Country Briefs: Italy is situated in the Mediterranean Europe; it has land frontiers with France in the northwest, Switzerland and Austria in the north and Slovenia in the northeast.

The Ligurian Sea, the Sardinian sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, the Sicilian Sea and the Ionian Sea in the south and the Ardiatic Sea in the east, border the Italian peninsula.

The country Italy is famous for countless reasons. Beginning from its wonderful landscapes that are predominantly characterized by two mountain chains, the Alps and the Apennines to its wonderful 20 primary cities and countless gala events, Italy has it all.

Spread in an area of around 301,336 square kilometers the population of Italy is more than fifty-eight million people. Its capital city is its largest city Rome. Rome is the capital of Italy and its Latium region. Rome is one of the largest communes in Italy that spreads in an area of 1290 square kilometers.

The name Italy is an archaic name that stood for the country and people of southern Italy. Though the exact origins of the name are not known yet some people trace it to Greek language that refers to "Land of Cattle Calves or Veal".

Looking back over the years it is revealed that the Greek settlers came in this region in 800 BC. While the Greeks made their cities in the south the Etrusians captured the center. It is said that Rome as a kingdom was discovered in 753 BC. In the centuries that followed Roman Empire conquered Italy and developed it greatly.

In 774 most of Italy was occupied by the Frankish Realm. Charlemagne, the King of Franks was crowned the Roman emperor. During that time Italy witnessed many principalities and kingdoms that fought with each other for power. So Italy got divided into different states while Rome acted as the center of the Papal State.

At the onset of 16th century Italy suffered from economic crisis. Many of the weak Italian states were captured during this time and the supreme governing country was Spain. The political and economic condition of Italy deteriorated to a great extent.

In 1796 the French armies of Napoleon invaded Italy. Napoleon created many states in Italy. Later the Congress of Vienna divided Italy between Austria, Sardinia, kingdom of Sicily, Tuscany and Papal states. But in 1859 and 1861 Sardinia conquered Lombardy and some other territories in central Italy including Tuscany.

In 1866 and 1870 Venice and Papal States became parts of Italy respectively. Italy also got re-united. In 1861 Italy became a constitutional monarchy and remained so till 1922. In 1882 Italy joined the defensive Triple Alliance with Austria- Hungary and Germany. Gradually it also adopted the policy of colonization.

Italy's ambitions to capture Ethiopia resulted in the Firs Italo- Abyssinian War in 1896. In 1911 Italy fought a war with the Ottoman Empire and conquered Libya and islands in the Aegean Sea. In 1915 the Italian government decided to wage a war on Austria in exchange for several territories.

In 1915 Italy received many territories except Dalmatia. Around 1922 the Benito Mussolini came to prominence. The king formed an alliance with Mussolini to convince the liberal party to endorse a fascist led government.

Over the years Mussolini succeeded in eliminating all the political parties and in 1929 he signed the Lateran Pacts with the Catholic Church that led to the formation of the independent state of Vatican City.


Italy plunged into the Second World War and annexed Albania and Ethiopia. Italy was badly defeated in this war. Italy was re-styled into Italian republic in 1946. Italy signed a peace-treaty in 1947 that made adjustments in Italy?s frontier with France and transferred the eastern border to Yugoslavia.

At present Italy is a parliamentary democratic republic. It is a highly developed country of the world with 6th GDP in 2004, a member of G8 and a founding member of the European union signing the treaty of Rome in 1957.

