Italy. Information.
The Italian Republic or Italy (Repubblica Italiana or Italia), is a southern European country, comprising a Apennines peninsula and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. Square - 301,230 sq.km Population - 57,998,353 (2004 estimate). Сapital - Rome. On Nord Italy is bounded with Austria and Switzerland; On Nord-West - with France; On Nord-East - with Slovenia. Italy's history shaped the cultural and social development of the whole Mediterranean area. The peninsula has been host to important human activities since prehistoric times, and archaeological sites of note can be found in many regions: Latium, Tuscany, Umbria and Basilicata. After Magna Graecia, the Etruscan civilisation and especially the Roman Empire that came to dominate this part of the world for many centuries, came the medieval Humanism and the Renaissance that further helped to shape European philosophy science and art. The city of Rome contains some of the most important examples of the Baroque. The Italy of modern times became a nation-state belatedly — on March 17, 1861, when most of the states of the peninsula and the Two Sicilies were united under king Victor Emmanuel II of the Savoy dynasty, hitherto king of Sardinia, a realm that included Piedmont. The architect of Italian unification was Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the Chief Minister of Victor Emmanuel. Rome itself remained for a decade under the Papacy, and became part of the Kingdom of Italy only on September 20, 1870, the final date of Italian unification. The Vatican is now an independent enclave surrounded by Italy, as is San Marino. The Fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini that took over in 1922 led to the alliance with Germany and other Axis Powers and ultimately Italy's defeat in World War II. During occupation of territories in the Balkans (Greece and counties of ex-Yugoslavia) Italian forces inspired by fascist ideology committed massive war crimes. On June 2, 1946, a referendum on the monarchy resulted in the establishment of the Italian republic, which led to the adoption of a new constitution on January 1, 1948. Male members of the royal family were sent into exile because of their association with the fascist regime, and were only allowed to return to their country in 2002. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Union, and hence joined the growing political and economic unification of Western Europe, including the introduction of the Euro in 1999. Currency system: Prior to 1999 - Italian Lira. From 2000 - Euro = 100 cents.
Full information about stamps of
Italy
you can find on site:
filatelia.poste.it
