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Officially Italian Republic or
Repubblica Italiana, Italy is made up of over
54 million citizens. It is a country in south-central
Europe, occupying a peninsula that juts deep into
the Mediterranean Sea. It has a shape that has often
been referred to as a high-heeled boot about to kick
its triangular island of Sicily, the largest island
in the republic. Another important island, Sardinia,
lies some 160 miles (260 kilometers) west of Italy's
capital Rome.
The
magnificent mountain barrier of the Alps forms a northern
boundary. These mountains separate Italy from France,
Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia and extend all
the way down the Italian peninsula as a less elevated
chain, the Apennines. Plains that are practically
limited to the great northern triangle of the Po Valley
(the Po is Italy’s longest river), cover a mere 21
percent of the total national area of 116,000 square
miles (301,000 square kilometers); 40 percent is hilly
and 39 percent mountainous, providing variations to
the generally temperate climate. The mountainous landscape
of Italy has long influenced political and economic
developments on the peninsula by encouraging the creation
of numerous independent states and by permitting in
many regions only a meager agriculture.
Since World War II, an increasing
number of Italians have abandoned the countryside
for the rapidly industrializing cities, helping the
Italian culture phase from old world values to a more
modern civilization.
The Italian economy now ranks high
in the world. It blends areas in the north that are
self-sufficient thriving industrial regions and southern
regions that were poverty-stricken for many years
but have recently begun to revive their stature. Italian
industry includes every type of production. Services,
particularly tourism, are very important, and efforts
have been made to provide comprehensive networks of
autostrade (express highways).
The peninsula has a proud tradition
dating from antiquity. The period between 1865 and
1946, when Italy was united it was a monarchy. It
then became a parliamentary republic, operating under
the constitution of 1948. The republic is subdivided
into regioni, province, and comuni (“communes”); these
local bodies, especially the regions, which differ
widely in economic development, enjoy a certain autonomy.
A similar diversity characterizes political life.
From the end of World War II to the early 1990s, Italy
had a multiparty system dominated by two large parties—the
Christian Democratic Party (Partito della Democrazia
Cristiana; DC) and the Italian Communist Party (Partito
Comunista Italiano; PCI)—and a number of small but
influential parties. The DC was the dominant governing
party, in various alliances with the smaller parties
of the center and left. The Italian party system underwent
a radical transformation in the early 1990s as a result
of both international and national events.