Italy Essay, Research Paper

Italy is a country in southern Europe. It is located in the Mediterranean region. Italy is a peninsula that has the Tyrrhenlan Sea to its west, the Adriatic Sea to its east, and the Lonian Sea

to its southeast. Austria and Switzerland border Italy to the north. France borders Italy to the northwest.

The Capital of Italy is Rome, also the largest city. The official language of Italy is Italian. About 98% of the people in Italy are Roman Catholic. The pope lives in Rome. Italy is 116,320 sq. miles. In 1994 the population estimate was about 57,107,000 (491 per sq. mile). Italy’s official name is Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic). The National Anthem is “Fratelli d’Italia” (”Brothers of Italy”).

Central and southern Italy have hot summers with day time temperatures that reach 86*F. The winters are mild and daytime temperatures reach 54*F. Northern Italy is slightly cooler in the summer than the rest of the country. However, it is much cooler in winter. The lowest annual amount of rain fall on record in Italy is 18 in. The highest annual amount of rain fall on record is 60 in.

Italians pride themselves on their wonderful cooking. For example Naples is known for plain pizza crust and stuffed peppers. Genoa is known for gnocchi al pesto (tiny dumplings with basil and garlic sauce), and trenette (a kind of long, narrow noodle). Italians aremostly famous for wide varieties of pastas and sauces.

Italy’s form of government is parliamentary democracy. The head of the government is the Prime Minister. The head of the state is a president who is elected by the Parliament for a seven year term.

Italy does foreign trade with Germany, France, United States, Britain, and the Netherlands. Italy’s major exported goods are clothing and shoes, motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals, and fruits and vegetables. The value of exported goods and services is about

$157,102,000,000. Italy’s major imports are machinery, petroleum, motor vehicles, textile yarns, and metals. The value of imported goods is about $158,181,000,000.

Italy’s agricultural chief products are grapes, wheat, beef cattle, hogs, olives,corn, oranges, and tomatoes. Its manufacturing chief products are clothing and shoes, foods and beverages, motor vehicles, petroleum products, machinery, and chemicals. Italy’s mining chief products are natural gas, granite, and marble.