| IMPORTANT
INFO ABOUT ITALY |
Area: 301,302 sq km (116,333 sq miles).
Population: 56,778,031 (1991).
Population Density: 188.4 per sq km.
Capital: Rome. Population: 2,791,354 (1990).
Language: Italian is the official language. Dialects are
spoken in different regions. German and Ladin are spoken in the South Tyrol region
(bordering Austria). French is spoken in all the border areas from the Riviera to the area
north of Milan (border with France and Switzerland). Slovenian is spoken in the provinces
bordering Slovenia. English, German and French are also spoken in the biggest cities and
resorts by people connected with tourism.
Religion: Roman Catholic with Protestant minorities.
Time: GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Sunday in March to
Saturday before last Sunday in September).
Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz.
Climate: Summer is hot, especially in the south. Spring and autumn
are mild with fine, sunny weather. Winter in the south is much drier and warmer than in
northern and central areas. Mountain regions are colder with heavy winter snowfalls.
Required clothing: Lightweight cottons and linens are worn during the summer, except in
the mountains. Lightweight to mediumweights are worn in the south during winter, while
warmer clothes are worn elsewhere. Alpine wear is advised for winter mountain resorts. Currency: EURO |
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ABOUT ITALY
Italy is situated in Europe and attached in the north to
the European mainland. To the north the Alps separate Italy from France, Switzerland,
Austria and Slovenia.
Northern Italy: The Alpine regions, the Po Plain and the
Ligurian-Etruscan Appennines. Piemonte and Val d'Aosta contain some of the highest
mountains in Europe and are good areas for winter sports. Many rivers flow down
from the mountains towards the Po Basin, passing through the beautiful Italian Lake
District (Maggiore, Como, Garda). The Po Basin, which extends as far south as the bare
slopes of the Appennines, is covered with gravel terraces and rich alluvial soil and has
long been one of Italy's most prosperous regions. To the east, where the River Po flows
into the Adriatic Sea, the plains are little higher than the river itself; artificial (and
occasionally natural) embankments prevent flooding.
Central Italy: The northern part of the Italian peninsula. Tuscany
(Toscana) has a diverse landscape with snow-capped mountains (the Tuscan Appennines), lush
countryside, hills and a long sandy coastline with offshore islands. Le Marche, lying
between the Appennines and the Adriatic coast, is a region of mountains, rivers and small
fertile plains. The even more mountainous regioni (administrative districts) of Abruzzo
and Molise are bordered by Marche to the north and Puglia to the south, and are separated
from the Tyrrhenian Sea and to the west by Lazio and Campania. Umbria is known as the
'green heart of Italy', hilly with broad plains, olive groves and pines. Further south
lies Rome, Italy's capital and largest city. Within its precincts is the Vatican City (see
separate entry on Vatican City).
Southern Italy: Campania consists of flat coastal plains and low
mountains, stretching from Baia Domizia to the Bay of Naples and along a rocky coast to
the Calabria border. Inland, the Appennines are lower, mellowing into the rolling
countryside around Sorrento. The islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida in the Tyrrhenian
Sea are also part of Campania. The south is wilder than the north, with mile upon mile of
olive trees, cool forests and rolling hills. Puglia, the 'heel of the boot', is a
landscape of volcanic hills and isolated marshes. Calabria, the 'toe', is heavily forested
and thinly populated. The Calabrian hills are home to bears and wolves.
The Islands: Sicily (Sicilia), visible across a 3km (2 mile)
strait from mainland Italy, is fertile but mountainous with volcanoes (including the
famous landmark of Mount Etna) and lava fields, and several offshore islands. Sardinia
(Sardegna) has a mountainous landscape, fine sandy beaches and rocky offshore islands.
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