"Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life." --Anna Akhmatova

The land known as Italy today has been the cradle of many European cultures and peoples, such as the Etruscans and the Romans, and later was the birthplace of the University, the Renaissance that began in Tuscany and spread all over Europe, Vitruvian Man, modern science and astronomy, heliocentrism and Opera. Italy's capital, Rome, was for centuries the center of Western civilization. Italy possessed a colonial empire from the second half of the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.

Today, Italy is a democratic republic and a developed country with the eighth-highest quality of life index rating in the world. It is a founding member of what is now the European Union, having signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957, and it is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is a member of the G8, having the world's seventh-largest nominal GDP, and is also a member state of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Council of Europe, the Western European Union, and the Central European Initiative. Italy is a Schengen state and you may need a Schengen Travel Visa to visit. It has the world's seventh-largest defense budget and shares NATO's nuclear weapons. On 1 January 2007, Italy began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

More about the Schengen Travel Visa HERE

Capital (and largest city) Rome

GPS:  41°54′N 12°29′E / 41.9°N 12.483°E / 41.9; 12.483
Official languages             Italian

Government     
Parliamentary republic
President           Giorgio Napolitano
Prime Minister                 Silvio Berlusconi
Legislature          Parliament
Upper House    Senate
Lower House    Chamber of Deputies

Formation
Unification         17 March 1861
Republic              2 June 1946
EU accession      25 March 1957 (founding member)

Area
Total     301,338 km2 (71st) 116,346 sq mi
Water (%)          2.4

Population
2008 estimate   60,017,677[1] (23rd)
2001 census       57,110,144
Density                199.2/km2 (54th) 515.8/sq mi

GDP (PPP)           2008 estimate
Total     $1,814 trillion[2]
Per capita           $30,581[2]

GDP (nominal) 2008 estimate
Total     $2,313 trillion[2]
Per capita           $38,996[2]

Gini (2000)          36 (medium)

HDI (2008)           ▲ 0.945 (high) (19th)

Currency              Euro (€)(EUR)

Time zone           CET (UTC+1)
Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the     right
Internet TLD       .it3
Calling code        39