Italy, officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Italia, IPA: or Repubblica Italiana, IPA: ), is a Southern European country. It comprises the Italian Peninsula, the Po River valley, and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia, and shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. The country also shares a sea border with Croatia, and France. The independent countries of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory. It is shaped like a boot, and for this reason it is commonly called lo stivale (Italian for the boot).

Italy was home to many well-known and influential European civilizations, including the Etruscans, Greeks and the Romans. For more than 3,000 years Italy experienced migrations and invasions from Germanic, Celtic, Frankish, Byzantine Greek, Saracen, Norman, and the French Angevin, and Lombard peoples, and was divided into many independent states until 1861 when Italy became a nation-state.

Italy is called "il Belpaese" (Italian for beautiful country) by its inhabitants, due to the beauty and variety of its landscapes and for having the world's largest artistic patrimony; the country is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (41 as of July 13 2006).

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@Ikognegro @Andrea1908 Not only did daughter # 1 (just returned from Italy) watch WWE b4 college, we went to lots of shows!
drlawmom (Dr. Candi Wallace) Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:12:53 -0000
@Ikognegro @Andrea1908 Not only did daughter # 1 (just returned from Italy) watch WWE b4 college, we went to lots of shows!
How young is too young? UK bans #tanning beds for #minors, Italy bans #implants http://bit.ly/5lHh8h #cosmetic surgery
MinkBeauty (minkbeauty) Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:10:40 -0000
How young is too young? UK bans #tanning beds for #minors, Italy bans #implants http://bit.ly/5lHh8h #cosmetic surgery
Luigi Cinque ✚ Alex Balanescu ✚ Salvatore Bonafede ✔ Jazz from Italy ♫ http://blip.fm/~i5ku1
avivaxox (Aviva Gabriel) Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:10:19 -0000
Luigi Cinque ✚ Alex Balanescu ✚ Salvatore Bonafede ✔ Jazz from Italy ♫ http://blip.fm/~i5ku1
Luigi Cinque ✚ Alex Balanescu ✚ Salvatore Bonafede ✔ Jazz from Italy ♫ http://blip.fm/~i5ku1
avivamagnolia (Aviva ) Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:10:18 -0000
Luigi Cinque ✚ Alex Balanescu ✚ Salvatore Bonafede ✔ Jazz from Italy ♫ http://blip.fm/~i5ku1
Luigi Cinque ✚ Alex Balanescu ✚ Salvatore Bonafede ✔ Jazz from Italy ♫ http://blip.fm/~i5ku1
avivalaviva (avivalaviva) Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:10:18 -0000
Luigi Cinque ✚ Alex Balanescu ✚ Salvatore Bonafede ✔ Jazz from Italy ♫ http://blip.fm/~i5ku1
Luigi Cinque ✚ Alex Balanescu ✚ Salvatore Bonafede ✔ Jazz from Italy ♫ http://blip.fm/~i5ku1
avivagabriela (avivagabriela) Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:10:17 -0000
Luigi Cinque ✚ Alex Balanescu ✚ Salvatore Bonafede ✔ Jazz from Italy ♫ http://blip.fm/~i5ku1

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