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Italy (Italian: Italia [i'ta:lja] ), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica Italiana [re'pub:lika ita'lja:na]), is a country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and several islands surrounding it. Italy is located in Southern Europe, and is also considered part of Western Europe. A unitary parliamentary republic with Rome as its capital, the country covers a total area of 301,340 km² (116,350 sq mi) and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. Italy has a territorial enclave in Switzerland (Campione) and a maritime exclave in Tunisian waters (Lampedusa). With around 60 million inhabitants, Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union.

Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures. In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout what is now modern-day Italy, the most predominant being the Indo-European Italic peoples who gave the peninsula its name, beginning from the classical era, Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies mostly in insular Italy, Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia of Southern Italy, while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively. An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC, which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People. The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula, eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe, North Africa and Asia. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural, political and religious centre, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a period of more than 200 years during which Italy's law, technology, economy, art, and literature developed. Italy remained the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the empire, whose legacy can also be observed in the global distribution of culture, governments, Christianity and the Latin script. (Full article...)

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The Siege of Nice by a Franco-Ottoman fleet in 1543 (drawing by Toselli, after an engraving by Aeneas Vico)

The Italian War of 1542-1546 was a conflict late in the Italian Wars, pitting Francis I of France and Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Henry VIII of England. The course of the war saw extensive fighting in Italy, France, and the Low Countries, as well as attempted invasions of Spain and England. The conflict was inconclusive and ruinously expensive for the major participants.

The war arose from the failure of the Truce of Nice, which ended the Italian War of 1536-1538, to resolve the long-standing conflict between Charles and Francis--particularly their conflicting claims to the Duchy of Milan. Having found a suitable pretext, Francis once again declared war against his perpetual enemy in 1542. Fighting began at once throughout the Low Countries; the following year saw the Franco-Ottoman alliance's attack on Nice, as well as a series of maneuvers in northern Italy which culminated in the bloody Battle of Ceresole. Charles and Henry then proceeded to invade France, but the long sieges of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Saint-Dizier prevented a decisive offensive against the French. (Full article...)

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South face of the Tofana di Rozes in the Parco naturale regionale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo
Porta Soprana is the best-known gate of the ancient walls of Genoa.
The Forma Urbis Romae is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211.
Youth of Moses by Sandro Botticelli, 1481-82, Sistine Chapel
A section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo
View of Piazzetta San Marco toward Grand Canal of Venice, at dawn, with Doges' Palace on the left and Biblioteca Marciana on the right.
Interior of the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome
Sellajoch, South Tyrol and Trentino (seen from Pordoi Pass), Langkofel on the left, Piz Ciavazes on the right
Dome of Florence Cathedral

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First Italian balloon flight medal

...that the first Italian public balloon flight (see medal) was organised by Count Andreani in Brugherio?

...that the Monte Viso Tunnel is the most ancient tunnel dug through a mountain in Italy?

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Some typical Italian gastronomic products in a window display in Imola.

Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine consisting of the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula since antiquity, and later spread around the world together with waves of Italian diaspora.

Significant changes occurred with the colonization of the Americas and the introduction of potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums, maize and sugar beet - the latter introduced in quantity in the 18th century. Italian cuisine is known for its regional diversity, especially between the north and the south of the Italian peninsula. It offers an abundance of taste, and is one of the most popular and copied in the world. It influenced several cuisines around the world, chiefly that of the United States. (Full article...)

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Pizza Ancient Roman cuisine Pasta Roman cuisine Parmigiano-Reggiano Sicilian cuisine Mozzarella Fettuccine Alfredo Acquacotta Carbonara Gelato Marron glacé Minestrone Pizza di Pasqua Chianti Food and dining in the Roman Empire Espresso Italian wine Testaroli Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale

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The following are images from various Italy-related articles on Wikipedia.

