Italy's Profile
Area: 116,303 square miles
Population: 56,778,000
Population density: 487/sq. mile
Capital: Roma (2,775,000 inhabitants)
Other important cities:
Milano (1,369,000)
Napoli (1,067,000)
Torino (963,000)
Palermo (699,000)
Genova (679,000)
Bologna (404,000)
|
Firenze (403,000)
Bari (342,000)
Catania (333,000)
Venezia (309,000)
Verona (256,000)
Taranto (232,000)
|
Messina (231,000)
Trieste (231,000)
Padova (215,000)
Cagliari (204,000)
Brescia (195,000)
Perugia (153,000) |
Situated in Mediterranean Europe, Italy has land frontiers with France in the north-west, Switzerland and Austria in the north and Slovenia in the north-east. The peninsula is surrounded by the Ligurian Sea, the Sardinian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, the Sicilian Sea and the Ionian Sea in the south and the Adriatic Sea in the east. Italian is the language of the majority of the population but there are minorities speaking German, French, Slovene and Ladino. Sixty-seven percent of the population live in cities.
Geographical Profile
There is a great deal of variety in the landscape in Italy, although it is characterized predominantly by two mountain chains: the Alps and the Apennines. The former extends over 600 miles from east to west. It consists of great massifs in the western sector, with peaks rising to over 14,000 feet, including Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc), Monte Rosa and Cervino (the Matterhorn). The the chain is lower in the eastern sector, although the mountains, the Dolomites, are still of extraordinary beauty.
At the foot of the Alpine arc stretches the vast Po Valley plain, cut down the middle by the course of the river Po, the longest in Italy (390 miles), which has its source in the Pian de Re (Monviso) and flows into the Adriatic through a magnificent delta. The Alpine foothills are characterized by large lakes: Lake Maggiore and the lakes of Como, Iseo and Garda. The Apennines form the backbone of the peninsula, stretching in a wide arc concave to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Corno Grande (Gran Sasso d'Italia) is the highest peak. A large part of central Italy is characterized by a green hilly landscape, through which the rivers Arno and Tevere (Tiber) run. The southern section of the chain pushes out to the east forming the Gargano promontory and, sloping down further south, the Salentine peninsula. It then proceeds to the west with the Calabrian and Peloritano massif stretching across the Strait of Messina into Sicilia. The principal islands are Sicilia, rising up to the great volcanic cone of Etna (10,860 feet) and Sardegna. The main archipelagos are the Tremiti Islands in the Adriatic Sea, the Tuscan Archipelago, the Pontine Islands, the Aeolian Islands and the Egadi Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Sicilia.
Administrative Regions: Italy is divided into twenty regions, namely: Abruzzi, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Valle d'Aosta, Veneto
Languages: The official language is Italian, but French and German are also spoken in some regions.
Predominant Religion: Roman Catholic
Currency: The euro: 100 cents = 1 euro.
Time Zone: 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+1).
Weather: In general, Italy has a temperate Mediterranean climate, with warm summers and cool winters in the north and hot summers and mild winters in the south.
Voltage Requirements: 220 volts.
Passport/Visa Requirements: Passports are required by all visitors to Italy, except for citizens of the following countries, who may enter Italy with a National Identity Card: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. No visas are required for stays of less than 90 days.
Vaccinations: No vaccinations are required for visitors to Italy.
Child Travelers: Visitors to Italy accompanied by minor children should bring documentary evidence of relationship or permission for the child's travel from a parent or legal guardian of the child.
Medical Facilities: Good quality public hospitals and other medical facilities can be found in most urban areas and most prescription drugs available in the U.S. can also purchased in Italy.
Airport Departure Tax: There is no departure tax payable.
