イタリア

座標：43°N12 °E / 43°N 12°E / 43; 12

イタリア共和国 Repubblica Italiana  （イタリア語）
国旗 象徴
国歌： Il Canto degli Italiani  （イタリア語） 「イタリア人の歌」
Show globe Show map of Europe イタリアの場所（濃い緑色） –ヨーロッパ （ライトグリーンとダークグレー） –欧州連合 （ライトグリーン）– [凡例]
資本 そして最大の都市	ローマ41°54'N12 °29'E  / 41.900°N 12.483°E / 41.900; 12.483
公用語	イタリア語
ネイティブ言語	主な記事を参照してください
民族グループ （2017）[1]	91.5％イタリア人 8.5％その他
宗教 （2020）[2]	84.4％キリスト教 11.6％無宗教 1.0％イスラム 3.0％その他
住民の呼称	イタリア語
政府	単一 議会 立憲共和制
• 大統領	セルジョ・マッタレッラ
• 首相	マリオドラギ
• 上院議長	エリザベッタカセラティ
• 代 議院議長	ロベルト・フィコ
立法府	議会
• アッパーハウス	元老院
• 衆議院	代議院
形成
• 統一	1861年3月17日
• 共和国	1946年6月2日
• 現在の憲法	1948年1月1日
•  EEC（現在はEU ）を設立	1958年1月1日
領域
• 合計	301,340 km 2（116,350平方マイル）（71番目）
• 水 （％）	1.24（2015年現在）[3]
人口
•2020年の見積もり	60,317,116 [4]（23日）
•2011年の国勢調査	59,433,744 [5]
• 密度	201.3 / km 2（521.4 / sq mi）（74日）
GDP  （PPP）	2021年の見積もり
• 合計	2.610兆ドル[6]（13日）
• 一人あたり	43,376ドル[6]（29日）
GDP  （名目）	2021年の見積もり
• 合計	2.106兆ドル[6]（8日）
• 一人あたり	34,997ドル[6]（25日）
ジニ （2019）	32.8 [7] 中
HDI  （2019）	0.892 [8] 非常に高い ・ 29日
通貨	ユーロ（€）b（EUR）
タイムゾーン	UTC +1（ CET）
•夏（DST）	UTC +2（ CEST）
日付形式	dd / mm / yyyy yyyy --mm --dd（AD ）  [ 9 ]
運転側	正しい
市外局番	+39 c
ISO3166コード	それ
インターネットTLD	.it d
ドイツ語は南チロルとフリウリベネチアジュリアで共同公式です。フランス語はアオスタバレーで共同公式です;スロベニア語は、トリエステ県、ゴリツィア県、フリウリベネチアジュリアで共同公式です。ラディンは南チロル、トレンティーノ、その他の北部地域で共同公式です。フリウリ語はフリウリベネチアジュリアの共同公式です。サルデーニャはサルデーニャで共同公式です。[10] [11] 2002年以前は、イタリアリラ。ユーロはカンピョーネディタリアで受け入れられますが、その公式通貨はスイスフランです。[12] Campione d'Italiaを呼び出すには、スイスのコード+41を使用する必要があります。 .euドメインも使用されます。これは、他の欧州連合加盟国と共有されているためです。

イタリア（イタリア語：イタリア [iˈtaːlja] （聞く））、正式にはイタリア共和国（イタリア語： Repubblica Italiana [reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna]）、 ^{[13] [14]}は、アルプスとその周辺のいくつかの島で区切られた半島からなる国であり^[15] 、その領土は同名の地理的地域とほぼ一致しています。 ^[16]イタリアは、南ヨーロッパの地中海の中心に位置しています。 ^{[17] [18] [19]}西ヨーロッパの一部と見なされています。 ^{[20] [21]}ローマとの単一議会制共和国 首都であり最大の都市であるこの国は、総面積が301,340 km 2 ^（ 116,350平方マイル）であり、フランス、スイス、オーストリア、スロベニア、およびバチカン市国とサンマリノの包囲された小国と国境を接しています。イタリアには、スイス（カンピオーネ島）に領土の飛び地があり、チュニジア海域（ランペドゥーサ島）に海上飛び地があります。約6000万人の住民を抱えるイタリアは、3番目に人口の多い加盟国です。 欧州連合。

南ヨーロッパと地中海の中心的な地理的位置のために、イタリアは歴史的に無数の人々と文化の故郷でした。現在のイタリアに散在するさまざまな古代の人々に加えて、最も支配的なのは、古典的な時代から半島に名前を付けたインド・ヨーロッパ語族の イタリック人であり、フェニキア人とカルタゴ人は主にイタリア島嶼部に植民地を設立しました、^[22]ギリシャ人は南イタリアのいわゆるマグナ・グラエキアに集落を設立しましたが、 エトルリア人とケルト人はそれぞれイタリア中部と北部に住んでいました。ラテン人として知られるイタリック族は、紀元前8世紀にローマ王国を形成し、最終的には上院と国民の政府とともに共和国になりました。共和政ローマは当初、イタリア半島の近隣諸国を征服して同化させ、最終的にはヨーロッパ、北アフリカ、アジアの一部を拡大して征服しました。紀元前1世紀までに、ローマ帝国地中海盆地の支配的な勢力として浮上し、文化的、政治的、宗教 的中心地となり、イタリアの法律、技術、経済、芸術、文学が発展した200年以上の期間であるパックスロマーナを発足させました。^{[23] [24]}

中世初期、イタリアは西ローマ帝国の崩壊と野蛮人の侵略に耐えましたが、11世紀までに、主にイタリアの北部と中央部にある多くのライバルの都市国家と海事共和国が貿易、商業を通じて繁栄しました。 、そして銀行業、現代資本主義の基礎を築く。^[25]これらのほとんど独立した州は、アジアおよび近東とのヨーロッパの主要な貿易ハブとして機能し、多くの場合、より大きな封建制よりも高度な民主主義を享受していた。ヨーロッパ全体で統合されていた君主制。しかし、中央イタリアの一部は神権的な 教皇領の支配下にありましたが、南イタリアは、ビザンチン、アラブ、ノルマン、アンジェビン、アラゴン、およびその他の外国による征服の継承の結果として、19世紀まで大部分が封建制のままでした。地域。^[26]ルネッサンスはイタリアで始まり、ヨーロッパの他の地域に広がり、ヒューマニズム、科学、探検、芸術への新たな関心をもたらしました。。イタリア文化は繁栄し、有名な学者、芸術家、博学者を生み出しました。中世の間に、イタリアの探検家は極東と新世界への新しいルートを発見し、ヨーロッパの大航海時代の到来を告げました。それにもかかわらず、イタリアの商業的および政治的権力は、地中海を迂回する交易路の開通により大幅に衰退しました。^[27]何世紀にもわたる外国の干渉と征服、そして15世紀と16世紀のイタリア戦争などのイタリアの都市国家間の競争と争いは、イタリアを政治的に断片化させ、さらに征服され、複数の外国のヨーロッパ人の間で分割された何世紀にもわたって権力を握っています。

19世紀半ばまでに、イタリアのナショナリズムの高まりと外国の支配からの独立の要求は、革命的な政治的混乱の時期をもたらしました。何世紀にもわたる外国の支配と政治的分裂の後、独立戦争後の1861年にイタリアはほぼ完全に統一され、イタリア王国が設立されました。^[28] 19世紀後半から20世紀初頭にかけて、イタリアは主に北部で急速に工業化され、植民地帝国を獲得しました^[29 ]。^[30]第一次世界大戦で勝利した同盟国の1つであったにもかかわらず、イタリアは経済危機と社会的混乱の時期に入り、1922年にイタリアのファシスト独裁政権が台頭しました。アクシス側の第二次世界大戦への参加は軍事的敗北で終わりました。経済的破壊、そして内戦。イタリアの抵抗の台頭とイタリアの解放に続いて、国は君主制を廃止し、民主共和国を設立し、長引く経済ブームを享受し、そして高度に発展した国になりました。^[31]

イタリアは先進国です。この国は名目GDPで8番目に大きく（欧州連合で3番目）、国富で6番目に大きく、中央銀行の金準備で3番目に大きい国です。それは平均余命、生活の質、^[32] ヘルスケア、^[33]そして教育において高くランク付けされています。この国は大国であり、地域^{[34] [35]} および世界^{[36] [37]}の経済、軍事、文化、外交において重要な役割を果たしています。イタリアは創設者であり、主導的存在です含む欧州連合のメンバーと多数の国際機関のメンバー、国連、NATO、OECD、セキュリティのための組織と協力ヨーロッパでは、世界貿易機関（WTO） 、セブングループ、G20、連合について地中海、ラテン連合、欧州評議会、コンセンサス連合、シェンゲン圏、そしてより多くの。多くの発明や発見の源であるこの国は、長い間、芸術、音楽、文学、哲学、科学技術、ファッション、そして映画、料理、スポーツ、法学、銀行、ビジネスなどの多様な分野に多大な影響を与え、貢献してきました。^[38]その文化的富を反映して、イタリアは世界最大の世界遺産（58）を持ち、5番目に訪問された国です。

名前

「イタリア」という名前の語源に関する仮説は数多くあります。^[39] 1つは、古代ギリシャ語でオスカン ・ヴィテリウの「子牛の国」から借りたものです（Lat vitulus " calf "、Umb vitlo "calf"を参照）。^[40]古代ギリシャの歴史家ハリカルナッソスのディオニュシウスは、イタリアがイタロスにちなんで名付けられたという伝説^[41]とともに、アリストテレス^[42]とトゥキディデスによっても言及されたこの説明を述べています。^[43]

シラキュースのアンティオカスによれば、古代ギリシャ人はイタリアという用語を使用して、当初はレッジョの現代の州に対応するブルッティウム半島の南部と、南イタリアのカタンツァーロ州とビーボバレンティア州の一部のみを指していました。それにもかかわらず、彼の時代までに、オイノートリアと「イタリア」のより大きな概念は同義語になり、その名前はルカニアのほとんどにも適用されました。ストラボンの地理誌によると、共和政ローマの拡大前、この名前は古代ギリシャ人によって、メッシーナ海峡とサレルノ湾とタラント湾を結ぶ線の間の土地を示すために使用されました。これは、現在のカラブリア地方にほぼ対応しています。古代ギリシャ人は徐々に「イタリア」という名前をより広い地域に適用するようになりました^[44]南部の「ギリシャイタリア」に加えて、歴史家は中央イタリアのさまざまな地域をカバーする「エトルリアイタリア」の存在を示唆しました。^[45]

ローマイタリア、イタリアの国境はよりよく確立されています。ラテン語で作曲された最初の歴史作品であるCato'sOriginesは、イタリアをアルプスの南の半島全体と表現しました。^[46]カトと数人のローマ人の作家によると、アルプスは「イタリアの壁」を形成した。^[47]紀元前264年、イタリア本土は中央北のアルノ川とルビコン川から南全体に広がった。ガリア・キサルパインの北部地域は紀元前220年代にローマに占領され、地理的にも事実上イタリアの一部と見なされるようになりました^[48]。しかし、政治的に残り、デ・ジュリは分離されました。それは、シーザーの未発表の行為（アクタシーザリス）の批准として、三頭政治オクタヴィアンによって紀元前42年にイタリアの行政単位に合法的に統合されました。^{[49] [50] [51] [52] [53]}サルデーニャ、コルシカ、シチリア、マルタの島々は、西暦292年にディオクレティアヌスによってイタリアに追加されました。 ^[54]イタリアの地理的地域全体と一致します。^[55]そのすべての住民はイタリックと見なされましたとローマ。^[56]

ラテン語のItalicusは、地方ではなく「イタリアの男」を表すために使用されました。たとえば、プリニウス長老は特に手紙でItalicus es a provincialisと書いていますか？「あなたはイタリア人ですか、それとも地方ですか？」という意味です。^[57]イタリア人のイタリア語（およびフランス語と英語）の名前に由来する 形容詞italianusは中世であり、近世にItalicusと交互に使用されていました。^[58]

東ゴート族の侵略によって引き起こされた西ローマ帝国の崩壊後、イタリア王国が創設されました。ロンバードの侵略後、「イタリア」は彼らの王国の名前として、そして神聖ローマ帝国内のその後継王国の名前として保持されました。 13世紀の都市共和国。^[59]

歴史

先史時代と古代

何千もの前期旧石器時代の遺物がモンテポッジョーロから回収され、85万年前にさかのぼります。 イタリア全土での発掘調査により、約20万年前の中期旧石器時代にさかのぼるネアンデルタール人の存在が明らかになりました^{[ 62]。}一方、現代人は約4万年前にリパロモチに現れました。^[63]この時代の遺跡には、プーリアのアダウラ洞窟、アルタムラ、チェプラーノ、グラヴィーナが含まれます。^[64]

ウンブリ人、ラテン人（ローマ人が生まれた） 、ヴォルスキ族、オスク人、サムナイト人、サビニ人、ケルト人、リグリア人、ベネチ人、イタリック人など、ローマ時代以前のイタリアの古代の人々はインド人でした-ヨーロッパの人々、特にイタリックグループの人々。可能性のある非インド・ヨーロッパ語族または先印欧語族の遺産の主な歴史的人々には、イタリア中部および北部のエトルリア人が含まれます。シチリアのエリミ人とシカニ人、そしてヌラーゲ文明を生んだ先史時代の サルデーニャ人。未定の語族であり、インド・ヨーロッパ以外の出身である可能性のある他の古代の人口には、ラエティの人々と、世界最大の先史時代のペトログリフのコレクションであるヴァルカモニカの岩の彫刻で知られるカムニが含まれます。 ^[65] 5,000歳（紀元前3400年から3100年、銅器時代）と決定されたアイスマンのエッツィとして知られる保存状態の良い天然ミイラが、1991年に南チロルのシミラン氷河で発見されました。 ^[66]

最初の外国人植民者はフェニキア人でした。フェニキア人は最初に植民地を設立し、シチリア島とサルデーニャ島の海岸にさまざまな帝国を設立しました。これらのいくつかはすぐに小さな都市の中心になり、古代ギリシャの植民地と並行して開発されました。主な中心地の中には、モティア、ジズ（現代のパレルモ）、シチリア島のソルントゥム、サルデーニャ島のノラ、スルチ、ターロスの都市がありました。 ^{[67] [68]}

紀元前17世紀から11世紀にかけて、ミケーネ文明はイタリアとの接触を確立し^{[69] [70] [71]}、紀元前8世紀から7世紀にかけて、シチリア島の海岸と南部に多数のギリシャ植民地が設立されました。マグナグラエキアとして知られるようになったイタリア半島。^[72]

イオニア人入植者は、エライア、キメ、レギオン、ナクソス、ザンクルス、ハイメラ、カタネを設立しました。ドーリア式の入植者は、タラス、シラクーサイ、メガラヒュブライア、レオンティノイ、アクラガス、ゲラスを設立しました。シラクーサ人はアンコンとアドリアを設立しました。メガリーゼはセリヌンテを設立しました。アカイア人はシバリス、ポセイドニアを設立しました。Kroton、Lokroi Epizephyrioi、およびMetapontum ; tarantiniとthuriotsがHerakleiaを見つけました。ギリシャの植民地化により、イタリックの人々は民主的な政府形態と高度な芸術的および文化的表現と接触するようになります。^[73]

古代ローマ

ローマは、紀元前753年に設立された、イタリア中部のテベレ川沿いの砦周辺の集落で、244年間、君主制によって統治されていました。その伝統は、ロムルス、ヌマポンピリウス、トゥッルスホスティリウス、アンクスマルキウス、タルクィニウスプリスカス、セルウィウストゥリウス、タルクィニウススーパーバスの7人の王に受け継がれています。紀元前509年、ローマ人は最後の王を自分たちの町から追放し、上院と人民（SPQR）と寡頭共和国の設立。

イタリアと名付けられたイタリア半島は、他のイタリック族、エトルリア人、ケルト人、ギリシャ人を犠牲にして、ローマの拡大と新しい土地の征服の間に単一の実体に統合されました。ほとんどの地元の部族や都市との恒久的な関係が形成され、ローマは西ヨーロッパ、北アフリカ、中東の征服を始めました。紀元前1世紀のジュリアスシーザーの興亡をきっかけに、ローマは何世紀にもわたってイギリスからペルシャの国境まで広がる巨大な帝国へと成長しました。、そしてギリシャとローマと他の多くの文化がユニークな文明に融合した地中海盆地全体を飲み込みます。初代皇帝アウグストゥスの長く勝利を収めた統治は、平和と繁栄の黄金時代を迎えました。ローマイタリアは帝国の大都市であり続け、ローマ人の故郷と首都の領土として、それをドミナ州（「地方の支配者」、後者はイタリア以外の残りのすべての領土）にする特別な地位を維持しました。^{[74] [75] [76]} 2世紀以上の安定性その後、イタリアはRectrix Mundi（「世界の知事」）およびOmnium Terrarum Parens（「すべての土地の親」）と呼ばれました。^[77]

