3. Italian Republic Repubblica Italiana is a unitary parliamentary republic in Southern Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerla nd, Austria, and Slovenia along the Alps.

4. Year of EU entry: Founding member (1952) Member of Schengen area: Yes Political system: Republic Capital city: Rome Total area: 301 263 km² Population: 60 million Currency: euro Listen to the official EU language: Italian

6. Vatican City

8. The country’s main economic sectors are tourism, fashion, engineering, chemicals, motor vehicles and food. Italy's northern regions are per capita amongst the richest in Europe.

9. Art, philosophy, political in Italy The centre of the vast Roman Empire which left a huge archaeological, cultural and literary heritage, the Italian peninsula saw the birth of medieval humanism and the Renaissance. This further helped to shape European political thought, philosophy and art via figures like Machiavelli, Dante, Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. The list of famous Italian artists is long and includes Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Tintoretto and Caravaggio. The country has also produced opera composers such as Verdi and Puccini and film-maker Federico Fellini. Leonardo da Vinci