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Italy (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja] (listen)), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica Italiana [reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna]), is a country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and several islands surrounding it. Italy is located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, in Southern Europe, and is also considered part of Western Europe. A unitary parliamentary republic with Rome as its capital and largest city, 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 enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland (Campione) and a maritime exclave in Tunisian waters (Lampedusa). With around 60 million inhabitants, Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union, after Germany and France.

Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures. In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout what is now modern-day Italy, the most predominant being the Indo-European Italic peoples who gave the peninsula its name, beginning from the classical era, Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies mostly in insular Italy, Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia of Southern Italy, while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively. An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC, which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People. The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula, eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe, North Africa and Asia. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural, political and religious centre, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a period of more than 200 years during which Italy's law, technology, economy, art, and literature developed. (Full article...)

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The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy is part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2020, when two Chinese tourists in Rome tested positive for the virus. One week later an Italian man repatriated back to Italy from the city of Wuhan, China, was hospitalized and confirmed as the third case in Italy. Clusters of cases were later detected in Lombardy and Veneto on 21 February, with the first deaths on 22 February. By the beginning of March, the virus had spread to all regions of Italy.

On 31 January, the Italian government suspended all flights to and from China and declared a state of emergency. In February, eleven municipalities in northern Italy were identified as the centres of the two main Italian clusters and placed under quarantine. The majority of positive cases in other regions traced back to these two clusters.

On 8 March 2020, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte expanded the quarantine to all of Lombardy and 14 other northern provinces, and on the following day to all of Italy, placing more than 60 million people in lockdown. On 11 March 2020, Conte prohibited nearly all commercial activity except for supermarkets and pharmacies. On 21 March, the Italian government closed all non-essential businesses and industries, and restricted movement of people. In May, many restrictions were gradually eased, and on 3 June, freedom of movement across regions and other European countries was restored. In October, Italy was hit by the second wave of the pandemic, which brought the government to introduce further restrictions on movement and social life, which were gradually eased in mid-2021. (Full article...)

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Image 1Sellajoch, South Tyrol and Trentino (seen from Pordoi Pass), Langkofel on the left, Piz Ciavazes on the right
Image 2South face of the Tofana di Rozes in the Parco naturale regionale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo
Image 3The Forma Urbis Romae is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211.
Image 4Porta Soprana is the best-known gate of the ancient walls of Genoa.
Image 5Interior of the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome
Image 6Dome of Florence Cathedral
Image 7Youth of Moses by Sandro Botticelli, 1481-82, Sistine Chapel
Image 8A section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo
Image 9View of Piazzetta San Marco toward Grand Canal of Venice, at dawn, with Doges' Palace on the left and Biblioteca Marciana on the right.

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...that the Italian automaker Autobianchi was founded by the bicycle manufacturer Bianchi, tire giant Pirelli and Fiat?

...that Umarell [uma'rɛːlː], is an Italian slang term for sidewalk superintendent, popular in Bologna and increasingly used in other part of the country?

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Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT) is an official approval for traditional Italian regional food products similar to the Protected Geographical Status of the European Union. A list of approved products is published by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. It lists only products that do not qualify for pan-European approval, and as such PAT is only applicable within Italy.

The denomination is attributed by each regional government, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. (Full article...)

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Italian cuisine Pizza Ancient Roman cuisine Pasta Roman cuisine Parmigiano-Reggiano Sicilian cuisine Mozzarella Fettuccine Alfredo Acquacotta Carbonara Gelato Marron glacé Minestrone Pizza di Pasqua Chianti Food and dining in the Roman Empire Espresso Italian wine Testaroli