ローマ帝国は、当時の世界で最も強力な経済的、文化的、政治的、軍事的勢力の1つであり、世界史上最大の帝国の1つでした。トラヤヌスの下の高さで、それは500万平方キロメートルをカバーしました。^{[78] [79]}ローマの遺産は西洋文明に深く影響を与え、現代世界のほとんどを形作っています。ローマの支配の多くの遺産の中には、ラテン語から派生したロマンス諸語の広範な使用、数値システム、現代の西洋のアルファベットとカレンダー、そして主要な世界の宗教としてのキリスト教の出現があります。[ ^80]紀元前1世紀頃に始まったインドとローマの貿易関係は、遠く離れた地域での広範なローマの貿易を証明しています。ポンペイ遺跡の象牙の小像ポンペイラクシュミなど、インド亜大陸とイタリアの間の商取引を思い起こさせるものがたくさん見つかりました。

西暦3世紀以降のゆっくりとした衰退の中で、帝国は西暦395年に2つに分裂しました。西ローマ帝国は、野蛮人の侵略の圧力の下で、最後の皇帝ロムルス・アウグストゥラスがゲルマン人の首長オドアケルによって追放されたとき、最終的に西暦476年に解散しました。帝国 の東半分はさらに千年生き残った。

中世

西ローマ帝国の崩壊後、イタリアはオドアケル王国の支配下に置かれ、その後、東ゴート族に捕らえられ[ 81 ^]、6世紀にはビザンツ皇帝ユスティニアヌス帝の下での短い再征服が続きました。同じ世紀の終わりに、別のゲルマン部族であるロンバード人の侵入により、ビザンチンの存在はラヴェンナ総督府のしわくちゃの領域にまで減少し、次の1、300年間の半島の政治的統一の終焉を開始しました。半島の侵略は、野蛮な王国の混沌とし​​た継承といわゆる「暗黒時代」を引き起こしました「ランゴバルド王国はその後、8世紀後半にシャルルマーニュによってフランク帝国に吸収されました。フランク人はまた、中央イタリアの教皇領の形成を助けました。13世紀まで、イタリアの政治は聖ローマ人の間の関係によって支配されていました。皇帝と教皇領。イタリアの都市国家のほとんどは、一時的な便宜のために前者（ギベリン）または後者（ゲルフ）の側に立っていた。^[82]

ゲルマン皇帝とローマ教皇は中世ヨーロッパの普遍的な力になりました。しかし、叙任論争（王、伯爵、公爵などの世俗的な権威が教会の役職への任命において正当な役割を果たしたかどうかについての2つの根本的に異なる見解の間の対立）とゲルフとギベリンの間の衝突は終わりに至りました市の州が独立を獲得したイタリア北部の帝国封建制度の概要。この混沌とし​​た時代に、イタリアの町は独特の機関である中世のコミューンの台頭を目の当たりにしました。極端な領土の断片化と帝国と聖座の間の闘争によって引き起こされた権力の真空を考えると、地域社会は法と秩序を維持するための自律的な方法を模索していました。^[84]叙任論争は、ワームのコンコルダートによって最終的に解決された。 1176年、都市国家のリーグであるロンバルディア同盟は、レニャーノの戦いでドイツ皇帝フリードリヒバルバロッサを破り、イタリア北部と中央部のほとんどの都市で効果的な独立を確保しました。

ミラノ、フィレンツェ、ヴェネツィアなどのイタリアの都市国家は、銀行業の主要な手段と慣行、そして新しい形態の社会的および経済的組織の出現を考案し、金融発展において決定的な革新的な役割を果たしました。^[85]沿岸および南部地域では、海事共和国が成長して最終的に地中海を支配し、東洋への交易路を独占した。彼らは独立した制海権者でした都市国家。ただし、それらのほとんどは、かつてビザンチン帝国に属していた領土に由来していました。独立当時のこれらすべての都市には、商人階級がかなりの権力を持っていた同様の政府システムがありました。実際には、これらは寡頭的であり、現代の民主主義とはほとんど似ていませんでしたが、彼らが与えた相対的な政治的自由は、学術的および芸術的進歩を助長しました。^[86]最もよく知られている4つの海事共和国は、ヴェネツィア、ジェノヴァ、ピサ、アマルフィでした。他はアンコーナ、ガエータ、ノリ、ラグーザでした。^{[87][88] [89]}各海事共和国は、多くの地中海の島々（特にサルデーニャとコルシカ）、アドリア海、エーゲ海、黒海（クリミア）の土地、近東の商業植民地など、さまざまな海外の土地を支配していた。そして北アフリカで。ヴェネツィアは、17世紀半ばまで、ギリシャ、キプロス、イストリア、ダルマチアに広大な土地を維持していました。 ^[90]

ヴェネツィアとジェノヴァは、東との貿易へのヨーロッパの主要な玄関口であり、上質なガラスの生産者でした。一方、フィレンツェは、絹、羊毛、銀行、宝飾品の首都でした。そのようなビジネスがイタリアにもたらした富は、大規模な公的および私的な芸術プロジェクトを委託できることを意味しました。共和国は十字軍に深く関与し、支援と輸送を提供しましたが、特にこれらの戦争から生じる政治的および貿易の機会を利用しました。^[86]イタリアは最初にヨーロッパの巨大な経済変化を感じ、それが商業革命につながった。ヴェネツィア共和国はビザンチン帝国を打ち負かし、マルコポーロの航海に資金を提供することができた。アジアへ;最初の大学はイタリアの都市に設立され、トマス・アクィナスなどの学者は国際的な名声を得ました。シチリア島のフレデリックは、イタリアを神聖ローマ帝国とエルサレム王国を一時的に含む統治の政治文化の中心地にしました。資本主義と銀行家は、ダンテとジョットが1300年頃に活動していたフィレンツェで出現しました。 ^[25]

南部では、シチリアは9世紀にイスラム首長国になり、11世紀後半にイタリア南部のロンバードとビザンチンの公国のほとんどとともに、イタリアのノルマン人がそれを征服するまで繁栄していました。 ^[91]複雑な一連の出来事を通じて、南イタリアは統一された王国として発展し、最初はホーエンシュタウフェンの家の下で、次にアンジューのカペティアンの家の下で、そして15世紀からアラゴンの家の下で発展した。サルデーニャでは、旧ビザンチンの州はイタリア語でジュディカーティとして知られる独立した州になりました、しかし島のいくつかの部分は15世紀の最終的なアラゴン併合までジェノバまたはピサンの支配下にありました。1348 年のペストの大流行は、おそらく人口の3分の1を殺すことによって、イタリアにその痕跡を残しました。^{[92] [93]}しかし、疫病からの回復は都市、貿易、経済の復活につながり、それが後にヨーロッパに広がる ヒューマニズムとルネッサンスの開花を可能にした。

近世

イタリアは、1400年代から1500年代にかけて、ルネッサンスの発祥の地であり中心地でした。イタリアのルネサンスは、ヨーロッパが中世後期の危機から経済的および文化的に回復し、近世に入るにつれて、中世から近世への移行を示しました。イタリアの政体は現在、貿易と行政を管理する事実上の君主である王子によって効果的に統治されていた地方の州であり、彼らの裁判所は芸術と科学の主要な中心地になりました。イタリアの王子は、封建制の君主制や多国籍帝国とは対照的に、近代国家の最初の形態を表しています。王子は、フィレンツェのメディチ家、ミラノ公国のヴィスコンティとスフォルツァ、ジェノヴァ共和国のドリア、ヴェネツィア共和国のロレダン、モチェニゴとバルバリゴ、エステなどの政治王朝と商人の家族によって率いられました。フェラーラ、そしてマントヴァのゴンザガ。^{[94] [95]}したがって、ルネッサンスは、イタリアの商人都市によって蓄積された富と、その支配的な家族の支援との組み合わせの結果でした。^イタリア・ルネサンスはその後何世紀にもわたってヨーロッパの絵画や彫刻に支配的な影響を及ぼし、レオナルド・ダ・ヴィンチ、ブルネレスキ、ボッティチェッリ、ミケランジェロ、ラファエロ、ジョット、ドナテッロ、ティツィアーノなどの芸術家やフィリッポ・ブルネレスキ、レオンなどの建築家バティスタアルベルティ、アンドレアパラディオ、およびドナトブラマンテ。

コンスタンツ公会議（1415–1417）でローマを支持する教会大分裂が終結した後、新しい教皇マルティヌス5世は、多くのイタリアの都市に触れ、イタリアを唯一の地位に戻した3年間の旅の後、教皇領に戻りました。西洋キリスト教の中心地。この航海の過程で、メディチ銀行はパパシーの公式信用機関になり、教会と半島の新しい政治王朝との間にいくつかの重要な関係が確立されました。選挙君主制としての教皇の地位は、コンクラーヴェと教会会議を変えました半島での優位性とカトリック教会の莫大な資源へのアクセスのためのイタリアの裁判所間の政治的戦いへのルネッサンスの。 1439年、教皇エウゲニウス4世とビザンチン皇帝ヨハネス8世パリオロゴスは、旧メディチ家のコジモが主催したフィレンツェ公会議で、カトリック教会と正教会の間で和解協定に署名しました。 1453年、ジョヴァンニジュスティニアーニの下のイタリア軍は、コンスタンティノープルの城壁を守るために教皇ニコラウス5世によって派遣されましたが、大砲を装備したより高度なトルコ軍に決定的な戦いが失われました。ビザンチウムはスルタンメフメト2世に落ちました。

コンスタンティノープル陥落は、ギリシャの学者やテキストのイタリアへの移住につながり、ギリシャローマヒューマニズムの再発見を後押ししました。^{[96] [97] [98]}フェデリコ・ダ・モンテフェルトロや教皇ピウス2世などのヒューマニストの支配者は、人間がすべてのものの尺度となる理想的な都市を確立するために働き、したがってそれぞれウルビーノとピエンツァを設立しました。ピコ・デラ・ミランドラは、ルネサンスのヒューマニズムのマニフェストと見なされている人間の尊厳についてのオレーションを書き、その中で彼は人間の自由意志。ヒューマニストの歴史家レオナルド・ブルーニは、古代、中世、現代の3つの時代に人類の歴史を最初に分けました。^[99]コンスタンティノープル陥落の2番目の結果は、大航海時代の始まりでした。

オスマン帝国を迂回するためにインディーズへの代替ルートを見つけることを熱望し、大航海時代とヨーロッパの植民地化を先導する上で重要な役割を果たした、支配的な海事共和国からのイタリアの探検家と航海士アメリカ大陸の。それらの中で最も注目に値するのは次のとおりです。クリストファー・コロンブス、スペインの名で植民者。新世界を発見し、ヨーロッパ人による征服と定住のためにアメリカ大陸を開いたとされています。^[100]ジョン・カボットは、1497年に「ニューファンドランド」に足を踏み入れ、北アメリカ大陸の一部を探索した最初のヨーロッパ人であるイギリスに向けて航海しました。^[101]アメリゴ・ヴェスプッチ 、ポルトガルに向けて航海しました。ポルトガルは、1501年頃に、新世界（特にブラジル）が最初に推測されたアジアではなく、旧世界の人々には以前は知られていなかった第4大陸（アメリカは彼にちなんで名付けられました）であることを最初に示しました。^[102]とジョバンニ・ダ・ヴェラッツァーノは、フランスに仕え、1524年にフロリダとニューブランズウィックの間の北アメリカの大西洋岸を探検した最初のヨーロッパ人として有名でした。^[103]

コンスタンティノープル陥落後、ロンバルディア戦争は終結し、ヴェネツィア、ナポリ、フィレンツェ、ミラノ、パパシーの間でイタリックリーグと呼ばれる防衛同盟が結成されました。ロレンツォ・ザ・マグニフィセント・デ・メディチは、ルネッサンスの最も偉大なフィレンツェのパトロンであり、イタリックリーグの支持者でした。彼は特にパッツィ家の陰謀の余波とトルコ人によるイタリア侵攻の中止の間にリーグの崩壊を避けました。しかし、イタリアでのフランスのシャルル8世の軍事作戦は、イタリックリーグの終結を引き起こし、ヴァロワ家とハプスブルク家の間でイタリア戦争を開始しました。間にしたがって、1500年代の盛期ルネサンスであったイタリアは、ヨーロッパの主要な戦場であり、大陸の文化経済の中心地でもありました。ユリウス2世（1503〜 1513年）などの教皇は、外国の君主に対してイタリアを支配するために戦いました。パウルス3世（1534〜 1549年）などの他の教皇は、イタリアの平和を確保するためにヨーロッパの勢力の間を仲介することを好みました。この紛争の真っ只中に、メディチ家の教皇レオ10世（ 1513–1521）とクレメンス7世（1523–1534）がプロテスタントの改革に反対し、家族の利益を促進しました。 1559年、フランスのイタリア侵攻とイタリア戦争の終わりに、北イタリアの多くの州が南イタリア（ナポリ、シチリア、サルデーニャ）とミラノのすべてがスペインのハプスブルク家の支配下にあった 間、間接的にオーストリアのハプスブルク家の支配下にあった神聖ローマ帝国の一部であり続けました。

Papacyは強力な力を維持し、対抗宗教改革を開始しました。この期間の主なイベントは次のとおりです。トレント公会議（1545–1563）。エリザベス1世（1570年）とレパントの海戦（1571年）の破門。どちらもピウス5世の教皇時代に発生しました。グレゴリオ天文台の建設、グレゴリオ暦の採用、および教皇グレゴリウス13世の下でのマテオリッチのイエズス会中国ミッション。ユグノー戦争;長いトルコ戦争とジョルダーノブルーノの処刑1600年、教皇クレメンス8世の下で;教皇領のリンチェアンアカデミーの誕生。その主人公はガリレオガリレイ（後に裁判にかけられた）でした。三十年戦争（1618〜 1648年）の最終段階であるウルバヌス8世とイノセントX世の教皇。大トルコ戦争中のイノセントXIによる最後の聖リーグの結成。

イタリア経済は、半島が大西洋奴隷貿易の増加から除外されたため、1600年代から1700年代にかけて衰退しました。 18世紀のヨーロッパの継承戦争の後、南はスペインのブルボン家の分家に渡され、北はオーストリアのハプスブルク家-ロレーヌの影響を受けました。連合戦争中、イタリア中北部はナポレオンによってフランスの多くの姉妹共和国で再編成され、後にフランス帝国との同君連合でイタリア王国として再編成されました。^[104]半島の南半分は、ナポレオンの義理の兄弟であるジョアシャン・ミュラによって管理されていた。ナポリの王。1814年のウィーン会議は、18世紀後半の状況を回復させましたが、フランス革命の理想を根絶することはできず、19世紀の前半を特徴付ける政治的混乱の間にすぐに再浮上しました。

ナポレオン時代、1797年に、フランス革命後の出来事に基づいて、イタリアの主権国家であるチスパダーナ共和国（革命フランスのナポレオン姉妹共和国）による国の旗としてのイタリアのトリコロールの最初の公式採用が行われました。その理想の中で、国家の自己決定を提唱した革命（1789–1799） 。^{[105] [106]}このイベントは、トリコロールデーによって祝われます。^[107]イタリアのナショナルカラーは、1789年にトリコロール花形帽章に初めて登場した^[108]。1796年にロンバード軍団によって採用された最初の緑、白、赤のイタリア軍旗を7年までに予想している^。[109]

統一

イタリア王国の誕生は、イタリア半島全体を網羅する統一王国を確立するためにサヴォイア家に忠実なイタリアの民族主義者と君主主義者による努力の結果でした。1815年のウィーン会議に続いて、政治的および社会的なイタリア統一運動、またはリソルジメントが出現し、イタリアを統一して半島のさまざまな州を統合し、外国の支配から解放しました。著名な急進派の人物は、愛国的なジャーナリスト、ジュゼッペマッツィーニであり、秘密の革命社会であるカルボナリのメンバーであり、影響力のある政治運動である青年イタリアの創設者でした。1830年代初頭、彼は単一共和国を支持し、幅広いナショナリスト運動を提唱しました。彼のプロパガンダの多作は、統一運動が活発であり続けるのを助けました。

これに関連して、1847年に、1946年以来のイタリア国歌であるIl Canto degliItalianiの最初の公演が行われました。^{[112] [113]}ゴッフレード・マメリによって書かれたマメーリの賛歌は、ミケーレ・ノヴァーロの音楽に合わせて書かれ、歌詞の作者、またはフラテッリ・ディタリアにちなんで、イノ・ディ・マメリとしても知られています。

