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Italy Information
Adapted from CIA World Factbook
Background
Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional
states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily,
were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of
parliamentary government came to a close in the early
1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship.
His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's
defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced
the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed.
Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European
Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront
of European economic and political unification, joining
the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent
problems include illegal immigration, organized crime,
corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth,
and the low incomes and technical standards of southern
Italy compared with the prosperous north.
Location
Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central
Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia.
Climate
Predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot,
dry in south
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)
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