Italy information

Information from http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/it.html

Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula were united under King Victor Emmanuel. His rule came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito Mussolini started a Fascist dictatorship. He caused Italy to lose World War II to Nazi Germany because of his alliance with them. A democratic republic took place in 1946 and the economy revived. Illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, and low incomes and technical standards have been big problems for southern Italy compared to the wealthy northern Italy.

Italy is located in southern Europe, northeast of Tunisia. It is a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea. The total area of Italy is 301,230 square kilometers, including water area, which is 7,210 square kilometers. The exact area of land is 294,020 square kilometers. Italy is slightly larger than the state of Arizona. The population of Italy is 57,998,353 people.

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Munich, Germa...

Picture of Benito Mussolini and Fascist Blackshirt...

birthplace of Benito Mussolini in Predappio, today...

Italy's government is a republic and has 3 forms of governments. The climate of Italy is predominantly Mediterranean, and Alpine in the far north. It is also hot and dry in the south. The terrain of Italy is, mostly rugged and mountainous. It has some plains and coastal lowlands.

The most common religion of Italy is Roman Catholic. There are also mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community. The major languages of Italy are Italian (the official language), German, French, and Slovene

Italy's economy is based on agriculture (2.4%), industry (30%), services (67.6%). Italy's major industries are tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, and ceramics. The major agricultural products are fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives, beef, dairy products, and fish.

The major exports are engineering products, textiles and...