青年イタリアの最も有名なメンバーは、革命的で一般的なジュゼッペ・ガリバルディであり、彼の非常に忠実な信奉者で有名であり^[114]、南イタリアでのイタリア共和党の統一運動を主導した。しかし、サルデーニャ王国のサヴォイア家の北イタリア君主制は、カミッロ・ベンソ、カブール伯爵が政府を率いており、統一されたイタリア国家を樹立するという野心も持っていました。ヨーロッパを席巻した1848年の自由主義革命の文脈で、失敗した最初の独立戦争がオーストリアで宣言されました。 1855年、サルデーニャ王国はクリミア戦争でイギリスとフランスの同盟国になりました、大国の目にカブールの外交の正当性を与える。^{[115] [116]}サルデーニャ王国は、1859年の第二次イタリア独立戦争で、フランスの支援を受けてオーストリア帝国を再び攻撃し、ロンバルディアを解放した。プロンビエールの密協定に基づいて、サルデーニャ王国はサヴォワとニースをフランスに譲渡しました。これは、ニサールのイタリア人の4分の1がイタリアに移住したニサールの脱出を引き起こした出来事です。^[117]

1860年から1861年に、ガリバルディはナポリとシチリア（千人隊）の統一運動を主導し^[118]、サヴォイア家軍はローマと教皇領の一部を除くイタリア半島の中央領土を占領しました。テアーノは、1860年10月26日、ジュゼッペガリバルディと最後のサルデーニャ王であるビクターエマニュエル2世との間の有名な会議の場所でした。そこでは、ガリバルディがビクターエマニュエルの手を握り、彼をイタリア王として歓迎しました。したがって、ガリバルディは君主制の下でのイタリア統一のために共和党の希望を犠牲にした。カブールは、ガリバルディの南イタリアを含めることに同意し、1860年にサルデーニャ王国との連合に参加することを許可しました。これにより、サルデーニャ政府は次のことが可能になりました。1861年3月17日にイタリア王国を宣言した^。[119]その後、ヴィットーリオエマヌエル2世がイタリア王国の最初の王となり、首都はトリノからフィレンツェに移された。

1866年、ヴィットーリオエマヌエル2世は、普墺戦争中にプロイセンと同盟を結び、イタリアがベネチアを併合することを可能にした第3次イタリア独立戦争を行いました。最後に、1870年、フランスが悲惨な普仏戦争中にローマの守備隊を放棄して大規模なプロイセン軍を寄せ付けないようにしたとき、イタリア人は教皇領を乗っ取って権力のギャップを埋めようと急いだ。イタリア統一が完了し、その後まもなくイタリアの首都はローマに移されました。ビクターエマニュエル、ガリバルディ、カブール、マッツィーニは、イタリアの祖国の4人の父親と呼ばれています。^[110]

自由期間

新しいイタリア王国は列強の地位を獲得しました。サルデーニャ王国の憲法は1848年のアルベルト憲法であり、1861年にイタリア王国全体に拡大され、新国家の基本的な自由を規定しましたが、選挙法は非所有者および教育を受けていない階級を投票から除外しました。新王国政府は、自由主義勢力が支配する立憲君主制の枠組みの中で行われた。イタリア北部が急速に工業化するにつれ、北部の南部と農村地域は未発達で人口過密のままであり、何百万人もの人々が海外に移住することを余儀なくされ、大規模で影響力のあるディアスポラに燃料を供給しました。イタリア社会党 絶えず力を増し、伝統的なリベラルで保守的な確立に挑戦しました。

19世紀の最後の20年間に始まり、イタリアはその支配下で東アフリカのエリトリアとソマリア、北アフリカのトリポリタニアとキレナイカ（後にリビアの植民地で統一された）とドデカニサ諸島を強制することによって植民地の大国に発展しました。^[120] 1899年11月2日から1901年9月7日まで、イタリアは中国での義和団の乱の際に八カ国連合軍の一部としても参加した。1901年9月7日、天津での譲歩は国に譲渡され、1902年6月7日に、譲歩はイタリアの所有になり、領事によって管理されました。1913年、男性の普通選挙権が採用されました。1892年から1921年の間に5回首相を務め たジョヴァンニジョリッティが支配した戦前は、イタリア社会の経済的、産業的、政治文化的近代化が特徴でした。

イタリアは、国家統一を完了することを目的として1915年に第一次イタリア戦争に突入しました。このため、第一次イタリア独立戦争へのイタリアの介入は、第4次イタリア独立戦争とも見なされます^[121]。後者はイタリア統一の結論であり、その軍事行動は1848年の第1次イタリア独立戦争の革命の間に始まりました。^{[122] [123]}

名目上はドイツ帝国およびオーストリア・ハンガリー帝国と三国同盟で同盟を結んだイタリアは、1915年に連合国に加わり、第一次世界大戦に参加しました。これには、西部のインナーカルニオラ、旧オーストリア沿海州、ダルマチアも含まれます。オスマン帝国の一部として。国は「ビッグフォー」のトップ連合国の1つとして紛争の勝利に根本的な貢献をしました。イタリア軍が長い消耗戦で立ち往生したため、イタリア戦線での戦争は当初決定的ではありませんでしたアルプスでは、ほとんど進歩せず、大きな損失を被っています。しかし、軍隊の再編成といわゆる'99ボーイズ（Ragazzi del '99、18歳になった1899年に生まれたすべての男性）の徴兵は、モンテグラッパやモンテグラッパなどの主要な戦いでより効果的なイタリアの勝利につながりましたピアーヴェ川での一連の戦いで。最終的に、1918年10月、イタリア人は大規模な攻撃を開始し、ヴィットリオ・ベネトの勝利に至りました。ボレッティーノ・デッラ・ヴィットーリアとボレッティーノ・デッラ・ヴィットーリア・ナベールが発表したイタリアの勝利^{[124] [125] [126]}イタリア戦線での戦争の終わりを示し、オーストリア・ハンガリー帝国の解散を確保し、 2週間以内に第一次世界大戦を終わらせることに主に貢献しました。イタリア軍は、アフリカの劇場、バルカン劇場、中東の劇場にも関与し、その後、コンスタンティノープル占領に参加しました。

戦争中、65万人以上のイタリア兵と多くの民間人が亡くなり^[127]、王国は破産の危機に瀕しました。サンジェルマンアンレー条約（1919年）とラパッロ条約（1920年）により、トレンティーノアルトアディジェ、ジュリアンマーチ、イストリア、クヴァルネル、ダルマチアの都市ザラの併合が可能になりました。その後のローマ条約（1924年）により、フィウメ市がイタリアに併合されました。イタリアはロンドン条約（1915年）によって約束された他の領土を受け取らなかったので、この結果は骨抜きにされた勝利。骨抜きにされた勝利のレトリックはベニート・ムッソリーニによって採用され、イタリアのファシズムの台頭に つながり、ファシストイタリアの宣伝の重要なポイントになりました。歴史家は、骨抜きにされた勝利を「政治的神話」と見なし、第一次世界大戦後のイタリア帝国主義を煽り、リベラルなイタリア^の成功を覆い隠すため評議会。

ファシスト体制

ロシア革命に触発された第一次世界大戦の荒廃に続く社会主義の動揺は、イタリア全土で反革命と抑圧をもたらしました。ソビエト式の革命を恐れた自由主義の確立は、ベニート・ムッソリーニが率いる小さな全国ファシスト党を支持し始めました。 1922年10月、ファシスト党の黒シャツ隊が大規模なデモを試み、「ローマ進軍」という名前のクーデターが失敗しましたが、最後の最後にヴィットーリオエマヌエル3世王が戒厳令を宣言することを拒否し、ムッソリーニ首相を任命し、それによって武力紛争なしに政治権力をファシストに移した。^{[129] [130]}次の数年間、ムッソリーニはすべての政党を禁止し、個人の自由を縮小し、独裁政権を形成した。これらの行動は国際的な注目を集め、最終的にはナチスドイツやフランコ主義スペインなどの同様の独裁政権に影響を与えました。

イタリアのファシズムは、イタリアのナショナリズムと帝国主義に基づいており、特に、イタリアの状態にイタリア・イレデンタ（未回収のイタリア）を組み込むことによって、イタリア統一の不完全なプロジェクトと見なされるものを完成させようとしています。 ^{[131] [132]}イタリアの東にあるファシストは、ダルマチアはイタリア文化の地であり、イタリア化された南スラブ系の人々を含むイタリア人がダルマチアから追い出されてイタリアに亡命し、帰国を支持したと主張した。ダルマチアの遺産のイタリア人の。^[133]ムッソリーニは、ダルマチアを、イストリアと同様に、何世紀にもわたって強力なイタリア文化のルーツを持っていると特定した。、ローマ帝国とヴェネツィア共和国経由。^[134]イタリアの南で、ファシストはイギリスに属していたマルタと、代わりにギリシャに属していたコルフを主張した。北はイタリアのスイスを主張し、西はフランスに属するコルシカ、ニース、サボイを主張した。^{[135] [136]}ファシスト政権は、島のイタリアニタの証拠を提示するコルシカ島に関する文献を作成した。^[137]ファシスト政権は、ニースが歴史的、民族的、言語的根拠に基づいたイタリアの土地であることを正当化するニースに関する文献を作成しました。^[137]

第一次世界大戦の終わりにイタリアとオーストリア・ハンガリー帝国の間の戦いを終わらせたヴィラ・ジュスティの休戦は、ユーゴスラビアの近隣地域のイタリアの併合をもたらしました。戦間期に、ファシストのイタリア政府は、スラブ語、学校、政党、文化施設を抑圧した、付属地域でのイタリア化キャンペーンを実施しました。

介入主義的な外交政策に従事するファシスト政権。 1923年、ギリシャの領土でテリーニ将軍が暗殺された後、ギリシャのコルフ島は一時的にイタリアに占領されました。 1925年、イタリアはアルバニアを事実上の保護領にすることを余儀なくされました。 1935年、ムッソリーニはエチオピアに侵攻し、イタリア領東アフリカを設立しました。その結果、国際的な疎外感が生まれ、国際連盟からのイタリアの撤退につながりました。イタリアはナチスドイツや大日本帝国と同盟を結び、フランシスコフランコを強力に支援しました。 スペイン内戦。1939年、イタリアは正式にアルバニアを併合しました。イタリアが最初に進出した後1940年6月10日に第二次世界大戦に入ったイギリス領ソマリランド、エジプト、バルカン半島、ダルマチアの庁舎が作成された、と東部戦線、イタリア人は東アフリカで敗れたソ連と北アフリカ。

第二次世界大戦中のイタリアの戦争犯罪には、主にユダヤ人、クロアチア人、スロベニア人を中心に、ラブ、ゴナルス、モニゴ、レニッチ・ディ・アンギアリなどのイタリアの強制収容所への約25,000人の強制送還による、裁判外の殺害と民族浄化[ 138 ]が含ま^れていました。および他の場所。パルチザンは、戦時中および戦後、フォイベの虐殺を含む、地元のイタリア系民族（イタリア人およびダルマチア人）に対して独自の犯罪を犯しました。。イタリアとユーゴスラビアでは、ドイツとは異なり、戦争犯罪はほとんど起訴されませんでした。^{[139] [140] [141] [142]}

連合軍のシチリア侵攻は1943年7月に始まり、ファシスト政権の崩壊と7月25日のムッソリーニの崩壊につながりました。ムッソリーニは、不信任決議を通過したファシズム大評議会のメンバーの大多数と協力して、ヴィットーリオエマヌエル3世王の命令により証言録取され逮捕されました。 9月8日、イタリアはカッシビレの休戦協定に署名し、連合国との戦争を終結させました。その後まもなく、ドイツ人はイタリアのファシストの助けを借りて、イタリア北部と中央部を支配することに成功しました。連合国が南からゆっくりと上昇し、国は戦争の残りの間 戦場のままでした。

北部では、ドイツ人がイタリア社会共和国（RSI）を設立しました。これは、ムッソリーニがドイツのパラトルーパーに救助された後、リーダーとして設置されたナチスの傀儡国家です。南部の一部のイタリア軍は、残りの戦争の間連合国と一緒に戦ったイタリアの共同好戦軍に編成されましたが、ムッソリーニと彼のRSIに忠誠を誓う他のイタリア軍は、イタリア共和国のドイツ人と一緒に戦い続けました陸軍。その結果、国は内戦に陥りました。また、休戦後の期間には、大規模な反ファシストレジスタンス運動であるレジスタンス運動が台頭しました。、ドイツ軍とRSI軍に対してゲリラ戦争を戦った。 1945年4月下旬、完全な敗北が迫っていたため、ムッソリーニは北に逃げようとしましたが^[143] 、イタリアのパルチザンによってコモ湖の近くで即決処刑されました。その後、彼の遺体はミラノに運ばれ、そこで公の場で見たり、彼の死を確認したりするために、サービスステーションに逆さまに吊るされました。^[144]敵対行為は、イタリアのドイツ軍が降伏した1945年4月29日に終了した。50万人近くのイタリア人（民間人を含む）が紛争で亡くなりました^[145]。そしてイタリア経済はほとんど破壊されていました。1944年の一人当たりの所得は、20世紀初頭以来の最低点でした。^[146]

共和党イタリア

イタリアは、 1946年6月2日に行われた国民投票^[147]の後、共和国記念日として祝われた日として共和国になりました。イタリアの女性が全国レベルで投票したのはこれが初めてであり、数か月前に一部の都市で行われた地方選挙を考慮すると、全体で2回目です。^{[148] [149]} ヴィットーリオエマヌエル3世の息子、ウンベルト2世は退位を余儀なくされ、追放された。共和党憲法は1948年1月1日に承認されました。イタリアとの平和条約の下で、1947年、イストリア、クヴァルネル、ほとんどのジュリアンマーチとダルマチア人ザラ市はユーゴスラビアに併合され、イストリア難民の脱出を引き起こし、 23万人から35万人の地元のイタリア人（イストリアイタリア人とダルマチアイタリア人）の移住につながりました。他の人はスロベニア人、クロアチア人、イストロルーマニア人です。 、イタリア市民権を維持することを選択します。^[150]その後、トリエステ自由地域は2つの州に分割された。イタリアはまた、植民地の所有物をすべて失い、正式にイタリア帝国を終わらせました。 1950年、イタリア領ソマリランドは1960年7月1日までイタリアの管理下にある国連信託統治領。今日適用されるイタリアの国境は、トリエステが正式にイタリアに再併合された 1975年以来存在しています。

1948年4月18日、アルチーデデガスペリの指導の下でキリスト教民主党が地滑りの勝利を収めたとき、（特に米国で）共産党による乗っ取りの可能性に対する恐れが、最初の普通選挙の選挙結果にとって決定的に重要であることが証明されました。^{[151] [152]}その結果、1949年にイタリアはNATOの加盟国となった。マーシャルプランは、1960年代後半まで、一般に「経済奇跡」と呼ばれる持続的な経済成長の期間を享受していたイタリア経済を復活させるのに役立ちました。1957年、イタリアは欧州共同体（EEC）の創設メンバーであり、欧州連合になりました。 （EU）1993年。

1960年代後半から1980年代初頭にかけて、この国は鉛の時代を経験しました。これは、経済危機（特に1973年の石油危機後）、広範な社会紛争、対立する過激派グループによるテロリストの虐殺を特徴とする時期であり、米国とソビエトの諜報機関。^{[153] [154] [155]}鉛の時代は、1978年にキリスト教民主党の指導者アルド・モーロが暗殺され、1980年にボローニャ駅が虐殺され、85人が死亡した。

1980年代、1945年以来初めて、2つの政府が非キリスト教民主主義の首相によって率いられました。1つは共和党員（ジョヴァンニスパドリーニ）、もう1つは社会主義者（ベッティーノクラクシ）です。しかし、キリスト教民主党は依然として主要な政党でした。クラクシ政権時代、経済は回復し、イタリアは1970年代にグループオブセブンに参入した後、世界で5番目に大きな工業国になりました。しかし、彼の支出政策の結果として、イタリアの国家債務はクラクシ時代に急増し、すぐに国のGDPの100％を超えました。

イタリアは、「マフィア大裁判」中に宣告されたいくつかの終身刑と政府によって開始された新しい反マフィア措置の結果として、1992年から1993年の間にシチリアのマフィアによって行われたいくつかのテロ攻撃に直面しました。 1992年、2つの主要なダイナマイト攻撃により、裁判官のジョヴァンニファルコーネ（5月23日、カパーチ爆撃）とパオロボルセリーノ（7月19日、アメリオ通りの虐殺）が殺害されました。^[156] 1年後（1993年5月〜7月）、フィレンツェのゲオルゴフィリ通り、ミラノのパレストロ通り、ラテラノのサンジョバンニ広場などの観光スポットが攻撃されました。ローマのサンテオドロ通りでは、10人が死亡、93人が負傷し、ウフィツィ美術館などの文化遺産に深刻な被害をもたらしました。カトリック教会はマフィアを公然と非難し、2つの教会が爆撃され、反マフィアの司祭がローマで射殺されました。^{[157] [158] [159]}