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The following are images from various Italy-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Alcide De Gasperi, first republican Prime Minister of Italy and one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union (from History of Italy)
Image 2The naval jack of the modern Italian Republic features the coats of arms of the four best known medieval Maritime Republics. Clockwise from upper left: Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Amalfi. (from History of Italy)
Image 3David, by Michelangelo (Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy) is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 4Entrance of Garibaldi into Naples on 7 September 1860 (from History of Italy)
Image 5Iron Age hut foundations on the Palatine Hill considered to be the Casa Romuli, the reputed dwelling-place of Romulus. (from History of Italy)
Image 6The Colosseum in Rome, built in the 1st century. (from History of Italy)
Image 7Pinocchio Disney film is based on The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 8St. Peter's Basilica is the world's largest Christian church. It is the second church to stand above the crypt (tomb) believed to hold the body of Saint Peter, the first pope. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 9Italy has been a home for innovation in science in the centuries since Galileo formulated his theories of planetary movement. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 10Fiat 600, iconic middle-class dream car and status symbol of the 1950-60s. (from History of Italy)
Image 11French troops entering Rome in 1798 (from History of Italy)
Image 12Insurgents celebrating the liberation of Naples after the Four days of Naples (27–30 September 1943). (from History of Italy)
Image 13Marchese Guglielmo Marconi was the inventor of radio. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 14Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana Store on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas (from Culture of Italy)
Image 15Alessandro Manzoni, one of Italy's greatest 19th-century writers. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 16Michelangelo's David, one of the symbols of Italian Renaissance. (from History of Italy)
Image 17The Creation of Adam is one of the scenes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo sometime between 1508 and 1512. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 18The historic seat of the Corriere della Sera in via Solferino in Milan. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 19The Pompeii Lakshmi, an ivory statuette from the Indian subcontinent found in the ruins of Pompeii. The Indo-Roman trade relations, beginning around the 1st century BC, testifies to extensive Roman trade in far away regions. (from History of Italy)
Image 20Sheets with the iconic picture of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, exposed as a sign of protest against Italian Mafia. They read: "You did not kill them: their ideas walk on our legs". (from History of Italy)
Image 21Venetian dessert tiramisù. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 22Italian ethnic regions claimed by the Fascists in the 1930s:* Green: Nice, Ticino and Dalmatia* Red: Malta* Violet: Corsica* Savoy and Corfu were later claimed (from History of Italy)
Image 23Giuseppe Verdi, one of Italy's greatest opera composers. Portrait by Giovanni Boldini. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 24Italian states (1815–1859). (from History of Italy)
Image 25Petroglyph in Valcamonica, Lombardy, the largest collection of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world (10th millennium BC). (from History of Italy)
Image 26Italian states in 1796. (from History of Italy)
Image 27Antonio Vivaldi, in 1723. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons (from Culture of Italy)
Image 28Residents of Fiume cheering D'Annunzio and his Legionari, September 1919. At the time, Fiume had 22,488 (62% of the population) Italians in a total population of 35,839 inhabitants. (from History of Italy)
Image 29Mussolini reviewing adolescent soldiers, late 1944. (from History of Italy)
Image 30William Shakespeare is an example of an Italophile of the 16th century. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 31The Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 32Brunello di Montalcino is one of Italy's finest red wines, made around the town of Montalcino from a Sangiovese variant known locally as Brunello. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 33Ambitions of fascist Italy in Europe in 1936.
Legend:
  Metropolitan Italy and dependent territories;
  Client states;
  Claimed territories to be annexed;
  Territories to be transformed into client states.
Albania, which was a client state, was considered a territory to be annexed. (from History of Italy)
Image 34Italian cavalry in Trento on 3 November 1918, after the victorious Battle of Vittorio Veneto. Italy's victory marked the end of the war on the Italian Front, secured the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and contributed to the end of World War I just one week later. (from History of Italy)
Image 35Italian prisoners in El Alamein, November 1942. (from History of Italy)
Image 36Changes to the Italian eastern border from 1920 to 1975.
  The Austrian Littoral, later renamed Julian March, which was assigned to Italy in 1920 with the Treaty of Rapallo (with adjustments of its border in 1924 after the Treaty of Rome) and which was then ceded to Yugoslavia in 1947 with the Treaty of Paris
  Areas annexed to Italy in 1920 and remained Italian even after 1947
  Areas annexed to Italy in 1920, passed to the Free Territory of Trieste in 1947 with the Paris treaties and definitively assigned to Italy in 1975 with the Treaty of Osimo
  Areas annexed to Italy in 1920, passed to the Free Territory of Trieste in 1947 with the Paris treaties and definitively assigned to Yugoslavia in 1975 with the Osimo treaty
(from History of Italy)
Image 37Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic, elected on 3 February 2015. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 38Giuseppe Mazzini. (from History of Italy)
Image 39Florence Cathedral, Arnolfo di Cambio, campanile by Giotto dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 40Attack of the far-right terrorist group NAR at the Bologna railway station on 2 August 1980, which caused the death of 85 people. (from History of Italy)
