Italy

Italy is a country consisting of a peninsula bounded by the Alps and several surrounding islands, the territory of which largely coincides with the geographic region of the same name. Italy is located in the middle of the Mediterranean, in Southern Europe, and is also considered part of Western Europe. A unitary parliamentary republic with its capital and largest city, Rome, the country covers a total area of ​​301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi) and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and the Vatican and San Marino micro-enclave states. ... Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland (Campione) and a maritime exclave in Tunisian waters (Lampedusa). Italy, with a population of about 60 million, is the third most populous member state of the European Union.

Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy has historically been home to many peoples and cultures. In addition to the various ancient peoples living in the territory of modern Italy, the most predominant of which were the Indo-European Italic peoples, who gave the peninsula its name, starting from the classical era, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies mainly in insular Italy. The Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia in southern Italy, while the Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy, respectively. An Italian tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman kingdom in the 8th century BC, which eventually became a republic with the government of the Senate and the people. The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbors on the Italian peninsula, eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire had become the dominant power in the Mediterranean basin and became a leading cultural, political and religious center, initiating the Pax Romana, a more than 200-year period during which Italian law, technology, economics, art and literature developed ...

During the early Middle Ages, Italy experienced the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the invasions of the barbarians, but by the 11th century, numerous rival city-states and maritime republics, mainly in the northern and central regions of Italy, had achieved great prosperity through trade. commerce and banking, laying the foundation for modern capitalism. These largely independent states served as Europe's main trading centers with Asia and the Middle East, often enjoying a greater degree of democracy than the larger feudal monarchies consolidating across Europe; however, parts of central Italy were under the control of theocratic Papal States, while southern Italy remained largely feudal until the 19th century, partly as a result of a series of Byzantine, Arab, Norman, Angevin, Aragonese, and other foreign conquests. region. The revival began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, reviving interest in humanism, science, research, and art. Italian culture flourished, producing renowned scholars, artists, and polymaths. In the Middle Ages, Italian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, which marked the beginning of the European era of discovery. However, Italy's trade and political power diminished significantly with the opening of trade routes bypassing the Mediterranean. Centuries of foreign intervention and conquest, as well as rivalry and struggles between Italian city-states, such as the Italian wars of the 15th and 16th centuries, left Italy politically fragmented, and it was further conquered and divided among numerous foreign European powers around the world. centuries.

By the mid-19th century, the rise of Italian nationalism and calls for independence from foreign control led to a period of revolutionary political upheaval. After centuries of foreign domination and political division, Italy was almost completely unified in 1861 after the War of Independence, which turned the Kingdom of Italy into a great power. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Italy rapidly industrialized, mainly in the north, and acquired a colonial empire, while the south remained largely impoverished and excluded from industrialization, feeding a large and influential diaspora. Despite the fact that Italy was one of the victorious Allied powers in the First World War, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social upheaval, which led to the strengthening of the Italian fascist dictatorship in 1922. Participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in military defeat and economic destruction during the Italian campaign. After the rise of the Italian Resistance and the liberation of Italy, the country abolished its monarchy, founded a democratic republic, experienced a prolonged economic boom and became a highly developed country.