また、1990年代初頭、政治的麻痺、巨額の公的債務、およびClean Hands（Mani Pulite）の調査で明らかになった大規模な汚職システム（Tangentopoliとして知られる）に魅了された有権者が抜本的な改革を要求したため、イタリアは重大な課題に直面しました。スキャンダルはすべての主要政党、特に連立政権の政党を巻き込んだ。ほぼ50年間統治していたキリスト教民主主義者は深刻な危機に見舞われ、最終的に解散し、いくつかの派閥に分裂した。^[160]共産主義者は社会民主主義勢力として再編成された。1990年代から2000年代にかけて、中道右派（メディア王シルヴィオベルルスコーニが支配））と中道左派連立（大学教授ロマーノ・プロディが率いる）が交互に国を統治した。

大不況の中で、ベルルスコーニは2011年に辞任し、彼の保守的な政府はマリオモンティのテクノクラート内閣に取って代わられました。^[161] 2013年の総選挙に続いて、民主党の エンリコ・レッタ副書記が左右の大連立の長に新政府を結成した。 2014年、PD Matteo Renziの新書記に異議を唱えられ、Lettaは辞任し、Renziに代わりました。新政権は上院廃止などの重要な憲法改正を開始した そして新しい選挙法。12月4日、国民投票で憲法改正が却下され、レンツィは辞任した。パオロ・ジェンティローニ外務大臣が新首相に任命された。^[162]

2010年代のヨーロッパの移民危機では、イタリアはEUに入るほとんどの亡命希望者の入り口であり主要な目的地でした。 2013年から2018年にかけて、この国は70万人以上の移民と難民を受け入れ、^[163]主にサハラ以南のアフリカから^[164]、極右またはユーロに敏感な政治への支持を急増させました。パーティー。^{[165] [166]} 2018年の総選挙は、五つ星運動とリーグの力強いショーが特徴であり、大学教授のジュゼッペ・コンテがポピュリスト連合の首相に就任した。これらの2つの当事者の間。^[167]しかし、わずか14か月後、リーグは、五つ星運動と中道左派の間に新しい前例のない連立政権を形成したコンテへの支持を撤回した。^{[168] [169]}

2020年、イタリアはCOVID-19パンデミックに深刻な打撃を受けました。^[170] 3月から5月にかけて、コンテ政府はこの病気の蔓延を制限する手段として国の封鎖を課し^{[171] [172]}、次の冬にはさらなる制限が導入された。^[173]世論によって広く承認されているにもかかわらず、この措置は^[174]、共和国の歴史の中で最大の憲法上の権利の抑圧としても説明された。 ^{[175] [176]} 13万人以上の犠牲者が確認されたイタリアは、世界で最も多くの死者を出した国の1つでした。worldwide coronavirus pandemic.^[177] The pandemic caused also a severe economic disruption, in which Italy resulted as one of the most affected countries.^[178]

In February 2021, after a government crisis within his majority, Conte was forced to resign and Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank, formed a national unity government supported by almost all the main parties,^[179] pledging to oversee implementation of economic stimulus to face the crisis caused by the pandemic.^[180]

Geography

Italy, whose territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region,^[16] is located in Southern Europe and it is also considered a part of western Europe,^[20] between latitudes 35° and 47° N, and longitudes 6° and 19° E. To the north, Italy borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia and is roughly delimited by the Alpine watershed, enclosing the Po Valley and the Venetian Plain. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula and the two Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinia (the two biggest islands of the Mediterranean), in addition to many smaller islands. The sovereign states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy,^[181][182] while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland.^[183]

The country's total area is 301,230 square kilometres (116,306 sq mi), of which 294,020 km² (113,522 sq mi) is land and 7,210 km² (2,784 sq mi) is water.^[184] Including the islands, Italy has a coastline and border of 7,600 kilometres (4,722 miles) on the Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian seas (740 km (460 mi)), and borders shared with France (488 km (303 mi)), Austria (430 km (267 mi)), Slovenia (232 km (144 mi)) and Switzerland (740 km (460 mi)). San Marino (39 km (24 mi)) and Vatican City (3.2 km (2.0 mi)), both enclaves, account for the remainder.^[184]

Over 35% of the Italian territory is mountainous.^[185] The Apennine Mountains form the peninsula's backbone, and the Alps form most of its northern boundary, where Italy's highest point is located on Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) (4,810 m or 15,780 ft). Other worldwide-known mountains in Italy include the Matterhorn (Monte Cervino), Monte Rosa, Gran Paradiso in the West Alps, and Bernina, Stelvio and Dolomites along the eastern side.

The Po, Italy's longest river (652 kilometres or 405 miles), flows from the Alps on the western border with France and crosses the Padan plain on its way to the Adriatic Sea. The Po Valley is the largest plain in Italy, with 46,000 km² (18,000 sq mi), and it represents over 70% of the total plain area in the country.^[185]

Many elements of the Italian territory are of volcanic origin. Most of the small islands and archipelagos in the south, like Capraia, Ponza, Ischia, Eolie, Ustica and Pantelleria are volcanic islands. There are also active volcanoes: Mount Etna in Sicily (the largest active volcano in Europe), Vulcano, Stromboli, and Vesuvius (the only active volcano on mainland Europe).

The five largest lakes are, in order of diminishing size:^[186] Garda (367.94 km² or 142 sq mi), Maggiore (212.51 km² or 82 sq mi, whose minor northern part is Switzerland), Como (145.9 km² or 56 sq mi), Trasimeno (124.29 km² or 48 sq mi) and Bolsena (113.55 km² or 44 sq mi).

Although the country includes the Italian peninsula, adjacent islands, and most of the southern Alpine basin, some of Italy's territory extends beyond the Alpine basin and some islands are located outside the Eurasian continental shelf. These territories are the comuni of: Livigno, Sexten, Innichen, Toblach (in part), Chiusaforte, Tarvisio, Graun im Vinschgau (in part), which are all part of the Danube's drainage basin, while the Val di Lei constitutes part of the Rhine's basin and the islands of Lampedusa and Lampione are on the African continental shelf.

Waters

Four different seas surround the Italian Peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea from three sides: the Adriatic Sea in the east,^[187] the Ionian Sea in the south,^[188] and the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west.^[189]

Including islands, Italy has a coastline of over 8,000 kilometres (5,000 mi).^[190] Italian coasts include the Amalfi Coast, Cilentan Coast, Coast of the Gods, Costa Verde, Riviera delle Palme, Riviera del Brenta, Costa Smeralda and Trabocchi Coast. The Italian Riviera includes nearly all of the coastline of Liguria, extending from the border with France near Ventimiglia eastwards to Capo Corvo, which marks the eastern end of the Gulf of La Spezia.^[191][192]

The Apennines run along the entire length of the peninsula, dividing the waters into two opposite sides. On the other hand, the rivers are numerous due to the relative abundance of rains and to the presence of the Alpine chain in northern Italy with snowfields and glaciers. The fundamental watershed follows the ridge of the Alps and the Apennines and delimits five main slopes, corresponding to the seas into which the rivers flow: the Adriatic, Ionic, Tyrrhenian, Ligurian and Mediterranean sides.^[193] Taking into consideration their origin, the Italian rivers can be divided into two main groups: the Alpine-Po rivers and the Apennine-island rivers.^[193]

Most of the rivers of Italy drain either into the Adriatic Sea, such as the Po, Piave, Adige, Brenta, Tagliamento, and Reno, or into the Tyrrhenian, like the Arno, Tiber and Volturno. The waters from some border municipalities (Livigno in Lombardy, Innichen and Sexten in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol) drain into the Black Sea through the basin of the Drava, a tributary of the Danube, and the waters from the Lago di Lei in Lombardy drain into the North Sea through the basin of the Rhine.^[194]

The longest Italian river is Po, which flows either 652 km (405 mi) or 682 km (424 mi) (considering the length of the right bank tributary Maira) and whose headwaters are a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face of Monviso. The vast valley around the Po is called Po Valley (Italian: Pianura Padana or Val Padana) the main industrial area of the country; in 2002, more than 16 million people lived there, at the time nearly ⅓ of the population of Italy.^[195] The second longest Italian river is Adige, which originates near Lake Resia and flows into the Adriatic Sea, after having made a north–south route, near Chioggia.^[196]

In the north of the country are a number of large subalpine moraine-dammed lakes, commonly referred to as the Italian Lakes. There are more than 1000 lakes in Italy,^[197] the largest of which is Garda (370 km² or 143 sq mi). Other well-known subalpine lakes are Lake Maggiore (212.5 km² or 82 sq mi), whose most northerly section is part of Switzerland, Como (146 km² or 56 sq mi), one of the deepest lakes in Europe, Orta, Lugano, Iseo, and Idro.^[198] Other notable lakes in the Italian peninsula are Trasimeno, Bolsena, Bracciano, Vico, Varano and Lesina in Gargano and Omodeo in Sardinia.^[199]

Along the Italian coasts there are lagoons, including the Venice, Grado Lagoon and Marano lagoons in northern Adriatic, and the Orbetello lagoon on the Tuscan coast. The swamps and ponds that in the past covered vast flat areas of Italy, have largely been dried up in recent centuries;^[197] the few remaining wetlands, such as the Comacchio Valleys in Emilia-Romagna or the Stagno di Cagliari in Sardinia, are protected natural environments.^[197]

Volcanology

The country is situated at the meeting point of the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate, leading to considerable seismic and volcanic activity. There are 14 volcanoes in Italy, four of which are active: Etna, Stromboli, Vulcano and Vesuvius. The last is the only active volcano in mainland Europe and is most famous for the destruction of Pompeii and Herculanum in the eruption in 79 AD. Several islands and hills have been created by volcanic activity, and there is still a large active caldera, the Campi Flegrei north-west of Naples.

The high volcanic and magmatic neogenic activity is subdivided into provinces:

• Magmatic Tuscan (Monti Cimini, Tolfa and Amiata);^[200][201]
• Magmatic Latium (Monti Volsini, Vico nel Lazio, Colli Albani, Roccamonfina);^[201][202]
• Ultra-alkaline Umbrian Latium District (San Venanzo, Cupaello and Polino);^[201][202]
• Volcanic bell (Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei, Ischia);^[201][202]
• Windy arch and Tyrrhenian basin (Aeolian Islands and Tyrrhenian seamounts);^[201][202]
• African-Adriatic Avampa (Channel of Sicily, Graham Island, Etna and Mount Vulture).^[201][202]

Italy was the first country to exploit geothermal energy to produce electricity.^[203] The high geothermal gradient that forms part of the peninsula makes potentially exploitable also other provinces: research carried out in the 1960s and 1970s identifies potential geothermal fields in Lazio and Tuscany, as well as in most volcanic islands.^[203]

Environment

After its quick industrial growth, Italy took a long time to confront its environmental problems. After several improvements, it now ranks 84th in the world for ecological sustainability.^[204] National parks cover about 5% of the country,^[205] while the total area protected by national parks, regional parks and nature reserves covers about 10.5% of the Italian territory.^[206]

In the last decade, Italy has become one of the world's leading producers of renewable energy, ranking as the world's fourth largest holder of installed solar energy capacity^[207][208] and the sixth largest holder of wind power capacity in 2010.^[209] Renewable energies provided approximately 37% Italy's energy consumption in 2020.^[210] However, air pollution remains a severe problem, especially in the industrialised north, reaching the tenth highest level worldwide of industrial carbon dioxide emissions in the 1990s.^[211] Italy is the twelfth-largest carbon dioxide producer.^[212][213]

Extensive traffic and congestion in the largest metropolitan areas continue to cause severe environmental and health issues, even if smog levels have decreased dramatically since the 1970s and 1980s, and the presence of smog is becoming an increasingly rarer phenomenon and levels of sulphur dioxide are decreasing.^[214]

Many watercourses and coastal stretches have also been contaminated by industrial and agricultural activity, while because of rising water levels, Venice has been regularly flooded throughout recent years. Waste from industrial activity is not always disposed of by legal means and has led to permanent health effects on inhabitants of affected areas, as in the case of the Seveso disaster. The country has also operated several nuclear reactors between 1963 and 1990 but, after the Chernobyl disaster and a referendum on the issue the nuclear programme was terminated, a decision that was overturned by the government in 2008, planning to build up to four nuclear power plants with French technology. This was in turn struck down by a referendum following the Fukushima nuclear accident.^[215]

Deforestation, illegal building developments and poor land-management policies have led to significant erosion all over Italy's mountainous regions, leading to major ecological disasters like the 1963 Vajont Dam flood, the 1998 Sarno^[216] and 2009 Messina mudslides. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 3.65/10, ranking it 142nd globally out of 172 countries.^[217]

Biodiversity

Italy has the highest level of faunal biodiversity in Europe, with over 57,000 species recorded, representing more than a third of all European fauna.^[221] Italy's varied geological structure contributes to its high climate and habitat diversity. The Italian peninsula is in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, forming a corridor between central Europe and North Africa, and has 8,000 km (5,000 mi) of coastline. Italy also receives species from the Balkans, Eurasia, the Middle East. Italy's varied geological structure, including the Alps and the Apennines, Central Italian woodlands, and Southern Italian Garigue and Maquis shrubland, also contributes to high climate and habitat diversity.

Italian fauna includes 4,777 endemic animal species, which include the Sardinian long-eared bat, Sardinian red deer, spectacled salamander, brown cave salamander, Italian newt, Italian frog, Apennine yellow-bellied toad, Italian wall lizard, Aeolian wall lizard, Sicilian wall lizard, Italian Aesculapian snake, and Sicilian pond turtle. There are 102 mammals species (most notably the Italian wolf, Marsican brown bear, Pyrenean chamois, Alpine ibex, crested porcupine, Mediterranean monk seal, Alpine marmot, Etruscan shrew, and European snow vole), 516 bird species and 56,213 invertebrate species.

The flora of Italy was traditionally estimated to comprise about 5,500 vascular plant species.^[222] However, as of 2005^[update], 6,759 species are recorded in the Data bank of Italian vascular flora.^[223] Italy is a signatory to the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats and the Habitats Directive both affording protection to Italian fauna and flora.

Climate

Because of the length of the peninsula and the mostly mountainous hinterland, the climate of Italy is highly diverse. In most of the inland northern and central regions, the climate ranges from humid subtropical to humid continental and oceanic. In particular, the climate of the Po valley geographical region is mostly continental, with harsh winters and hot summers.^[225][226]

The coastal areas of Liguria, Tuscany and most of the South generally fit the Mediterranean climate stereotype (Köppen climate classification Csa). Conditions on the coast are different from those in the interior, particularly during winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer. Average winter temperatures vary from 0 °C (32 °F) on the Alps to 12 °C (54 °F) in Sicily, so average summer temperatures range from 20 °C (68 °F) to over 25 °C (77 °F). Winters can vary widely across the country with lingering cold, foggy and snowy periods in the north and milder, sunnier conditions in the south. Summers can be hot and humid across the country, particularly in the south while northern and central areas can experience occasional strong thunderstorms from spring to autumn.^[227]

Politics

Italy has been a unitary parliamentary republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by a constitutional referendum. The President of Italy (Presidente della Repubblica), currently Sergio Mattarella since 2015, is Italy's head of state. The President is elected for a single seven years mandate by the Parliament of Italy and some regional voters in joint session. Italy has a written democratic constitution, resulting from the work of a Constituent Assembly formed by the representatives of all the anti-fascist forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during the Civil War.^[228]

Government

Italy has a parliamentary government based on a mixed proportional and majoritarian voting system. The parliament is perfectly bicameral: the two houses, the Chamber of Deputies that meets in Palazzo Montecitorio, and the Senate of the Republic that meets in Palazzo Madama, have the same powers. The Prime Minister, officially President of the Council of Ministers (Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is Italy's head of government. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are appointed by the President of the Republic of Italy and must pass a vote of confidence in Parliament to come into office. To remain the Prime Minister has to pass also eventual further votes of confidence or no confidence in Parliament.

The prime minister is the President of the Council of Ministers – which holds effective executive power – and he must receive a vote of approval from it to execute most political activities. The office is similar to those in most other parliamentary systems, but the leader of the Italian government is not authorised to request the dissolution of the Parliament of Italy.