Image 41Asylum seekers arrive in Sicily, 2015. The Arab Spring and the Syrian War caused a migrant crisis that saw hundred of thousands of boat people seeking refuge in Italy and other Mediterranean countries. (from History of Italy)
Image 42the Leaning Tower of Pisa (from Culture of Italy)
Image 43Mussolini and Hitler in June 1940. (from History of Italy)
Image 44A Prada shop in Singapore. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 45the Arch of Constantine in Rome. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 46The discovery of the New World by Christoper Columbus. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 47A 1905 Fiat advertisement. (from History of Italy)
Image 48The Battle of Bitonto by Giovanni Luigi Rocco (from History of Italy)
Image 49Federico Fellini, considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 50The Uffizi. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 51The Italian Peninsula in 1499. (from History of Italy)
Image 52Contemporary engraving of Naples during the Naples Plague in 1656 (from History of Italy)
Image 53Benito Mussolini during the March on Rome in 1922. (from History of Italy)
Image 54Carmine Crocco (from History of Italy)
Image 55Greek temple of Hera, Selinunte, Sicily. (from History of Italy)
Image 56Chiostro of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 57Antonio Meucci, c.1880, inventor of the first telephone (from Culture of Italy)
Image 58Expansion of the territory known as Italy from the establishment of the Roman Republic until Diocletian. (from History of Italy)
Image 59A Ferrari SF70H by Scuderia Ferrari, the oldest surviving and most successful Formula One team. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 60Map of Great Italy according to the 1940 fascist project in case Italy had won the Second World War (the orange line delimits metropolitan Italy, the green line the borders of the enlarged Italian Empire) (from History of Italy)
Image 61Umberto II, the last King of Italy, was exiled to Portugal. (from History of Italy)
Image 62Milan Cathedral is the fourth-largest church in the world. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 63The Roman Forum, the commercial, cultural, and political center of the city and the Republic which housed the various offices and meeting places of the government. (from History of Italy)
Image 64Exhausted nurse takes a break in an Italian hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. (from History of Italy)
Image 65Italian Lombard kingdom (781–1014). (from History of Italy)
Image 66The signing ceremony of the Treaty of Rome on 25 March 1957, creating the EEC, forerunner of the present-day EU. (from History of Italy)
Image 67Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages. His epic poem The Divine Comedy ranks among the finest works of world literature. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 68Aragonese Castle in Reggio Calabria (from History of Italy)
Image 69Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti was murdered a few days after he openly denounced Fascist violence during the 1924 elections. (from History of Italy)
Image 70Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1486). Tempera on canvas. 172.5 cm × 278.9 cm (67.9 in × 109.6 in). Uffizi, Florence (from Culture of Italy)
Image 71The Capitoline Wolf sculpture in the Capitoline Museums. According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf. (from History of Italy)
Image 72Map of Etruscan civilisation. (from History of Italy)
Image 73Etruscan pendant with swastika symbols, Bolsena, Italy, 700–650 BC. Louvre Museum. (from History of Italy)
Image 74Antonio Canova's Venus Victrix. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 75Pasta with pesto sauce. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 76Official portrait of Benito Mussolini. (from History of Italy)
Image 77A chocolate gelato ice cream dessert. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 78Galileo Galilei, the founder of modern experimental science. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 79Giuseppe Garibaldi, hero of Italian unification. (from History of Italy)
Image 80Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, the first Prime Minister in the history of Italy. (from History of Italy)
Image 81Andrea Palladio is often described as the most influential architect in the Western world. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 82the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 83Palazzo della Carovana, the current seat of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 84Italy and the Habsburg Empire in 1547. (from History of Italy)
Image 85Su Nuraxi nuraghe, Sardinia, Italy, 2nd millennium BC. (from History of Italy)
Image 86The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., reflects the president's admiration for classical Roman aesthetics. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 87The former President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi honors the flag of Cispadane Republic, first Italian flag, during the Tricolour Day in 2004 (from History of Italy)
Image 88Regional seat of RAI in Cosenza. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 89Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest painters and most versatile geniuses in history. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 90Italy and the nearby islands in the 1st century BC. (from History of Italy)
Image 91Neapolitan pizza Margherita. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 92Fresco of dancing Peucetian women in the Tomb of the Dancers in Ruvo di Puglia, 4th–5th century BC (from History of Italy)
Image 93The celebration of the Azzurri for the first victory (of four) in the 1934 World football championship (from Culture of Italy)
From left to right, Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini and Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano at the signing of Munich Agreement. (from History of Italy)
Image 95The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, possibly one of the most famous and iconic examples of Italian art (from Culture of Italy)
Image 96The Roman Empire at its greatest extent under Trajan in AD 117. (from History of Italy)
Image 97The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello (ca. 1438–40). (from History of Italy)
Image 98Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, ca. 1482–85. (from History of Italy)
Image 99Commedia dell'arte troupe Gelosi in a late 16th-century Flemish painting. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 100"Italophone" world.
  Official language.

