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Italy. Pop - 59,337,888. Area - 301,318 km². Capital - Rome. Largest City – Rome. Currency – Euro. Language – Italian. Main Religion – Roman Catholicism. Time Zone – GMT + 1 hour. Main Airports – Rome (Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino FCO, Ciampino CIA), Milan (Malpensa MXP, Linate LIN), Torino-Caselle TRN, Venice Marco Polo VCE, Naples NAP. Climate – Mixture of Mediterranean climate and Continental. Voltage guide 110/220V. Dialing code 39. Italy is located in southern Europe and is one of the great world cultural countries. Italy has been the home of many famous European cultures, including the Etruscans and the Romans, and later was the birthplace of the movement of the Renaissance, that began in the region of Tuscany and Florence and spread all over Europe. Italy's capital Rome has been the center of Western civilization, and is the headquarters of the Catholic Church. Italy is divided into 20 regions as listed below (Regional capital in brackets): Abruzzo (L'Aquila); Basilicata (Potenza); Calabria (Catanzaro); Campania (Naples); Emilia-Romagna (Bologna); Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Trieste); Lazio (Rome); Liguria (Genoa); Lombardy (Milan); Marche (Ancona); Molise (Campobasso); Piedmont (Turin); Apulia (Bari); Sardinia (Cagliari); Aosta Valley (Aosta); Tuscany (Florence); Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (Trento); Umbria (Perugia); Sicily (Palermo); and Veneto (Venice). Some special destinations for visitors include: Capri and Ischia (islands near Naples); Cinque Terre (five small towns on the steep coastline of Liguria); Elba (largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago); Vatican City (independent city-state and seat of the Pope); The Dolomites (distinctive north eastern mountains); and Lago di Garda. The regions of Italy also produce fantastic food and wine with each region proud of it’s own specialties. In warm Naples, citrus and other fresh fruit play a prominent role in both food and liquor, while in Venice fish is obviously an important traditional ingredient. As a guideline, in the south cuisine is focused on pasta and dessert, while in the north meat is king. For sports fans Italy is famous for football with famous clubs such as Juventus, Milan and Inter. The Italian national team has won four World Cups (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), just one fewer than Brazil.

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