Another difference with similar offices is that the overall political responsibility for intelligence is vested in the President of the Council of Ministers. By virtue of that, the Prime Minister has exclusive power to: co-ordinate intelligence policies, determining the financial resources and strengthening national cyber security; apply and protect State secrets; authorise agents to carry out operations, in Italy or abroad, in violation of the law.^[229]

A peculiarity of the Italian Parliament is the representation given to Italian citizens permanently living abroad: 12 Deputies and 6 Senators elected in four distinct overseas constituencies. In addition, the Italian Senate is characterised also by a small number of senators for life, appointed by the President "for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field". Former Presidents of the Republic are ex officio life senators.

Italy's three major political parties are the Five Star Movement, the Democratic Party and the Lega. During the 2018 general election these three parties and their coalitions won 614 out of 630 seats available in the Chamber of Deputies and 309 out of 315 in the Senate.^[230] Berlusconi's Forza Italia which formed a centre-right coalition with Matteo Salvini's Northern League and Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy won most of the seats without getting the majority in parliament. The rest of the seats were taken by Five Star Movement, Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party along with Achammer and Panizza's South Tyrolean People's Party & Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party in a centre-left coalition and the independent Free and Equal party.

Law and criminal justice

The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law modified by the Napoleonic code and later statutes. The Supreme Court of Cassation is the highest court in Italy for both criminal and civil appeal cases. The Constitutional Court of Italy (Corte Costituzionale) rules on the conformity of laws with the constitution and is a post–World War II innovation. Since their appearance in the middle of the 19th century, Italian organised crime and criminal organisations have infiltrated the social and economic life of many regions in Southern Italy, the most notorious of which being the Sicilian Mafia, which would later expand into some foreign countries including the United States. Mafia receipts may reach 9%^[231][232] of Italy's GDP.^[233]

A 2009 report identified 610 comuni which have a strong Mafia presence, where 13 million Italians live and 14.6% of the Italian GDP is produced.^[234][235] The Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, nowadays probably the most powerful crime syndicate of Italy, accounts alone for 3% of the country's GDP.^[236] However, at 0.013 per 1,000 people, Italy has only the 47th highest murder rate^[237] compared to 61 countries and the 43rd highest number of rapes per 1,000 people compared to 64 countries in the world. These are relatively low figures among developed countries.

Law enforcement

The Italian law enforcement system is complex, with multiple police forces.^[238] The national policing agencies are the Polizia di Stato (State Police), the Arma dei Carabinieri, the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Guard), and the Polizia Penitenziaria (Prison Police),^[239] as well as the Guardia Costiera (coast guard police).^[238]

The Polizia di Stato are a civil police supervised by the Interior Ministry, while the Carabinieri is a gendarmerie supervised by the Defense Ministry; both share duties in law enforcement and the maintenance of public order.^[239] Within the Carabinieri is a unit devoted to combating environmental crime.^[238] The Guardia di Finanza is responsible for combating financial crime and white-collar crime,^[239] as well as customs.^[238] The Polizia Penitenziaria are responsible for guarding the prison system.^[239] The Corpo Forestale dello Stato (State Forestry Corps) formerly existed as a separate national park ranger agency,^[238][239] but was merged into the Carabinieri in 2016.^[240] Although policing in Italy is primarily provided on a national basis,^[239] there also exists Polizia Provinciale (provincial police) and Polizia Municipale (municipal police).^[238]

Foreign relations

Italy is a founding member of the European Economic Community (EEC), now the European Union (EU), and of NATO. Italy was admitted to the United Nations in 1955, and it is a member and a strong supporter of a wide number of international organisations, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, and the Central European Initiative. Its recent or upcoming turns in the rotating presidency of international organisations include the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2018, the G7 in 2017 and the EU Council from July to December 2014. Italy is also a recurrent non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, the most recently in 2017.

Italy strongly supports multilateral international politics, endorsing the United Nations and its international security activities. As of 2013^[update], Italy was deploying 5,296 troops abroad, engaged in 33 UN and NATO missions in 25 countries of the world.^[241] Italy deployed troops in support of UN peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Mozambique, and East Timor and provides support for NATO and UN operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania. Italy deployed over 2,000 troops in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) from February 2003.

Italy supported international efforts to reconstruct and stabilise Iraq, but it had withdrawn its military contingent of some 3,200 troops by 2006, maintaining only humanitarian operators and other civilian personnel. In August 2006 Italy deployed about 2,450 troops in Lebanon for the United Nations' peacekeeping mission UNIFIL.^[242] Italy is one of the largest financiers of the Palestinian National Authority, contributing €60 million in 2013 alone.^[243]

Military

The Italian Army, Navy, Air Force and Carabinieri collectively form the Italian Armed Forces, under the command of the Supreme Defence Council, presided over by the President of Italy. Since 2005, military service is voluntary.^[244] In 2010, the Italian military had 293,202 personnel on active duty,^[245] of which 114,778 are Carabinieri.^[246] As part of NATO's nuclear sharing strategy Italy also hosts 90 United States B61 nuclear bombs, located in the Ghedi and Aviano air bases.^[247]

The Italian Army is the national ground defence force. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft the Mangusta attack helicopter, in the last years deployed in EU, NATO and UN missions. It also has at its disposal many Leopard 1 and M113 armoured vehicles.

The Italian Navy is a blue-water navy. In modern times the Italian Navy, being a member of the EU and NATO, has taken part in many coalition peacekeeping operations around the world.

The Italian Air Force in 2021 operates 219 combat jets. A transport capability is guaranteed by a fleet of 27 C-130Js and C-27J Spartan.

An autonomous corps of the military, the Carabinieri are the gendarmerie and military police of Italy, policing the military and civilian population alongside Italy's other police forces. While the different branches of the Carabinieri report to separate ministries for each of their individual functions, the corps reports to the Ministry of Internal Affairs when maintaining public order and security.^[248]

Constituent entities

Italy is constituted by 20 regions (regioni)—five of these regions having a special autonomous status that enables them to enact legislation on additional matters, 107 provinces (province) or metropolitan cities (città metropolitane), and 7,960 municipalities (comuni).^[249]

Region	Capital	Area (km2)	Area (sq mi)	Population (January 2019)	Nominal GDP EURO billions (2016)[250][needs update]	Nominal GDP EURO per capita(2016)[251][needs update]
Abruzzo	L'Aquila	10,763	4,156	1,311,580	32	24,100
Aosta Valley	Aosta	3,263	1,260	125,666	4	34,900
Apulia	Bari	19,358	7,474	4,029,053	72	17,800
Basilicata	Potenza	9,995	3,859	562,869	12	20,600
Calabria	Catanzaro	15,080	5,822	1,947,131	33	16,800
Campania	Naples	13,590	5,247	5,801,692	107	18,300
Emilia-Romagna	Bologna	22,446	8,666	4,459,477	154	34,600
Friuli-Venezia Giulia	Trieste	7,858	3,034	1,215,220	37	30,300
Lazio	Rome	17,236	6,655	5,879,082	186	31,600
Liguria	Genoa	5,422	2,093	1,550,640	48	30,800
Lombardy	Milan	23,844	9,206	10,060,574	367	36,600
Marche	Ancona	9,366	3,616	1,525,271	41	26,600
Molise	Campobasso	4,438	1,713	305,617	6	20,000
Piedmont	Turin	25,402	9,808	4,356,406	129	29,400
Sardinia	Cagliari	24,090	9,301	1,639,591	34	20,300
Sicily	Palermo	25,711	9,927	4,999,891	87	17,200
Tuscany	Florence	22,993	8,878	3,729,641	112	30,000
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol	Trento	13,607	5,254	1,072,276	42	39,755
Umbria	Perugia	8,456	3,265	882,015	21	24,000
Veneto	Venice	18,399	7,104	4,905,854	156	31,700

Economy

Italy has a major advanced^[252] capitalist mixed economy, ranking as the third-largest in the Eurozone and the eighth-largest in the world.^[253] A founding member of the G7, the Eurozone and the OECD, it is regarded as one of the world's most industrialised nations and a leading country in world trade and exports.^{[254][255][256]} It is a highly developed country, with the world's 8th highest quality of life in 2005^[32] and the 26th Human Development Index. The country is well known for its creative and innovative business,^[257] a large and competitive agricultural sector^[258] (with the world's largest wine production),^[259] and for its influential and high-quality automobile, machinery, food, design and fashion industry.^{[260][261][262]}

Italy is the world's sixth-largest manufacturing country,^[263] characterised by a smaller number of global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size and many dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises, notoriously clustered in several industrial districts, which are the backbone of the Italian industry. This has produced a manufacturing sector often focused on the export of niche market and luxury products, that if on one side is less capable to compete on the quantity, on the other side is more capable of facing the competition from China and other emerging Asian economies based on lower labour costs, with higher quality products.^[264] Italy was the world's tenth-largest exporter in 2019.Its closest trade ties are with the other countries of the European Union. Its largest export partners in 2019 were Germany (12%), France (11%), and the United States (10%).^[265]

The automotive industry is a significant part of the Italian manufacturing sector, with over 144,000 firms and almost 485,000 employed people in 2015,^[266] and a contribution of 8.5% to Italian GDP.^[267] Fiat Chrysler Automobiles or FCA is currently the world's seventh-largest auto maker.^[268] The country boasts a wide range of acclaimed products, from compact city cars to luxury supercars such as Maserati, Lamborghini, and Ferrari.^[269] The Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is the world's oldest or second oldest bank in continuous operation, depending on the definition, and the fourth-largest Italian commercial and retail bank.^[270] Italy has a strong cooperative sector, with the largest share of the population (4.5%) employed by a cooperative in the EU.^[271]

Italy is part of the European single market which represents more than 500 million consumers. Several domestic commercial policies are determined by agreements among European Union (EU) members and by EU legislation. Italy introduced the common European currency, the Euro in 2002.^[272][273] It is a member of the Eurozone which represents around 330 million citizens. Its monetary policy is set by the European Central Bank.

Italy has been hit hard by the Financial crisis of 2007–08, that exacerbated the country's structural problems.^[274] Effectively, after a strong GDP growth of 5–6% per year from the 1950s to the early 1970s,^[275] and a progressive slowdown in the 1980-90s, the country virtually stagnated in the 2000s.^[276][277] The political efforts to revive growth with massive government spending eventually produced a severe rise in public debt, that stood at over 131.8% of GDP in 2017,^[278] ranking second in the EU only after the Greek one.^[279] For all that, the largest chunk of Italian public debt is owned by national subjects, a major difference between Italy and Greece,^[280] and the level of household debt is much lower than the OECD average.^[281]

A gaping North–South divide is a major factor of socio-economic weakness.^[282] It can be noted by the huge difference in statistical income between the northern and southern regions and municipalities.^[283] The richest province, Alto Adige-South Tyrol, earns 152% of the national GDP per capita, while the poorest region, Calabria, 61%.^[284] The unemployment rate (11.1%) stands slightly above the Eurozone average,^[285] but the disaggregated figure is 6.6% in the North and 19.2% in the South.^[286] The youth unemployment rate (31.7% in March 2018) is extremely high compared to EU standards.^[287]

Agriculture

According to the last national agricultural census, there were 1.6 million farms in 2010 (−32.4% since 2000) covering 12.7 million hectares (63% of which are located in Southern Italy).^[288] The vast majority (99%) are family-operated and small, averaging only 8 hectares in size.^[288] Of the total surface area in agricultural use (forestry excluded), grain fields take up 31%, olive tree orchards 8.2%, vineyards 5.4%, citrus orchards 3.8%, sugar beets 1.7%, and horticulture 2.4%. The remainder is primarily dedicated to pastures (25.9%) and feed grains (11.6%).^[288]

Italy is the world's largest wine producer,^[289] and one of the leading in olive oil, fruits (apples, olives, grapes, oranges, lemons, pears, apricots, hazelnuts, peaches, cherries, plums, strawberries and kiwifruits), and vegetables (especially artichokes and tomatoes). The most famous Italian wines are probably the Tuscan Chianti and the Piedmontese Barolo. Other famous wines are Barbaresco, Barbera d'Asti, Brunello di Montalcino, Frascati, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Morellino di Scansano, and the sparkling wines Franciacorta and Prosecco.

Quality goods in which Italy specialises, particularly the already mentioned wines and regional cheeses, are often protected under the quality assurance labels DOC/DOP. This geographical indication certificate, which is attributed by the European Union, is considered important in order to avoid confusion with low-quality mass-produced ersatz products.

Infrastructure

In 2004 the transport sector in Italy generated a turnover of about 119.4 billion euros, employing 935,700 persons in 153,700 enterprises. Regarding the national road network, in 2002 there were 668,721 km (415,524 mi) of serviceable roads in Italy, including 6,487 km (4,031 mi) of motorways, state-owned but privately operated by Atlantia. In 2005, about 34,667,000 passenger cars (590 cars per 1,000 people) and 4,015,000 goods vehicles circulated on the national road network.^[291]

The national railway network, state-owned and operated by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (FSI), in 2008 totalled 16,529 km (10,271 mi) of which 11,727 km (7,287 mi) is electrified, and on which 4,802 locomotives and railcars run. The main public operator of high-speed trains is Trenitalia, part of FSI. Higher-speed trains are divided into three categories: Frecciarossa (English: red arrow) trains operate at a maximum speed of 300 km/h on dedicated high-speed tracks; Frecciargento (English: silver arrow) trains operate at a maximum speed of 250 km/h on both high-speed and mainline tracks; and Frecciabianca (English: white arrow) trains operate on high-speed regional lines at a maximum speed of 200 km/h. Italy has 11 rail border crossings over the Alpine mountains with its neighbouring countries.

Italy is one of the countries with the most vehicles per capita, with 690 per 1000 people in 2010.^[292] The national inland waterways network has a length of 2,400 km (1,491 mi) for commercial traffic in 2012.^[265]

Since October 2021, Italy's flag carrier airline is ITA Airways, which took over the brand, the IATA ticketing code, and many assets belonging to the former flag carrier Alitalia, after its bankruptcy.^[293] ITA Airways serves 44 destinations (as of October 2021^[update]) and also operates the former Alitalia regional subsidiary, Alitalia CityLiner.^[294] The country also has regional airlines (such as Air Dolomiti), low-cost carriers, and Charter and leisure carriers (including Neos, Blue Panorama Airlines and Poste Air Cargo). Major Italian cargo operators are Alitalia Cargo and Cargolux Italia.

Italy is the fifth in Europe by number of passengers by air transport, with about 148 million passengers or about 10% of the European total in 2011.^[295] In 2012 there were 130 airports in Italy, including the two hubs of Malpensa International in Milan and Leonardo da Vinci International in Rome. In 2004 there were 43 major seaports, including the seaport of Genoa, the country's largest and second-largest in the Mediterranean Sea. In 2005 Italy maintained a civilian air fleet of about 389,000 units and a merchant fleet of 581 ships.^[291]

Italy does not invest enough to maintain its drinking water supply. The Galli Law, passed in 1993, aimed at raising the level of investment and to improve service quality by consolidating service providers, making them more efficient and increasing the level of cost recovery through tariff revenues. Despite these reforms, investment levels have declined and remain far from sufficient.^{[296][297][298]}

Italy has been the final destination of the Silk Road for many centuries. In particular, the construction of the Suez Canal intensified sea trade with East Africa and Asia from the 19th century. Since the end of the Cold War and increasing European integration, the trade relations, which were often interrupted in the 20th century, have intensified again and the northern Italian ports such as the deep-water port of Trieste in the northernmost part of the Mediterranean with its extensive rail connections to Central and Eastern Europe are once again the destination of government subsidies and significant foreign investment.^{[299][300][301][302][303][304]}

Energy

Eni, with operations in 79 countries, is considered one of the seven "Supermajor" oil companies in the world, and one of the world's largest industrial companies.^[306] The Val d'Agri area, Basilicata, hosts the largest onshore hydrocarbon field in Europe.^[307]

Moderate natural gas reserves, mainly in the Po Valley and offshore Adriatic Sea, have been discovered in recent years and constitute the country's most important mineral resource.

