano del Massico, a town in
Italy, because the cemetery is full.
Stealing small amounts of food to
stave off hunger is not a crime.

Inventions

The first thermometer was invented by
Italian inventor Santorio Satorio in 1612;
Italian Alessandro Volta invented
the first battery in 1800s;
Radio was developed as a communication
medium by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895;
The first newspaper started
circulating in Venice in 1563.

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