Italy, Elsa Casanovas

Hi, my name is Susanna and I’m from Italy. It is a country located in the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are situated in the north side of the Italian Peninsula.

Its name in Italian, the official language, is Italia; this name is very similar as the name in the different countries of the Mediterranean. That’s because lots of languages, the Romanic languages, comes from Latin. Some of the Romanic languages are: Italian, Catalan, Spanish, French... English doesn’t come from Latin but the name of my country is similar in this language too.

Italy, including Sardinia and Sicily covers an area of 301,230 square kilometres. The country is divided into 20 administrative regions. This country has been the cradle of many European cultures and peoples, such as the Etruscans and the Romans. Italy's capital, Rome, has been the most important city in the Roman Empire. I live there; I think that’s one of the best cities of Italy. One of the most fantastic things is that there are a lot of pizzerias and restaurants. Our diet is called Mediterranean like other Mediterranean Countries, but our food is better, it has got something special... the Italian touch. Ancient Rome was at first a small agricultural community founded in the 8th century BC. Rome was occupied by Greeks and Romans and its cultures and its civilization was so influential; now some things survive like art, culture, the Roman law, the language...

The official currency is the Euro as the majority of the European Countries, but between 1861 and 2002 the currency of Italy was the lira. Now travelling to other countries is easier because you don’t need to change your money to pay. Italy’s PIB is of 29.200 milion dollars in 2006.

The populations in Italy is about 60 million. Italy currently has the fourth-largest population in the European Union and the 23rd largest population of the world. Italy's population density is 199.2 persons per square kilometre and the life expectancy is 80.2 years
The demographic growth rate in 2009 is approximately 0,019%. In the last 20 years Italy has become a country of immigration, with about 4.9% of the population of people from other countries. In my high school there are a lot people from Rumania and Morocco. I like to have friends with different cultures because you can learn about other societies.
The 87.8% of Italians are identified as Roman Catholic, although only about one-third of these described themselves as active members
Italy was a founding member of European Union. It supports the United Nations and its international security activities and it became a member in 1995. Italy also belongs to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Council of Europe.
The Italy's head of government is the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The President of the Italian Republic is elected for seven years by the parliament.
Northern Italy normally gets enough rain in the winter to wash away the pollution of the air, but it has incremented in the last years.
Italy is a great country with some of the most important monuments of the world, for example: the Coliseum, the Pisa tower… Italian architecture began with Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and Etruscans, when both civilizations built temples, palaces, aqueducts, walls and public baths.
I think Italy is fantastic I’ve just introduced it to you; now come and visit us.

Uploaded by Sergi, but wrote by Elsa Casanovas.