Su Nuraxi nuraghe, Sardinia, Italy, 2nd millennium BC.
the EUR in Rome is a perfect example of modern Italian architecture
Antonio Vivaldi, in 1723. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons
The signing ceremony of the Treaty of Rome on 25 March 1957, creating the EEC, forerunner of the present-day EU.
Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti was murdered a few days after he openly denounced Fascist violence during the 1924 elections.
Alcide De Gasperi, Prime Minister 1945-53, is revered as a founding father of modern Italy and Europe.
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, possibly one of the most famous and iconic examples of Italian art
Ötzi, a natural mummy discovered in the southern Alps (region of Trentino-Alto Adige) dating from the 4th millennium BC.
Official portrait of Benito Mussolini.
The celebration of the Azzurri for the first victory (of four) in the 1934 World football championship
The Uffizi.
Chiostro of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
Giuseppe Mazzini.
Commedia dell'arte troupe Gelosi in a late 16th-century Flemish painting.
William Shakespeare is an example of an Italophile of the 16th century.
Regional seat of RAI in Cosenza.
Fresco of dancing Peucetian women in the Tomb of the Dancers in Ruvo di Puglia, 4th-5th century BCE
Map of Etruscan civilisation.
Emirate of Sicily (831-1072).
Italy has been a home for innovation in science in the centuries since Galileo formulated his theories of planetary movement.
Pinocchio Disney film is based on The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
the Arch of Constantine in Rome.
The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello (ca. 1438-40).
Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages. His epic poem The Divine Comedy ranks among the finest works of world literature.
Pasta with pesto sauce.
Federico Fellini, considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century.
Contemporary engraving of Naples during the Naples Plague in 1656
The Roman Empire at its greatest extent under Trajan in CE 117.
A chocolate gelato ice cream dessert.
Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic, elected on 3 February 2015.
Marco Polo at the court of Kublai Khan (painting by Tranquillo Cremona, 1863).
Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana Store on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas
Italian irredentism map.
Giuseppe Verdi, one of Italy's greatest opera composers. Portrait by Giovanni Boldini.
Galileo Galilei, the founder of modern experimental science.
Insurgents celebrating the liberation of Naples after the Four days of Naples (27-30 September 1943).
Maximum extent of the Italian Empire.
The naval jack of the modern Italian Republic features the coats of arms of the four best known medieval Maritime Republics. Clockwise from upper left: Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Amalfi.
Milan Cathedral is the fourth-largest church in the world.
Residents of Fiume cheering D'Annunzio and his Legionari, September 1919. At the time, Fiume had 22,488 (62% of the population) Italians in a total population of 35,839 inhabitants.
the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Italian unification.
The Battle of Bitonto by Giovanni Luigi Rocco
Attack of the far-right terrorist group NAR at the Bologna railway station on 2 August 1980, which caused the death of 85 people.
Ancient Greek colonies and their dialect groupings in Southern Italy.
  NW Greek
  Achaean
  Doric
  Ionian
The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world and one of the "Big Three" alongside Cannes and Berlin
A Ferrari SF70H by Scuderia Ferrari, the oldest surviving and most successful Formula One team.
Fiat 600, iconic middle-class dream car and status symbol of the 1950-60s.
Alessandro Manzoni, one of Italy's greatest 19th-century writers.
Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy for almost ten years between 1994 and 2011.
Neapolitan pizza Margherita.
The Pompeii Lakshmi, an ivory statuette from the Indian subcontinent found in the ruins of Pompeii. The Indo-Roman trade relations, beginning around the 1st century BCE, testifies to extensive Roman trade in far away regions.
The discovery of the New World by Christoper Columbus.
Imperial ambitions of Fascist Italy in Europe, 1936.
Aragonese Castle in Reggio Calabria
Italian Kingdom in 1861.
Michelangelo's David, one of the symbols of Italian Renaissance.
From left to right, Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini and Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano at the signing of Munich Agreement.
Italy and the nearby islands in the 1st century BCE.
French troops entering Rome in 1798
Marchese Guglielmo Marconi was the inventor of radio.
Brunello di Montalcino is one of Italy's finest red wines, made around the town of Montalcino from a Sangiovese variant known locally as Brunello.
Entrance of Garibaldi into Naples on 7 September 1860
The Vitruvian man by Leonardo da Vinci, representing the ideal human proportions as described by Roman architect Vitruvius, is a quintessential masterpiece of the Renaissance.
A Prada shop in Singapore.
Palazzo della Carovana, the current seat of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa.
Etruscan fresco in the Tomb of the Leopards, Monterozzi necropolis, 5th century BCE.
Sheets with the iconic picture of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, exposed as a sign of protest against Italian Mafia. They read: "You did not kill them: their ideas walk on our legs".
Italian states in 1796.
Italian cavalry in Trento on 3 November 1918, after the victorious Battle of Vittorio Veneto. Italy's victory marked the end of the war on the Italian Front, secured the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and contributed to the end of World War I just one week later.
Andrea Palladio is often described as the most influential architect in the Western world.
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is an Italian art masterpiece worldwide famous
Benito Mussolini during the March on Rome in 1922.
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1486). Tempera on canvas. 172.5 cm × 278.9 cm (67.9 in × 109.6 in). Uffizi, Florence
The Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire.
Italian kingdom in 1919.
Italian prisoners in El Alamein, November 1942.
Italian states in 1494.
Spanish Republican poster against the Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War, reading "The claw of the Italian invader intends to enslave us."
Carmine Crocco
Mussolini reviewing adolescent soldiers, late 1944.
Regions of Roman Italy.
The Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence, which has the biggest brick dome in the world, and is considered a masterpiece of Italian architecture and world architecture.
Etruscan pendant with swastika symbols, Bolsena, Italy, 700-650 BCE. Louvre Museum.
Italian Lombard kingdom (781-1014).
"Italophone" world.
  Official language.

