Is Italy A Country?

Italy is a sovereign country that is located in Southern Europe. It is bordered by France, Austria, France, Vatican City, San Marino, and Switzerland. By definition, from the perspective of politics and geography, a country refers to a political division with its own government and its own geographical territory. Officially, Italy became a republic on June 2, 1945, after the nation held a referendum that abolished the monarchy. Since then, the day has been marked every year in Italy as Republic Day. Three years later, on January 1, 1948, the nation approved the Republican Constitution.

Government

Since 1946, the country has been a unitary parliamentary republic after the abolishment of the monarchy. The President is the head of state and serves a single term that lasts for seven years. The parliament is bicameral and is made up of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. The head of government is the Prime Minister who, together with the cabinet, is appointed by the president after going through a vote of confidence in parliament.

Geography

Italy has an area of approximately 116,306 square miles with the bigger chunk, 113,522 square miles being land and a smaller 2,784 square miles being water. Located at the point of convergence between the Eurasian and the African Plates, the nation endures significant seismic and volcanic action. In total, there are 14 volcanoes in Italy with four of them, such as the famous Mount Etna, being active.

The climate of Italy is varied. For example, the Po valley region has a continental climate that is accompanied by hot summer and extremely cold summers. Humid tropical and subtropical climates mostly exist in the inland central and northern sections of the nation while Mediterranean climate also exists.

Economy

Italy has an advanced economy that is among the economic powerhouses of Europe. In the world, Italy's economy is the eighth largest. In fact, Italy is one of the world’s most industrialized nations and is known for its innovation and creativity in business. One of the significant sectors of the economy is the automotive sector. The sector has more than 144,000 companies in the sector, which has provided employment to around 485,000 people. The sector contributes around 8.5% to the gross domestic product of Italy. Some of the global brands in the sector include Maserati, Ferrari, and Lamborghini.

Despite the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the country has recovered well in recent times. For example, it was the globe’s seventh biggest exporter in 2016. Most of its exports business is conducted with other nations in the European Union such as Germany, which accounts for 12.9% of Italy’s export business, 11.4% by France, while Spain accounts for 7.4%.

Demographics

As of 2017, Italy had an estimated population of about 60,483,973 people. The majority of this population speaks Italian, which is also the official language. Other minority languages include the Albanian, German, Catalan, and others.