Italy is one of the world's leading producers of pumice, pozzolana, and feldspar.^[308] Another notable mineral resource is marble, especially the world-famous white Carrara marble from the Massa and Carrara quarries in Tuscany. Italy needs to import about 80% of its energy requirements.^{[309][310][311]}

In the last decade, Italy has become one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy, ranking as the second largest producer in the European Union and the ninth in the world. Wind power, hydroelectricity, and geothermal power are also important sources of electricity in the country. Renewable sources account for the 27.5% of all electricity produced in Italy, with hydro alone reaching 12.6%, followed by solar at 5.7%, wind at 4.1%, bioenergy at 3.5%, and geothermal at 1.6%.^[313] The rest of the national demand is covered by fossil fuels (38.2% natural gas, 13% coal, 8.4% oil) and by imports.^[313]

Solar energy production alone accounted for almost 9% of the total electric production in the country in 2014, making Italy the country with the highest contribution from solar energy in the world.^[312] The Montalto di Castro Photovoltaic Power Station, completed in 2010, is the largest photovoltaic power station in Italy with 85 MW. Other examples of large PV plants in Italy are San Bellino (70.6 MW), Cellino san Marco (42.7 MW) and Sant’ Alberto (34.6 MW).^[314] Italy was also the first country to exploit geothermal energy to produce electricity.^[203]

Italy has managed four nuclear reactors until the 1980s. However, nuclear power in Italy has been abandoned following a 1987 referendum (in the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Soviet Ukraine). The national power company Enel operates several nuclear reactors in Spain, Slovakia and France,^[315][316] managing it to access nuclear power and direct involvement in design, construction, and operation of the plants without placing reactors on Italian territory.^[316]

Science and technology

Through the centuries, Italy has fostered the scientific community that produced many major discoveries in physics and the other sciences. During the Renaissance Italian polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Michelangelo (1475–1564) and Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) made contributions in a variety of fields, including biology, architecture, and engineering. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), an astronomer, physicist, engineer, and polymath, played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. He is considered the "father" of observational astronomy,^[318] modern physics,^[319][320] the scientific method,^[321] and modern science.^[322]

Other astronomers such as Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625–1712) and Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835–1910) made discoveries about the Solar System. In mathematics, Joseph Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Lodovico Lagrangia, 1736–1813) was active before leaving Italy. Fibonacci (c. 1170 – c. 1250), and Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576) made fundamental advances in mathematics.^[323] Luca Pacioli established accounting to the world. Physicist Enrico Fermi (1901–1954), a Nobel prize laureate, led the team in Chicago that developed the first nuclear reactor. He is considered the "architect of the nuclear age"^[324] and the "architect of the atomic bomb".^[325] He, Emilio G. Segrè (1905–1989) who discovered the elements technetium and astatine, and the antiproton), Bruno Rossi (1905–1993) a pioneer in Cosmic Rays and X-ray astronomy) and a number of Italian physicists were forced to leave Italy in the 1930s by Fascist laws against Jews.^[326]

Other prominent physicists include: Amedeo Avogadro (most noted for his contributions to molecular theory, in particular the Avogadro's law and the Avogadro constant), Evangelista Torricelli (inventor of barometer), Alessandro Volta (inventor of electric battery), Guglielmo Marconi (inventor of radio), Galileo Ferraris and Antonio Pacinotti, pioneers of the induction motor, Alessandro Cruto, pioneer of light bulb and Innocenzo Manzetti, eclectic pioneer of auto and robotics, Ettore Majorana (who discovered the Majorana fermions), Carlo Rubbia (1984 Nobel Prize in Physics for work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN). Antonio Meucci is known for developing a voice-communication device which is often credited as the first telephone.^[327][328] Pier Giorgio Perotto in 1964 designed one of the first desktop programmable calculators, the Programma 101.^{[329][330][331]} In biology, Francesco Redi has been the first to challenge the theory of spontaneous generation by demonstrating that maggots come from eggs of flies and he described 180 parasites in details and Marcello Malpighi founded microscopic anatomy, Lazzaro Spallanzani conducted research in bodily functions, animal reproduction, and cellular theory, Camillo Golgi, whose many achievements include the discovery of the Golgi complex, paved the way to the acceptance of the Neuron doctrine, Rita Levi-Montalcini discovered the nerve growth factor (awarded 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). In chemistry, Giulio Natta received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963 for his work on high polymers. Giuseppe Occhialini received the Wolf Prize in Physics for the discovery of the pion or pi-meson decay in 1947. Ennio de Giorgi, a Wolf Prize in Mathematics recipient in 1990, solved Bernstein's problem about minimal surfaces and the 19th Hilbert problem on the regularity of solutions of Elliptic partial differential equations.^[332]

There are numerous technology parks in Italy such as the Science and Technology Parks Kilometro Rosso (Bergamo), the AREA Science Park (Trieste), The VEGA-Venice Gateway for Science and Technology (Venezia), the Toscana Life Sciences (Siena), the Technology Park of Lodi Cluster (Lodi), and the Technology Park of Navacchio (Pisa).^[333] ELETTRA, Eurac Research, ESA Centre for Earth Observation, Institute for Scientific Interchange, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics conduct basic research. Trieste has the highest percentage of researchers in Europe in relation to the population.^[334] Italy was ranked 28th in the Global Innovation Index in 2020, up from 30th in 2019.^{[335][336][337][338]}

Tourism

Italy is the fifth most visited country in international tourism, with a total of 52.3 million international arrivals in 2016.^[340] The total contribution of travel & tourism to GDP (including wider effects from investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts) was EUR162.7bn in 2014 (10.1% of GDP) and generated 1,082,000 jobs directly in 2014 (4.8% of total employment).^[341]

People mainly visit Italy for its rich culture, cuisine, history, fashion, architecture and art.^[342] Winter and summer tourism are present in many locations in the Alps and the Apennines,^[343] while seaside tourism is widespread in coastal locations on the Mediterranean Sea.^[344]

Italy is also the country with the highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world (58).^[345] Rome is the 3rd most visited city in Europe and the 12th in the world, with 9.4 million arrivals in 2017 while Milan is the 27th worldwide with 6.8 million tourists.^[346] In addition, Venice and Florence are also among the world's top 100 destinations.

Demographics

At the beginning of 2020, Italy had 60,317,116 inhabitants.^[4] The resulting population density, at 202 inhabitants per square kilometre (520/sq mi), is higher than that of most Western European countries. However, the distribution of the population is widely uneven. The most densely populated areas are the Po Valley (that accounts for almost a half of the national population) and the metropolitan areas of Rome and Naples, while vast regions such as the Alps and Apennines highlands, the plateaus of Basilicata and the island of Sardinia, as well as much of Sicily, are sparsely populated.

The population of Italy almost doubled during the 20th century, but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven because of large-scale internal migration from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North, a phenomenon which happened as a consequence of the Italian economic miracle of the 1950–1960s. High fertility and birth rates persisted until the 1970s, after which they started to decline. The population rapidly aged; by 2010, one in five Italians was over 65 years old, and the country currently has the fifth oldest population in the world, with a median age of 46.5 years.^[265][347] However, in recent years Italy has experienced significant growth in birth rates.^[348] The total fertility rate has also climbed from an all-time low of 1.18 children per woman in 1995 to 1.41 in 2008,^[349] albeit still below the replacement rate of 2.1 and considerably below the high of 5.06 children born per woman in 1883.^[350] Nevertheless, the total fertility rate is expected to reach 1.6–1.8 in 2030.^[351]

From the late 19th century until the 1960s Italy was a country of mass emigration. Between 1898 and 1914, the peak years of Italian diaspora, approximately 750,000 Italians emigrated each year.^[352] The diaspora concerned more than 25 million Italians and it is considered the biggest mass migration of contemporary times.^[353] As a result, today more than 4.1 million Italian citizens are living abroad,^[354] while at least 60 million people of full or part Italian ancestry live outside of Italy, most notably in Argentina,^[355] Brazil,^[356] Uruguay,^[357] Venezuela,^[358] the United States,^[359] Canada,^[360] Australia^[361] and France.^[362]

Metropolitan cities and larger urban zone

Source:^[363][364]

Metropolitan city	Region	Area (km2)	Population (1 January 2019)	Functional Urban Areas (FUA) Population (2016)
Rome	Lazio	5,352	4,342,212	4,414,288
Milan	Lombardy	1,575	3,250,315	5,111,481
Naples	Campania	1,171	3,084,890	3,418,061
Turin	Piedmont	6,829	2,259,523	1,769,475
Palermo	Sicily	5,009	1,252,588	1,033,226
Bari	Apulia	3,821	1,251,994	749,723
Catania	Sicily	3,574	1,107,702	658,805
Florence	Tuscany	3,514	1,011,349	807,896
Bologna	Emilia-Romagna	3,702	1,014,619	775,247
Genoa	Liguria	1,839	841,180	713,243
Venice	Veneto	2,462	853,338	561,697
Messina	Sicily	3,266	626,876	273,680
Reggio Calabria	Calabria	3,183	548,009	221,139
Cagliari	Sardinia	1,248	431,038	488,954

Immigration

In 2016, Italy had about 5.05 million foreign residents,^[365] making up 8.3% of the total population. The figures include more than half a million children born in Italy to foreign nationals (second generation immigrants) but exclude foreign nationals who have subsequently acquired Italian citizenship;^[366] in 2016, about 201,000 people became Italian citizens.^[367] The official figures also exclude illegal immigrants, who estimated to number at least 670,000 as of 2008.^[368]

Starting from the early 1980s, until then a linguistically and culturally homogeneous society, Italy begun to attract substantial flows of foreign immigrants.^[369] After the fall of the Berlin Wall and, more recently, the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union, large waves of migration originated from the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe (especially Romania, Albania, Ukraine and Poland). Another source of immigration is neighbouring North Africa (in particular, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia), with soaring arrivals as a consequence of the Arab Spring. Furthermore, in recent years, growing migration fluxes from Asia-Pacific (notably China^[370] and the Philippines) and Latin America have been recorded.

Currently, about one million Romanian citizens (around 10% of them being ethnic Romani people^[371]) are officially registered as living in Italy, representing the largest migrant population, followed by Albanians and Moroccans with about 500,000 people each. The number of unregistered Romanians is difficult to estimate, but the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network suggested in 2007 that there might have been half a million or more.^{[372][note 1]}

As of 2010, the foreign born population of Italy was from the following regions: Europe (54%), Africa (22%), Asia (16%), the Americas (8%) and Oceania (0.06%). The distribution of foreign population is geographically varied in Italy: in 2020, 61.2% of foreign citizens lived in Northern Italy (in particular 36.1% in the North West and 25.1% in the North East), 24.2% in the Centre, 10.8% in the South and 3.9% in the Islands.^[374]

Languages

Italy's official language is Italian, as stated by the framework law no. 482/1999^[375] and Trentino Alto-Adige's special Statute,^[376] which is adopted with a constitutional law. Around the world there are an estimated 64 million native Italian speakers^{[377][378][379]} and another 21 million who use it as a second language.^[380] Italian is often natively spoken in a regional variety, not to be confused with Italy's regional and minority languages;^[381][382] however, the establishment of a national education system led to a decrease in variation in the languages spoken across the country during the 20th century. Standardisation was further expanded in the 1950s and 1960s due to economic growth and the rise of mass media and television (the state broadcaster RAI helped set a standard Italian).

Twelve "historical minority languages" (minoranze linguistiche storiche) are formally recognised: Albanian, Catalan, German, Greek, Slovene, Croatian, French, Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Ladin, Occitan and Sardinian.^[375] Four of these also enjoy a co-official status in their respective region: French in the Aosta Valley;^[383] German in South Tyrol, and Ladin as well in some parts of the same province and in parts of the neighbouring Trentino;^[384] and Slovene in the provinces of Trieste, Gorizia and Udine.^[385] A number of other Ethnologue, ISO and UNESCO languages are not recognised by Italian law. Like France, Italy has signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, but has not ratified it.^[386]

Because of recent immigration, Italy has sizeable populations whose native language is not Italian, nor a regional language. According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics, Romanian is the most common mother tongue among foreign residents in Italy: almost 800,000 people speak Romanian as their first language (21.9% of the foreign residents aged 6 and over). Other prevalent mother tongues are Arabic (spoken by over 475,000 people; 13.1% of foreign residents), Albanian (380,000 people) and Spanish (255,000 people).^[387]

Religion

In 2017, the proportion of Italians who identified themselves as Roman Catholic Christians was 74.4%.^[388] Since 1985, Catholicism is no longer officially the state religion.^[389] Italy has the world's fifth-largest Catholic population, and is the largest Catholic nation in Europe.^[390]

The Holy See, the episcopal jurisdiction of Rome, contains the central government of the Catholic Church. It is recognised by other subjects of international law as a sovereign entity, headed by the Pope, who is also the Bishop of Rome, with which diplomatic relations can be maintained.^[391][392] Often incorrectly referred to as "the Vatican", the Holy See is not the same entity as the Vatican City State because the Holy See is the jurisdiction and administrative entity of the Pope.^[393] The Vatican City came into existence only in 1929.

In 2011, minority Christian faiths in Italy included an estimated 1.5 million Orthodox Christians, or 2.5% of the population;^[394] 500,000 Pentecostals and Evangelicals (of whom 400,000 are members of the Assemblies of God), 251,192 Jehovah's Witnesses,^[395] 30,000 Waldensians,^[396] 25,000 Seventh-day Adventists, 26,925 Latter-day Saints, 15,000 Baptists (plus some 5,000 Free Baptists), 7,000 Lutherans, 4,000 Methodists (affiliated with the Waldensian Church).^[397]

One of the longest-established minority religious faiths in Italy is Judaism, Jews having been present in Ancient Rome since before the birth of Christ. Italy has for centuries welcomed Jews expelled from other countries, notably Spain. However, about 20% of Italian Jews were killed during the Holocaust.^[398] This, together with the emigration which preceded and followed World War II, has left only around 28,400 Jews in Italy.^[399]

Soaring immigration in the last two decades has been accompanied by an increase in non-Christian faiths. Following immigration from the Indian subcontinent, in Italy there are 120,000 Hindus,^[400] 70,000 Sikhs and 22 gurdwaras across the country.^[401]

The Italian state, as a measure to protect religious freedom, devolves shares of income tax to recognised religious communities, under a regime known as Eight per thousand. Donations are allowed to Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu communities; however, Islam remains excluded, since no Muslim communities have yet signed a concordat with the Italian state.^[402] Taxpayers who do not wish to fund a religion contribute their share to the state welfare system.^[403]

Education

Education in Italy is free and mandatory from ages six to sixteen,^[404] and consists of five stages: kindergarten (scuola dell'infanzia), primary school (scuola primaria), lower secondary school (scuola secondaria di primo grado), upper secondary school (scuola secondaria di secondo grado) and university (università).^[405]

Primary education lasts eight years. Students are given a basic education in Italian, English, mathematics, natural sciences, history, geography, social studies, physical education and visual and musical arts. Secondary education lasts for five years and includes three traditional types of schools focused on different academic levels: the liceo prepares students for university studies with a classical or scientific curriculum, while the istituto tecnico and the Istituto professionale prepare pupils for vocational education.

In 2018, the Italian secondary education was evaluated as below the OECD average.^[406] Italy scored below the OECD average in reading and science, and near OECD average in mathematics. Mean performance in Italy declined in reading and science, and remained stable in mathematics.^[406] Trento and Bolzano scored at an above the national average in reading.^[406] Compared to school children the other OECD countries, children in Italy missed out on a greater amount of learning due to absences and indiscipline in classrooms.^[407] A wide gap exists between northern schools, which perform near average, and schools in the South, that had much poorer results.^[408]

Tertiary education in Italy is divided between public universities, private universities and the prestigious and selective superior graduate schools, such as the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. 33 Italian universities were ranked among the world's top 500 in 2019, the third-largest number in Europe after the United Kingdom and Germany.^[409] Bologna University, founded in 1088, is the oldest university in continuous operation,^[410] as well as one of the leading academic institutions in Italy and Europe.^[411] The Bocconi University, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, LUISS, Polytechnic University of Turin, Polytechnic University of Milan, Sapienza University of Rome, and University of Milan are also ranked among the best in the world.^[412]

Health

The Italian state runs a universal public healthcare system since 1978.^[414] However, healthcare is provided to all citizens and residents by a mixed public-private system. The public part is the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, which is organised under the Ministry of Health and administered on a devolved regional basis. Healthcare spending in Italy accounted for 9.2% of the national GDP in 2012, close to the OECD countries' average of 9.3%.^[415] Italy in 2000 ranked as having the world's 2nd best healthcare system,^[414][416] and the world's 2nd best healthcare performance.

