Interesting Country Facts (Italy)

Italy consists of a mountainous peninsula in southern Europe extending into the Mediterranean Sea and includes the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and about 70 other smaller islands. Italy is officially known as the Italian Republic. The capital of Italy is Rome.

Fast Facts about Italy

1. The name Italy comes from the word italia, meaning “calf land,” perhaps because the bull was a symbol of the Southern Italian tribes.

2. Italy has the eighth-largest economy in the world. Italy is the largest producer of wine in the world.

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3. The world’s oldest university in continuous operation is the University of Bologna, in Italy, founded in 1088.

4. There are 15 minority languages officially recognised in Italy, including native languages such as Sardinian and Friulian, and neighbouring countries’ languages (Catalan, Occitan, French, Slovenian, Croatian, Albanian and Greek).

5. Italian is a Romance language descended from Vulgar Latin, the dialect spoken by the people living during the last years of the Roman Empire. Italian has more Latin words than any other Romance languages, and its grammatical system remains similar to Latin. Latin is still the official language of the Vatican City in Rome.

6. Many of the world’s most famous artists were Italian, with such names as Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Bernini, Titian and Raphael, among many others.

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7. Influenced in part by the French flag, the Italian flag has evolved over several hundred years. The flag is vertically divided into three equal sections of green, white, and red, representing hope, faith, and charity. Another interpretation is that the green represents the Italian landscape, white represents the snow-capped Alps, and red represents the bloodshed that brought about the independence of Italy.

8. Over 61 million people live in Italy (61,261,254) as of 2012.

9. Italy if the fourth most visited country.