Currency:
Euro
Electricity:
Electricity in Italy is 230 Volts, alternating at 50 cycles per second. If you travel to Italy with a device that does not accept 230 Volts at 50 Hertz, you will need a voltage converter.
Language:
Italian is the official language. English is spoken in urban environments but limited in more rural areas.
Time Zone
The standard time of Italy is GMT + 1
Country Information
Italy is officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. It consists of a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land border, as well as nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy is bordered by France to the west; Switzerland and Austria to the north; and Slovenia to the east. It also borders two enclaves—Vatican City and San Marino—and shares a maritime border with Croatia to the east. It is the tenth-largest country in Europe by area, covering 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi), and the third-most populous member state of the European Union, with nearly 60 million inhabitants. Italy’s capital and largest city is Rome; other major urban areas include Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Bologna, Florence, Genoa, and Venice.
The history of Italy goes back to numerous Italic peoples, notably including the ancient Romans, who conquered the Mediterranean world during the Roman Republic and ruled it for centuries during the Roman Empire. With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of the Catholic Church and the Papacy. Barbarian invasions and other factors led to the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire between late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. By the 11th century, Italian city-states and maritime republics expanded, bringing renewed prosperity through commerce and laying the groundwork for modern capitalism. The Italian Renaissance flourished during the 15th and 16th centuries and spread to the rest of Europe. Italian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, contributing significantly to the European Age of Discovery.
A developed country with an advanced economy, Italy has the ninth-largest nominal GDP in the world, the second-largest manufacturing industry in Europe, and plays a significant role in regional and—to a lesser extent—global economic, military, cultural, and political affairs. Italy is a founding and leading member of the European Union, and is part of numerous other international organizations and forums. As a cultural superpower, Italy has long been a renowned global centre of art, music, literature, cuisine, fashion, science and technology, and the source of multiple inventions and discoveries. It has the highest number of World Heritage Sites (60) and is the fourth-most visited country in the world.