  Secondary, widely spoken or understood.

  Understood by some due to former colonisation.
Greek temple of Hera, Selinunte, Sicily.
Giuseppe Garibaldi, hero of Italian unification.
The Capitoline Wolf sculpture in the Capitoline Museums. According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BCE by Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf.
Mussolini and Hitler in June 1940.
Rai Radio 1.
The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., reflects the president's admiration for classical Roman aesthetics.
The Creation of Adam is one of the scenes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo sometime between 1508 and 1512.
Antonio Meucci, c.1880, inventor of the first telephone
St. Peter's Basilica is the world's largest Christian church. It is the second church to stand above the crypt (tomb) believed to hold the body of Saint Peter, the first pope.
Umberto II, the last King of Italy, was exiled to Portugal.
Italian states (1815-1859).
Venetian dessert tiramisù.
The Redipuglia War Memorial of Redipuglia, resting place of 100,000 Italian soldiers. More than 650,000 died on the battlefields of World War I. The total deaths for Italy amounted to 1,240,000.
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, the first Prime Minister in the history of Italy.
Italy today.
The Roman Forum, the commercial, cultural, and political center of the city and the Republic which housed the various offices and meeting places of the government.
Italy and the Habsburg Empire in 1547.
The Roman Empire provided an inspiration for the medieval European. Although the Holy Roman Empire rarely acquired a serious geopolitical reality, it possessed great symbolic significance.
Giants of Mont'e Prama, Sardinia, Italy, early 1st millennium BC.
A 1905 Fiat advertisement.
Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, ca. 1482-85.
Pyramid of Monte d'Accoddi is an archaeological site in northern Sardinia, Italy, located in the territory of Sassari near Porto Torres. 4th millennium BC.
David, by Michelangelo (Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy) is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art.
the Leaning Tower of Pisa
This mosaic depicts some of the Gladiators entertainments that would have been offered at the games.
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest painters and most versatile geniuses in history.
The Colosseum in Rome, built in the 1st century.
The historic seat of the Corriere della Sera in via Solferino in Milan.
Florence Cathedral, Arnolfo di Cambio, campanile by Giotto dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi.
Iron Age hut foundations on the Palatine Hill considered to be the Casa Romuli, the reputed dwelling-place of Romulus.
The espresso comes from the Italian esprimere, which means "to express," and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee.
Petroglyph in Valcamonica, Lombardy, the largest collection of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world (10th millennium BC).
Antonio Canova's Venus Victrix.