Italian Republic
From Worldatplay
| Repubblica Italiana Italian Republic | |
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| Flag | Coat of arms |
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| Motto "Pensiero ed Azione" (Italian) "Thought and Action" | |
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| Anthem Il Canto degli Italiani | |
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| Capital Largest city | Florence 45°46′N 11°15′E Rome |
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| Official languages | Italian |
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| Government - President - Prime Minister | Parliamentary republic Massimo D´Alema Romano Prodi |
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| Formation - As Roman Republic - As (First) Italian Republic - Second Italian Republic | 1849 March 17, 1871 September 6, 1945 |
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| Area - Total | 166,003 km² 64,094.1 sq mi |
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| Population - July 2007 estimate - Density | 36,658,435 220.83 /km² 571.95 /sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) - Total - Per capita | 2007 estimate $1.221 trillion $33,319 |
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| GDP (nominal) - Total - Per capita | 2006 estimate $1.341 trillion $36,586 |
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| Gini (2005) | 26.8 (low) |
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| HDI (2005) |  0.947 (high)
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| Currency | Italian lira (ITL)
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| Time zone - Summer (DST) | CET (UTC +1) CEST (UTC +2) |
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| Internet TLD | .it |
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| Calling code | +39 |
Italy (italian: Italia), officially the Italian Republic (italian: Repubblica Italiana), is a state located in the northern part of the italian Peninsula, in southern Europe. It shares its alpine northern boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia, sharing a southern, intra-italian border with the Kingdom of Sicily as well. The nations of San Marino and the Vatican remain as independent enclaves within the Republic.
Forged in 1871, by the Roman Republic, nationalist state that seeked the unification of Italy, the new nation was unable to continue the process due to the strong resistance of the Kingom of Sicily, and since 1871 the Italian state officially renounced to the incorporation of the southern territories by force, although United Italy is an usual motivation not only for national politicians, but for the whole nation.
Since the downfall of the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini the political stage of the nation has been dominated by the three parties that worked together to bring the authoritarian regime to an end: the DCI (Italian Christian Democracy),the PCI (Italian Communist Party), and the PSI (Italian Socialist Party), although some of the minor parties do have representation in the Parliament, which has resulted in a mature, progressive, socially focused democracy.
Despite the faillure to complete the unification process, the nation has been able to build a developed, highly industrialized economy, without detrimental effects over income equality, which has resulted in a healthy national economy as well as one of the highest life qualities in Europe, and the world. Italy is a champion in political and civil rights as well, although the Catholic Church is the most popular religion of the country.