Life expectancy in Italy is 80 for males and 85 for females, placing the country 5th in the world for life expectancy.^[417] In comparison to other Western countries, Italy has a relatively low rate of adult obesity (below 10%^[418]), as there are several health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.^[419] The proportion of daily smokers was 22% in 2012, down from 24.4% in 2000 but still slightly above the OECD average.^[415] Smoking in public places including bars, restaurants, night clubs and offices has been restricted to specially ventilated rooms since 2005.^[420] In 2013, UNESCO added the Mediterranean diet to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of Italy (promoter), Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Croatia.^[421][422]

North-South gap

In the decades following the unification of Italy, the northern regions of the country, Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria in particular, began a process of industrialization and economic development while the southern regions remained behind.^[423] The imbalance between North and South, which widened steadily in the first post-unification century, was reduced in the sixties and seventies also through the construction of public works, the implementation of agrarian and scholastic reforms,^[424] the expansion of industrialization and the improved living conditions of the population. This convergence process was interrupted, however, in the 1980s. To date, the per capita GDP of the South is just 58% of that of the Center-North,^[425] but this gap is mitigated by the fact that there the cost of living is, in average, around 10-15% lower (with even more differences between small towns and big cities) than that in the North of Italy.^[426] In the South the unemployment rate is more than double (6.7% in the North against 14.9% in the South).^[427]

A study by Censis blames the pervasive presence of criminal organizations for the delay of Southern Italy, estimating an annual loss of wealth of 2.5% in the South in the period 1981–2003 due to their presence, and that without them the per capita GDP of the South would have reached that of the North.^[428]

Culture

Italy is considered one of the birthplaces of western civilization and a cultural superpower.^[429] Divided by politics and geography for centuries until its eventual unification in 1861, Italy's culture has been shaped by a multitude of regional customs and local centres of power and patronage.^[430] Italy has had a central role in Western culture for centuries and is still recognised for its cultural traditions and artists. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a number of courts competed to attract architects, artists and scholars, thus producing a legacy of monuments, paintings, music and literature. Despite the political and social isolation of these courts, Italy has made a substantial contribution to the cultural and historical heritage of Europe.^[431]

Italy has rich collections of art, culture and literature from many periods. The country has had a broad cultural influence worldwide, also because numerous Italians emigrated to other places during the Italian diaspora. Furthermore, Italy has, overall, an estimated 100,000 monuments of any sort (museums, palaces, buildings, statues, churches, art galleries, villas, fountains, historic houses and archaeological remains),^[432] and according to some estimates the nation is home to half the world's art treasures.^[433]

Architecture

Italy is known for its considerable architectural achievements,^[434] such as the construction of arches, domes and similar structures during ancient Rome, the founding of the Renaissance architectural movement in the late-14th to 16th centuries, and being the homeland of Palladianism, a style of construction which inspired movements such as that of Neoclassical architecture, and influenced the designs which noblemen built their country houses all over the world, notably in the UK, Australia and the US during the late 17th to early 20th centuries.

Along with pre-historic architecture, the first people in Italy to truly begin a sequence of designs were the Greeks and the Etruscans, progressing to classical Roman,^[435] then to the revival of the classical Roman era during the Renaissance and evolving into the Baroque era. The Christian concept of a Basilica, a style of church architecture that came to dominate the early Middle Ages, was invented in Rome. They were known for being long, rectangular buildings, which were built in an almost ancient Roman style, often rich in mosaics and decorations. The early Christians' art and architecture was also widely inspired by that of the pagan Romans; statues, mosaics and paintings decorated all their churches.^[436] The first significant buildings in the medieval Romanesque style were churches built in Italy during the 800s. Byzantine architecture was also widely diffused in Italy. The Byzantines kept Roman principles of architecture and art alive, and the most famous structure from this period is the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice.

The Romanesque movement, which went from approximately 800 AD to 1100 AD, was one of the most fruitful and creative periods in Italian architecture, when several masterpieces, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the Piazza dei Miracoli, and the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan were built. It was known for its usage of the Roman arches, stained glass windows, and also its curved columns which commonly featured in cloisters. The main innovation of Italian Romanesque architecture was the vault, which had never been seen before in the history of Western architecture.^[437]

A flowering of Italian architecture took place during the Renaissance. Filippo Brunelleschi contributed to architectural design with his dome for the Cathedral of Florence, a feat of engineering that had not been accomplished since antiquity.^[438] A popular achievement of Italian Renaissance architecture was St. Peter's Basilica, originally designed by Donato Bramante in the early 16th century. Also, Andrea Palladio influenced architects throughout western Europe with the villas and palaces he designed in the middle and late 16th century; the city of Vicenza, with its twenty-three buildings designed by Palladio, and twenty-four Palladian Villas of the Veneto are listed by UNESCO as part of a World Heritage Site named City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto.^[439]

The Baroque period produced several outstanding Italian architects in the 17th century, especially known for their churches. The most original work of all late Baroque and Rococo architecture is the Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi, dating back to the 18th century.^[440] Luigi Vanvitelli began in 1752 the construction of the Royal Palace of Caserta. In this large complex, the grandiose Baroque style interiors and gardens are opposed to a more sober building envelope.^[441] In the late 18th and early 19th centuries Italy was affected by the Neoclassical architectural movement. Villas, palaces, gardens, interiors and art began to be based on Roman and Greek themes.^[442]

During the Fascist period, the so-called "Novecento movement" flourished, based on the rediscovery of imperial Rome, with figures such as Gio Ponti and Giovanni Muzio. Marcello Piacentini, responsible for the urban transformations of several cities in Italy and remembered for the disputed Via della Conciliazione in Rome, devised a form of simplified Neoclassicism.^[443]

Visual art

The history of Italian visual arts is significant to the history of Western painting. Roman art was influenced by Greece and can in part be taken as a descendant of ancient Greek painting. Roman painting does have its own unique characteristics. The only surviving Roman paintings are wall paintings, many from villas in Campania, in Southern Italy. Such paintings can be grouped into four main "styles" or periods^[444] and may contain the first examples of trompe-l'œil, pseudo-perspective, and pure landscape.^[445]

Panel painting becomes more common during the Romanesque period, under the heavy influence of Byzantine icons. Towards the middle of the 13th century, Medieval art and Gothic painting became more realistic, with the beginnings of interest in the depiction of volume and perspective in Italy with Cimabue and then his pupil Giotto. From Giotto onwards, the treatment of composition in painting became much more free and innovative.

The Italian Renaissance is said by many to be the golden age of painting; roughly spanning the 14th through the mid-17th centuries with a significant influence also out of the borders of modern Italy. In Italy artists like Paolo Uccello, Fra Angelico, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Andrea Mantegna, Filippo Lippi, Giorgione, Tintoretto, Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raphael, Giovanni Bellini, and Titian took painting to a higher level through the use of perspective, the study of human anatomy and proportion, and through their development of refined drawing and painting techniques. Michelangelo was active as a sculptor from about 1500 to 1520; works include his David, Pietà, Moses. Other Renaissance sculptors include Lorenzo Ghiberti, Luca Della Robbia, Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi and Andrea del Verrocchio.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the High Renaissance gave rise to a stylised art known as Mannerism. In place of the balanced compositions and rational approach to perspective that characterised art at the dawn of the 16th century, the Mannerists sought instability, artifice, and doubt. The unperturbed faces and gestures of Piero della Francesca and the calm Virgins of Raphael are replaced by the troubled expressions of Pontormo and the emotional intensity of El Greco.

In the 17th century, among the greatest painters of Italian Baroque are Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, Artemisia Gentileschi, Mattia Preti, Carlo Saraceni and Bartolomeo Manfredi. Subsequently, in the 18th century, Italian Rococo was mainly inspired by French Rococo, since France was the founding nation of that particular style, with artists such as Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Canaletto. Italian Neoclassical sculpture focused, with Antonio Canova's nudes, on the idealist aspect of the movement.

In the 19th century, major Italian Romantic painters were Francesco Hayez, Giuseppe Bezzuoli and Francesco Podesti. Impressionism was brought from France to Italy by the Macchiaioli, led by Giovanni Fattori, and Giovanni Boldini; Realism by Gioacchino Toma and Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo. In the 20th century, with Futurism, primarily through the works of Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla, Italy rose again as a seminal country for artistic evolution in painting and sculpture. Futurism was succeeded by the metaphysical paintings of Giorgio de Chirico, who exerted a strong influence on the Surrealists and generations of artists to follow like Bruno Caruso and Renato Guttuso.

Literature

Formal Latin literature began in 240 BC, when the first stage play was performed in Rome.^[446] Latin literature was, and still is, highly influential in the world, with numerous writers, poets, philosophers, and historians, such as Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger, Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Ovid and Livy. The Romans were also famous for their oral tradition, poetry, drama and epigrams.^[447] In early years of the 13th century, St. Francis of Assisi was considered the first Italian poet by literary critics, with his religious song Canticle of the Sun.^[448]

Another Italian voice originated in Sicily. At the court of Emperor Frederick II, who ruled the Sicilian kingdom during the first half of the 13th century, lyrics modelled on Provençal forms and themes were written in a refined version of the local vernacular. One of these poets was the notary Giacomo da Lentini, inventor of the sonnet form, though the most famous early sonneteer was Petrarch.^[449]

Guido Guinizelli is considered the founder of the Dolce Stil Novo, a school that added a philosophical dimension to traditional love poetry. This new understanding of love, expressed in a smooth, pure style, influenced Guido Cavalcanti and the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri, who established the basis of the modern Italian language; his greatest work, the Divine Comedy, is considered among the foremost literary statements produced in Europe during the Middle Ages; furthermore, the poet invented the difficult terza rima. Two major writers of the 14th century, Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio, sought out and imitated the works of antiquity and cultivated their own artistic personalities. Petrarch achieved fame through his collection of poems, Il Canzoniere. Petrarch's love poetry served as a model for centuries. Equally influential was Boccaccio's The Decameron, one of the most popular collections of short stories ever written.^[450]

Italian Renaissance authors produced works including Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, an essay on political science and modern philosophy in which the "effectual truth" is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal; Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's unfinished romance Orlando Innamorato; and Baldassare Castiglione's dialogue The Book of the Courtier which describes the ideal of the perfect court gentleman and of spiritual beauty. The lyric poet Torquato Tasso in Jerusalem Delivered wrote a Christian epic in ottava rima, with attention to the Aristotelian canons of unity.

Giovanni Francesco Straparola and Giambattista Basile, which have written The Facetious Nights of Straparola (1550–1555) and the Pentamerone (1634) respectively, printed some of the first known versions of fairy tales in Europe.^{[451][452][453]} In the early 17th century, some literary masterpieces were created, such as Giambattista Marino's long mythological poem, L'Adone. The Baroque period also produced the clear scientific prose of Galileo as well as Tommaso Campanella's The City of the Sun, a description of a perfect society ruled by a philosopher-priest. At the end of the 17th century, the Arcadians began a movement to restore simplicity and classical restraint to poetry, as in Metastasio's heroic melodramas. In the 18th century, playwright Carlo Goldoni created full written plays, many portraying the middle class of his day.

The Romanticism coincided with some ideas of the Risorgimento, the patriotic movement that brought Italy political unity and freedom from foreign domination. Italian writers embraced Romanticism in the early 19th century. The time of Italy's rebirth was heralded by the poets Vittorio Alfieri, Ugo Foscolo, and Giacomo Leopardi. The works by Alessandro Manzoni, the leading Italian Romantic, are a symbol of the Italian unification for their patriotic message and because of his efforts in the development of the modern, unified Italian language; his novel The Betrothed was the first Italian historical novel to glorify Christian values of justice and Providence, and it has been called the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language.^[456]

In the late 19th century, a realistic literary movement called Verismo played a major role in Italian literature; Giovanni Verga and Luigi Capuana were its main exponents. In the same period, Emilio Salgari, writer of action-adventure swashbucklers and a pioneer of science fiction, published his Sandokan series.^[457] In 1883, Carlo Collodi also published the novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, the most celebrated children's classic by an Italian author and one the most translated non-religious books in the world.^[454] A movement called Futurism influenced Italian literature in the early 20th century. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti wrote Manifesto of Futurism, called for the use of language and metaphors that glorified the speed, dynamism, and violence of the machine age.^[458]

Modern literary figures and Nobel laureates are Gabriele D'Annunzio from 1889 to 1910, nationalist poet Giosuè Carducci in 1906, realist writer Grazia Deledda in 1926, modern theatre author Luigi Pirandello in 1936, short stories writer Italo Calvino in 1960, poets Salvatore Quasimodo in 1959 and Eugenio Montale in 1975, Umberto Eco in 1980, and satirist and theatre author Dario Fo in 1997.^[459]

Philosophy

Over the ages, Italian philosophy and literature had a vast influence on Western philosophy, beginning with the Greeks and Romans, and going onto Renaissance humanism, the Age of Enlightenment and modern philosophy.^[460] Philosophy was brought to Italy by Pythagoras, founder of the Italian school of philosophy in Crotone.^[461] Major Italian philosophers of the Greek period include Xenophanes, Parmenides, Zeno, Empedocles and Gorgias. Roman philosophers include Cicero, Lucretius, Seneca the Younger, Musonius Rufus, Plutarch, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Clement of Alexandria, Sextus Empiricus, Alexander of Aphrodisias, Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Augustine of Hippo, Philoponus of Alexandria and Boethius.^[460]

Italian Medieval philosophy was mainly Christian, and included philosophers and theologians such as St Thomas Aquinas, the foremost classical proponent of natural theology and the father of Thomism, who reintroduced Aristotelian philosophy to Christianity.^[466] Notable Renaissance philosophers include: Giordano Bruno, one of the major scientific figures of the western world; Marsilio Ficino, one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the period; and Niccolò Machiavelli, one of the main founders of modern political science. Machiavelli's most famous work was The Prince, whose contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political realism and political idealism.^[467] Italy was also affected by the Enlightenment, a movement which was a consequence of the Renaissance.^[468] University cities such as Padua, Bologna and Naples remained centres of scholarship and the intellect, with several philosophers such as Giambattista Vico (widely regarded as being the founder of modern Italian philosophy)^[469] and Antonio Genovesi.^[468] Cesare Beccaria was a significant Enlightenment figure and is now considered one of the fathers of classical criminal theory as well as modern penology.^[464] Beccaria is famous for his On Crimes and Punishments (1764), a treatise that served as one of the earliest prominent condemnations of torture and the death penalty and thus a landmark work in anti-death penalty philosophy.^[468]

Italy also had a renowned philosophical movement in the 1800s, with Idealism, Sensism and Empiricism. The main Sensist Italian philosophers were Melchiorre Gioja and Gian Domenico Romagnosi.^[469] Criticism of the Sensist movement came from other philosophers such as Pasquale Galluppi (1770–1846), who affirmed that a priori relationships were synthetic.^[469] Antonio Rosmini, instead, was the founder of Italian Idealism. During the late 19th and 20th centuries, there were also several other movements which gained some form of popularity in Italy, such as Ontologism (whose main philosopher was Vincenzo Gioberti),^[470] anarchism, communism, socialism, futurism, fascism and Christian democracy. Giovanni Gentile and Benedetto Croce were two of the most significant 20th-century Idealist philosophers. Anarcho-communism first fully formed into its modern strain within the Italian section of the First International.^[471] Antonio Gramsci remains a relevant philosopher within Marxist and communist theory, credited with creating the theory of cultural hegemony. Italian philosophers were also influential in the development of the non-Marxist liberal socialism philosophy, including Carlo Rosselli, Norberto Bobbio, Piero Gobetti and Aldo Capitini. In the 1960s, many Italian left-wing activists adopted the anti-authoritarian pro-working class leftist theories that would become known as autonomism and operaismo.^[472]

Early Italian feminists include Sibilla Aleramo, Alaide Gualberta Beccari, and Anna Maria Mozzoni, though proto-feminist philosophies had previously been touched upon by earlier Italian writers such as Christine de Pizan, Moderata Fonte, and Lucrezia Marinella. Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori is credited with the creation of the philosophy of education that bears her name, an educational philosophy now practiced throughout the world.^[465] Giuseppe Peano was one of the founders of analytic philosophy and contemporary philosophy of mathematics. Recent analytic philosophers include Carlo Penco, Gloria Origgi, Pieranna Garavaso and Luciano Floridi.^[460]

Theatre

Italian theatre can be traced back to the Roman tradition. The theatre of ancient Rome was a thriving and diverse art form, ranging from festival performances of street theatre, nude dancing, and acrobatics, to the staging of Plautus's broadly appealing situation comedies, to the high-style, verbally elaborate tragedies of Seneca. Although Rome had a native tradition of performance, the Hellenization of Roman culture in the 3rd century BCE had a profound and energising effect on Roman theatre and encouraged the development of Latin literature of the highest quality for the stage. As with many other literary genres, Roman dramatists was heavily influenced or tended to adapt from the Greek. For example, Seneca's Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander.^[473]

During the 16th century and on into the 18th century, Commedia dell'arte was a form of improvisational theatre, and it is still performed today. Travelling troupes of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide amusement in the form of juggling, acrobatics and, more typically, humorous plays based on a repertoire of established characters with a rough storyline, called canovaccio. Plays did not originate from written drama but from scenarios called lazzi, which were loose frameworks that provided the situations, complications, and outcome of the action, around which the actors would improvise. The characters of the commedia usually represent fixed social types and stock characters, each of which has a distinct costume, such as foolish old men, devious servants, or military officers full of false bravado. The main categories of these characters include servants, old men, lovers, and captains.^[474]

The first recorded Commedia dell'arte performances came from Rome as early as 1551,^[475] and was performed outdoors in temporary venues by professional actors who were costumed and masked, as opposed to commedia erudita, which were written comedies, presented indoors by untrained and unmasked actors.^[476] By the mid-16th century, specific troupes of commedia performers began to coalesce, and by 1568 the Gelosi became a distinct company. Commedia often performed inside in court theatres or halls, and also as some fixed theatres such as Teatro Baldrucca in Florence. Flaminio Scala, who had been a minor performer in the Gelosi published the scenarios of the commedia dell'arte around the start of the 17th century, really in an effort to legitimise the form—and ensure its legacy. These scenari are highly structured and built around the symmetry of the various types in duet: two zanni, vecchi, inamorate and inamorati, among others.^[477]

In commedia dell'arte, female roles were played by women, documented as early as the 1560s, making them the first known professional actresses in Europe since antiquity. Lucrezia Di Siena, whose name is on a contract of actors from 10 October 1564, has been referred to as the first Italian actress known by name, with Vincenza Armani and Barbara Flaminia as the first primadonnas and the first well documented actresses in Europe.^[480]

The Ballet dance genre also originated in Italy. It began during the Italian Renaissance court as an outgrowth of court pageantry,^[481] where aristocratic weddings were lavish celebrations. Court musicians and dancers collaborated to provide elaborate entertainment for them.^[482] Domenico da Piacenza was one of the first dancing masters. Along with his students, Antonio Cornazzano and Guglielmo Ebreo, he was trained in dance and responsible for teaching nobles the art. Da Piacenza left one work: De arte saltandi et choreus ducendi (On the art of dancing and conducting dances), which was put together by his students.