  Secondary, widely spoken or understood.

  Understood by some due to former colonisation.
(from Culture of Italy)
Image 101The Redipuglia War Memorial of Redipuglia, resting place of 100,000 Italian soldiers. More than 650,000 died on the battlefields of World War I. The total deaths for Italy amounted to 1,240,000. (from History of Italy)
Image 102The espresso comes from the Italian esprimere, which means "to express," and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 103Pyramid of Monte d'Accoddi is an archaeological site in northern Sardinia, Italy, located in the territory of Sassari near Porto Torres. 4th millennium BC. (from History of Italy)
Image 104Italian kingdom in 1919. (from History of Italy)
Image 105Rai Radio 1. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 106Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is an Italian art masterpiece worldwide famous. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 107Maximum extent of the Italian Empire (from History of Italy)
Image 108Giants of Mont'e Prama, Sardinia, Italy, early 1st millennium BC. (from History of Italy)
Image 109the EUR in Rome is a perfect example of modern Italian architecture (from Culture of Italy)
Image 110Ancient Greek colonies and their dialect groupings in Southern Italy.
  NW Greek
  Achaean
  Doric
  Ionian
(from History of Italy)
Image 111Holographic copy of 1847 of Il Canto degli Italiani, the Italian national anthem since 1946 (from History of Italy)
Image 112Division of Yugoslavia after its invasion by the Axis powers.
  Areas assigned to Italy: the area constituting the province of Ljubljana, the area merged with the province of Fiume and the areas making up the Governorate of Dalmatia
  Independent State of Croatia
  Area occupied by Nazi Germany
  Areas occupied by Kingdom of Hungary
(from History of Italy)
Image 113The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world and one of the "Big Three" alongside Cannes and Berlin (from Culture of Italy)
Image 114Bettino Craxi, viewed by many as the symbol of Tangentopoli, leader of the Socialist Party and Prime Minister from 1983 to 1987, is greeted by a salvo of coins as a sign of loathing by protesters. (from History of Italy)
Image 115Ötzi, a natural mummy discovered in the southern Alps (region of Trentino-Alto Adige) dating from the 4th millennium BC. (from History of Italy)
Image 116The Roman Empire provided an inspiration for the medieval European. Although the Holy Roman Empire rarely acquired a serious geopolitical reality, it possessed great symbolic significance. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 117Marco Polo at the court of Kublai Khan (painting by Tranquillo Cremona, 1863). (from History of Italy)
Image 118Animated map of the Italian unification from 1829 to 1871 (from History of Italy)
Image 119Spanish Republican poster against the Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War, reading "The claw of the Italian invader intends to enslave us." (from History of Italy)
Image 120The Vitruvian man by Leonardo da Vinci, representing the ideal human proportions as described by Roman architect Vitruvius, is a quintessential masterpiece of the Renaissance. (from History of Italy)
Image 121This mosaic depicts some of the Gladiators entertainments that would have been offered at the games. (from History of Italy)
Image 122Etruscan fresco in the Tomb of the Leopards, Monterozzi necropolis, 5th century BC. (from History of Italy)
Image 123The Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence, which has the biggest brick dome in the world, and is considered a masterpiece of Italian architecture and world architecture. (from History of Italy)
Image 124Emirate of Sicily (831–1072). (from History of Italy)