Italy

Population: 57,679,825 (July 2001 est.)

Languages: Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)

Background: Italy became a nation-state belatedly - in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito...

Currency: euro (EUR, EUR (€0.78 = US$1))

Data from CIA World Factbook. Click on CIA link for more. Click on map or flag for larger images.