Italy is a sovereign state in Europe, situated in the heart of the mediterranean sea. Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2. Shares open land borders with France, Austria, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City and Slovenia.
Italy was certainly influenced by many powerful cultures and political forces over time, including the Byzantines, Etruscans and Greeks, but it was the world-changing impact of both the Roman civilization and the Italian Renaissance that contributed most-significantly to its status in the modern world.
Italy has the third largest nominal GDP in the Eurozone and the eighth largest in the world. As an advanced economy, the country has the sixth-largest worldwide national wealth and it is ranked third for its central bank gold reserve. Italy has a very high level of human development and it stands among the top countries for life expectancy.
Republic of Italy Timeline |
| 1861 |
| The Kingdom of Italy established excluding Rome, Venice, San Marino; King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia became King of Italy |
| 1866 |
| Italy obtained Venice from Austria |
| 1870 |
| Italian forces occupied Rome |
| 1871 |
| Rome named the capital of Italy |
| 1915 |
| Italy joined World War I on side of Allies |
| 1918 |
| Allies won World War I |
| 1919 |
| Gains Trentino, South Tyrol, and Trieste under peace treaties. |
| 1922 |
| Fascists took control of Rome; Benito Mussolini named Prime Minister |
| 1925 |
 Mussolini became Dictator of Italy |
| 1929 |
| Lateran Treaty creates the state of Vatican City. |
| 1935 |
| Italy invades Ethiopia. |
| 1936 |
| Mussolini formed anti-Communist Axis with Germany |
| 1939 |
| Albania annexed. |
| 1940 |
| Italy entered World War II as an ally of Germany |
| 1941 |
| Italy declares war on USSR. |
| 1943 |
| Italy surrendered to Allied forces; Mussolini forced to resign; Italy declared war on Germany |
| 1944 |
| Allied Armies liberated Rome |
| 1945 |
| Mussolini, who had been rescued from prison by Germans, is captured and executed by Italian partisans. |
| 1946 |
| Italians voted to end monarchy and established a republic |
| 1947 |
| Italy cedes land and territories under the peace treaty. |
| 1951 |
| Italy joins European Coal and Steel Community. |
| 1952 |
| Italy became a founding member of the European Economic Community |
| 1955 |
| Italy joined United Nations |
| 1957 |
| Founder member of European Economic Community. |
| 1960 |
 Olympic Games held in Rome |
| 1966 |
| Flood waters from Arno River in Florence damaged many works of art |
| 1982 |
| Italian Football team won World Cup in Spain |
| 1984 |
| Roman Catholicism lost status as the state religion of Italy |
| 1986 |
| 338 Mafia members convicted of criminal activities |
| 1990 |
| World Cup held in Italy |
| 1998 |
| Italy joined the European Union |
| 1999 |
| Italy adopted Euro as its currency |
| 2002 |
 Euro replaces the lira |
| 2003 |
| Multi-billion euros fraud at Parmalat food-manufacturing company exposed |
| 2009 |
| Earthquake in Abruzzo region killed over 300 |
| 2011 |
| Italian women held nationwide anti-Berlusconi demonstrations |
| 2014 |
| The government takes full control of the troubled ILVA steel plant, based in Taranto in southern Italy. |
| 2017 |
| Veneto and Lombardy, two wealthy northern regions, vote overwhelmingly in favour of greater autonomy in non-binding referendums. |
| 2018 |
| Elections produce a hung parliament and ongoing efforts to form a government. |
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