At first, ballets were woven in to the midst of an opera to allow the audience a moment of relief from the dramatic intensity. By the mid-seventeenth century, Italian ballets in their entirety were performed in between the acts of an opera. Over time, Italian ballets became part of theatrical life: ballet companies in Italy's major opera houses employed an average of four to twelve dancers; in 1815 many companies employed anywhere from eighty to one hundred dancers.^[483]

Carlo Goldoni, who wrote a few scenarios starting in 1734, superseded the comedy of masks and the comedy of intrigue by representations of actual life and manners through the characters and their behaviours. He rightly maintained that Italian life and manners were susceptible of artistic treatment such as had not been given them before. Italian theatre has been active in producing contemporary European work and in staging revivals, including the works of Luigi Pirandello and Dario Fo.

The Teatro di San Carlo in Naples is the oldest continuously active venue for public opera in the world, opening in 1737, decades before both the Milan's La Scala and Venice's La Fenice theatres.^[484]

Music

From folk music to classical, music is an intrinsic part of Italian culture. Instruments associated with classical music, including the piano and violin, were invented in Italy,^[487][488] and many of the prevailing classical music forms, such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata, can trace their roots back to innovations of 16th- and 17th-century Italian music.

Italy's most famous composers include the Renaissance composers Palestrina, Monteverdi and Gesualdo, the Baroque composers Scarlatti, Corelli and Vivaldi, the Classical composers Paisiello, Paganini and Rossini, and the Romantic composers Verdi and Puccini. Modern Italian composers such as Berio and Nono proved significant in the development of experimental and electronic music. While the classical music tradition still holds strong in Italy, as evidenced by the fame of its innumerable opera houses, such as La Scala of Milan and San Carlo of Naples (the oldest continuously active venue for public opera in the world),^[484] and performers such as the pianist Maurizio Pollini and tenor Luciano Pavarotti, Italians have been no less appreciative of their thriving contemporary music scene.

Italy is widely known for being the birthplace of opera.^[490] Italian opera was believed to have been founded in the early 17th century, in cities such as Mantua and Venice.^[490] Later, works and pieces composed by native Italian composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini, are among the most famous operas ever written and today are performed in opera houses across the world. La Scala operahouse in Milan is also renowned as one of the best in the world. Famous Italian opera singers include Enrico Caruso and Alessandro Bonci.

Introduced in the early 1920s, jazz took a particularly strong foothold in Italy, and remained popular despite the xenophobic cultural policies of the Fascist regime. Today, the most notable centres of jazz music in Italy include Milan, Rome, and Sicily. Later, Italy was at the forefront of the progressive rock and pop movement of the 1970s, with bands like PFM, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Le Orme, Goblin, and Pooh.^[491] The same period saw diversification in the cinema of Italy, and Cinecittà films included complex scores by composers including Ennio Morricone, Armando Trovaioli, Piero Piccioni and Piero Umiliani. In the early 1980s, the first star to emerge from the Italian hip hop scene was singer Jovanotti.^[492] Italian metal bands include Rhapsody of Fire, Lacuna Coil, Elvenking, Forgotten Tomb, and Fleshgod Apocalypse.

Italy contributed to the development of disco and electronic music, with Italo disco, known for its futuristic sound and prominent use of synthesisers and drum machines, being one of the earliest electronic dance genres, as well as European forms of disco aside from Euro disco (which later went on to influence several genres such as Eurodance and Nu-disco).^[494] By the latter half of the 1990s, a subgenre of Eurodance known as Italo dance emerged. Taking influences from Italo disco and Italo house, Italo dance generally included synthesizer riffs, a melodic sound, and the usage of vocoders. Notable Italian DJs and remixers include Gabry Ponte (member of the group Eiffel 65), Benny Benassi, Gigi D'Agostino, and the trio Tacabro.

Producers such as Giorgio Moroder, who won three Academy Awards and four Golden Globes for his music, were highly influential in the development of electronic dance music.^[493] Today, Italian pop music is represented annually with the Sanremo Music Festival, which served as inspiration for the Eurovision song contest, and the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto.^[495] Singers such as Mina, Andrea Bocelli, Grammy winner Laura Pausini, Zucchero, Eros Ramazzotti and Tiziano Ferro have attained international acclaim.

Gigliola Cinquetti, Toto Cutugno, and Måneskin have won the Eurovision Song Contest, in 1964, 1990, and 2021 respectively.

Cinema

The history of Italian cinema began a few months after the Lumière brothers began motion picture exhibitions.^[496][497] The first Italian director is considered to be Vittorio Calcina, a collaborator of the Lumière Brothers, who filmed Pope Leo XIII in 1896.^[498] In the 1910s the Italian film industry developed rapidly.^[499] In 1912, the year of the greatest expansion, 569 films were produced in Turin, 420 in Rome and 120 in Milan.^[500] Cabiria, a 1914 Italian epic film directed by Giovanni Pastrone, is considered the most famous Italian silent film.^[499][501] It was also the first film in history to be shown in the White House.^{[502][503][504]} Cinema was later used by Benito Mussolini, who founded Rome's renowned Cinecittà studio for the production of Fascist propaganda until World War II.^[505]

After the war, Italian film was widely recognised and exported until an artistic decline around the 1980s.^[506] Notable Italian film directors from this period include Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni, Dussio Tessari and Roberto Rossellini; some of these are recognised among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.^[507][508] Movies include world cinema treasures such as Bicycle Thieves, La dolce vita, 8½, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and Once Upon a Time in the West. The mid-1940s to the early 1950s was the heyday of neorealist films, reflecting the poor condition of post-war Italy.^[509][510]

As the country grew wealthier in the 1950s, a form of neorealism known as pink neorealism succeeded, and other film genres, such as sword-and-sandal followed as Spaghetti Westerns, were popular in the 1960s and 1970s.^[511] Actresses such as Sophia Loren, Giulietta Masina and Gina Lollobrigida achieved international stardom during this period. Erotic Italian thrillers, or giallos, produced by directors such as Mario Bava and Dario Argento in the 1970s, also influenced the horror genre worldwide.^[512] In recent years, the Italian scene has received only occasional international attention, with movies like Cinema Paradiso written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, Mediterraneo directed by Gabriele Salvatores, Life Is Beautiful directed by Roberto Benigni, Il Postino: The Postman with Massimo Troisi and The Great Beauty directed by Paolo Sorrentino.^[513]

The aforementioned Cinecittà studio is today the largest film and television production facility in Italy, where many international box office hits were filmed. In the 1950s, the number of international productions being made there led to Rome's being dubbed "Hollywood on the Tiber". More than 3,000 productions have been made on its lot, of which 90 received an Academy Award nomination and 47 of these won it, from some cinema classics to recent rewarded features (such as Roman Holiday, Ben-Hur, Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, The English Patient, The Passion of the Christ, and Gangs of New York).^[514]

Italy is the most awarded country at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, with 14 awards won, 3 Special Awards and 28 nominations.^[515] As of 2016^[update], Italian films have also won 12 Palmes d'Or,^[516] 11 Golden Lions^[517] and 7 Golden Bears.^[518]

Sport

The most popular sport in Italy is football.^[519][520] Italy's national football team is one of the world's most successful teams with four FIFA World Cup victories (1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006).^[521] Italian clubs have won 48 major European trophies, making Italy the second most successful country in European football. Italy's top-flight club football league is named Serie A and is followed by millions of fans around the world.^[522]

Other popular team sports in Italy include basketball, volleyball and rugby.^[523] Italy's male and female national volleyball teams are often featured among the world's best. The Italian national basketball team's best results were gold at Eurobasket 1983 and EuroBasket 1999, as well as silver at the Olympics in 2004. Lega Basket Serie A is widely considered one of the most competitive in Europe.^[524] Italy's rugby national team competes in the Six Nations Championship, and is a regular at the Rugby World Cup. The men's volleyball team won three consecutive World Championships (in 1990, 1994, and 1998) and earned the Olympic silver medal in 1996, 2004, and 2016.

Italy has a long and successful tradition in individual sports as well. Bicycle racing is a familiar sport in the country.^[526] Italians have won the UCI World Championships more than any other country, except Belgium. The Giro d'Italia is a cycling race held every May, and constitutes one of the three Grand Tours. Alpine skiing is also a widespread sport in Italy, and the country is a popular international skiing destination, known for its ski resorts.^[527] Italian skiers achieved good results in Winter Olympic Games, Alpine Ski World Cup, and tennis has a significant following in Italy, ranking as the fourth most practised sport in the country.^[528] The Rome Masters, founded in 1930, is one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world.^[529] Italian professional tennis players won the Davis Cup in 1976 and the Fed Cup in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2013.

Motorsports are also extremely popular in Italy.^[523] Italy has won, by far, the most MotoGP World Championships. Italian Scuderia Ferrari is the oldest surviving team in Grand Prix racing,^[530] having competed since 1948, and statistically the most successful Formula One team in history with a record of 232 wins. The Italian Grand Prix of Formula 1 is the fifth oldest surviving Grand Prix, having been held since 1921.^[531] It is also one of the two Grand Prix present in every championship since the first one in 1950.^[532] Every Formula 1 Grand Prix (except for the 1980) has been held at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.^[533] Formula 1 was also held at Imola (1980–2006, 2020) and Mugello (2020). Other successful Italian car manufacturers in motorsports are Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati and Fiat.^[534]

Historically, Italy has been successful in the Olympic Games, taking part from the first Olympiad and in 47 Games out of 48, not having officially participated in the 1904 Summer Olympics.^[535] Italian sportsmen have won 522 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, and another 106 at the Winter Olympic Games, for a combined total of 628 medals with 235 golds, which makes them the fifth most successful nation in Olympic history for total medals. The country hosted two Winter Olympics and will host a third (in 1956, 2006, and 2026), and one Summer games (in 1960).

Fashion and design

Italian fashion has a long tradition. Milan, Florence and Rome are Italy's main fashion capitals. According to Top Global Fashion Capital Rankings 2013 by Global Language Monitor, Rome ranked sixth worldwide when Milan was twelfth. Previously, in 2009, Milan was declared as the "fashion capital of the world" by Global Language Monitor itself.^[536] Major Italian fashion labels, such as Gucci, Armani, Prada, Versace, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Fendi, Moschino, Max Mara, Trussardi, and Ferragamo, to name a few, are regarded as among the finest fashion houses in the world. Jewellers like Bvlgari, Damiani and Buccellati have been founded in Italy. Also, the fashion magazine Vogue Italia, is considered one of the most prestigious fashion magazines in the world.^[537] The talent of young, creative fashion is also promoted, as in the ITS young fashion designer competition in Trieste.^[538]

Italy is also prominent in the field of design, notably interior design, architectural design, industrial design and urban design. The country has produced some well-known furniture designers, such as Gio Ponti and Ettore Sottsass, and Italian phrases such as "Bel Disegno" and "Linea Italiana" have entered the vocabulary of furniture design.^[539] Examples of classic pieces of Italian white goods and pieces of furniture include Zanussi's washing machines and fridges,^[540] the "New Tone" sofas by Atrium,^[540] and the post-modern bookcase by Ettore Sottsass, inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again".^[540] Today, Milan and Turin are the nation's leaders in architectural design and industrial design. The city of Milan hosts Fiera Milano, Europe's largest design fair.^[541] Milan also hosts major design and architecture-related events and venues, such as the "Fuori Salone" and the Salone del Mobile, and has been home to the designers Bruno Munari, Lucio Fontana, Enrico Castellani and Piero Manzoni.^[542]

Cuisine

The Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BC. Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, and Jewish.^[543] Significant changes occurred with the discovery of the New World with the introduction of items such as potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers and maize, now central to the cuisine but not introduced in quantity until the 18th century.^[544][545] Italian cuisine is noted for its regional diversity,^{[546][547][548]} abundance of difference in taste, and is known to be one of the most popular in the world,^[549] wielding strong influence abroad.^[550]

The Mediterranean diet forms the basis of Italian cuisine, rich in pasta, fish, fruits and vegetables and characterised by its extreme simplicity and variety, with many dishes having only four to eight ingredients.^[551] Italian cooks rely chiefly on the quality of the ingredients rather than on elaborate preparation.^[552] Dishes and recipes are often derivatives from local and familial tradition rather than created by chefs, so many recipes are ideally suited for home cooking, this being one of the main reasons behind the ever-increasing worldwide popularity of Italian cuisine, from America^[553] to Asia.^[554] Ingredients and dishes vary widely by region.

Italian cuisine relies heavily on traditional products; the country has a large number of traditional specialities protected under EU law.^[555] Cheese, cold cuts and wine are central to Italian cuisine, with many regional declinations and Protected Designation of Origin or Protected Geographical Indication labels, and along with coffee (especially espresso) form part of Italian gastronomic culture.^[556] Desserts have a long tradition of merging local flavours such as citrus fruits, pistachio and almonds with sweet cheeses like mascarpone and ricotta or exotic tastes as cocoa, vanilla and cinnamon. Gelato,^[557] tiramisù^[558] and cassata are among the most famous examples of Italian desserts, cakes and patisserie. The marketing phenomenon of imitation of Italian agri-food products is known by the name of Italian Sounding.^[559]

Public holidays and festivals

Public holidays celebrated in Italy include religious, national and regional observances. Italy's National Day, the Festa della Repubblica (Republic Day) is celebrated on 2 June each year, and commemorates the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946.^[560]

The Saint Lucy's Day, which take place on 13 December, is popular among children in some Italian regions, where she plays a role similar to Santa Claus.^[561] In addition, the Epiphany in Italy is associated with the folkloristic figure of the Befana, a broomstick-riding old woman who, in the night between 5 and 6 January, bringing good children gifts and sweets, and bad ones charcoal or bags of ashes.^[562] The Assumption of Mary coincides with Ferragosto on 15 August, the summer vacation period which may be a long weekend or most of the month.^[563]

Each city or town also celebrates a public holiday on the occasion of the festival of the local patron saint,^[560] for example: Rome on 29 June (Saints Peter and Paul), Milan on 7 December (Saint Ambrose), Naples on 19 September (Saint Januarius), Venice on 25 April (Saint Mark the Evangelist) and Florence on 24 June (Saint John the Baptist).

There are many festivals and festivities in Italy. Some of them include the Palio di Siena horse race, Holy Week rites, Saracen Joust of Arezzo, Saint Ubaldo Day in Gubbio, Giostra della Quintana in Foligno, and the Calcio Fiorentino. In 2013, UNESCO has included among the intangible cultural heritage some Italian festivals and pasos (in Italian "macchine a spalla"), such as the Varia di Palmi, the Macchina di Santa Rosa in Viterbo, the Festa dei Gigli in Nola, and faradda di li candareri in Sassari.^[566]

Other festivals include the carnivals in Venice, Viareggio, Satriano di Lucania, Mamoiada, and Ivrea, mostly known for its Battle of the Oranges. The Venice International Film Festival, awarding the "Golden Lion" and held annually since 1932, is the oldest film festival in the world.^[564]

See also

• Index of Italy-related articles
• Outline of Italy

Notes

References