Italy Provinces
Province HASC ISO CAP NUTS Population Area(km.²) Reg Adjective
Agrigento IT.AG AG 92 ITG14 448,053 3,043 SC agrigentini
Alessandria IT.AL AL 15 ITC18 418,231 3,562 PM alessandrini
Ancona IT.AN AN 60 ITE32 448,473 1,940 MH anconetani
Aosta IT.AO AO 11 ITC20 119,548 3,264 VD aostani
Arezzo IT.AR AR 52 ITE18 323,288 3,236 TC aretini
Ascoli Piceno IT.AP AP 63 ITE34 369,371 2,089 MH ascolani
Asti IT.AT AT 14 ITC17 208,339 1,511 PM astigiani
Avellino IT.AV AV 83 ITF34 429,178 2,792 CM avellinesi
Bari IT.BA BA 70 ITF42 1,559,662 5,139 PU baresi
Belluno IT.BL BL 32 ITD33 209,550 3,679 VN bellunesi
Benevento IT.BN BN 82 ITF32 287,042 2,071 CM beneventani
Bergamo IT.BG BG 24 ITC46 973,129 2,725 LM bergamaschi
Biella IT.BI BI 13 ITC13 187,249 915 PM biellesi
Bologna IT.BO BO 40 ITD55 915,225 3,703 ER bolognesi
Bolzano IT.BZ BZ 39 ITD10 462,999 7,403 TT bolzanini
Brescia IT.BS BS 25 ITC47 1,108,776 4,784 LM bresciani
Brindisi IT.BR BR 72 ITF44 402,422 1,840 PU brindisini
Cagliari IT.CG CA 09 ITG24 543,310 4,570 SD cagliaritani
Caltanissetta IT.CL CL 93 ITG15 274,035 2,124 SC nisseni
Campobasso IT.CB CB 86 ITF22 230,749 2,910 ML campobassani
Carbonia-Iglesias IT.CI CI 09   131,890 1,495 SD  
Caserta IT.CE CE 81 ITF31 852,872 2,640 CM casertani
Catania IT.CT CT 95 ITG17 1,054,778 3,553 SC catanesi
Catanzaro IT.CZ CZ 88 ITF63 369,578 2,392 CI catanzaresi
Chieti IT.CH CH 66 ITF14 382,076 2,590 AB teatini
Como IT.CO CO 22 ITC42 537,500 1,289 LM comaschi
Cosenza IT.CS CS 87 ITF61 733,797 6,652 CI cosentini
Cremona IT.CR CR 26 ITC4A 335,939 1,771 LM cremonesi
Crotone IT.KR KR 88 ITF62 173,122 1,717 CI crotoniati
Cuneo IT.CN CN 12 ITC16 556,330 6,906 PM cuneesi
Enna IT.EN EN 94 ITG16 177,200 2,562 SC ennesi
Ferrara IT.FE FE 44 ITD56 344,323 2,633 ER ferraresi
Florence IT.FI FI 50 ITE14 933,860 3,515 TC fiorentini
Foggia IT.FG FG 71 ITF41 690,992 7,192 PU foggiani
Forlì-Cesena IT.FO FC 47 ITD58 358,542 2,377 ER forlivesi
Frosinone IT.FR FR 03 ITE45 484,566 3,245 LZ frusinati
Genoa IT.GE GE 16 ITC33 878,082 1,840 LG genovesi
Gorizia IT.GO GO 34 ITD43 136,491 466 FV goriziani
Grosseto IT.GR GR 58 ITE1A 211,086 4,504 TC grossetani
Imperia IT.IM IM 18 ITC31 205,238 1,157 LG imperiesi
Isernia IT.IS IS 86 ITF21 89,852 1,530 ML isernini
L'Aquila IT.AQ AQ 67 ITF11 297,424 5,036 AB aquilani
La Spezia IT.SP SP 19 ITC34 215,935 881 LG spezzini
Latina IT.LT LT 04 ITE44 491,230 2,251 LZ latinensi
Lecce IT.LE LE 73 ITF45 787,825 2,760 PU leccesi
Lecco IT.LC LC 23 ITC43 311,452 817 LM lecchesi
Livorno IT.LI LI 57 ITE16 326,444 1,212 TC livornesi
Lodi IT.LO LO 26 ITC49 197,672 782 LM lodigiani
Lucca IT.LU LU 55 ITE12 372,244 1,774 TC lucchesi
Macerata IT.MC MC 62 ITE33 301,523 2,775 MH maceratesi
Mantua IT.MN MN 46 ITC4B 377,790 2,340 LM mantovani
Massa-Carrara IT.MS MS 54 ITE11 197,652 1,157 TC massesi
Matera IT.MT MT 75 ITF52 204,239 3,450 BC materani
Medio Campidano IT.MD MD 09   105,400 1,516 SD  
Messina IT.ME ME 98 ITG13 662,450 3,248 SC messinesi
Milan IT.MI MI 20 ITC45 3,707,210 1,985 LM milanesi
Modena IT.MO MO 41 ITD54 633,993 2,689 ER modenesi
Naples IT.NA NA 80 ITF33 3,059,196 1,172 CM napoletani
Novara IT.NO NO 28 ITC15 343,040 1,339 PM novaresi
Nuoro IT.NR NU 08 ITG22 164,260 3,934 SD nuoresi
Ogliastra IT.OG OG 08   58,389 1,854 SD  
Olbia-Tempio IT.OT OT 07   138,334 3,399 SD  
Oristano IT.ON OR 09 ITG23 167,971 3,040 SD oristanesi
Padua IT.PD PD 35 ITD36 849,857 2,142 VN padovani
Palermo IT.PA PA 90 ITG12 1,235,923 4,993 SC palermitani
Parma IT.PR PR 43 ITD52 392,976 3,450 ER parmigiani
Pavia IT.PV PV 27 ITC48 493,753 2,967 LM pavesi
Perugia IT.PG PG 06 ITE21 605,950 6,336 UM perugini
Pesaro e Urbino IT.PS PU 61 ITE31 351,214 2,893 MH pesaresi
Pescara IT.PE PE 65 ITF13 295,481 1,226 AB pescaresi
Piacenza IT.PC PC 29 ITD51 263,872 2,590 ER piacentini
Pisa IT.PI PI 56 ITE17 384,555 2,446 TC pisani
Pistoia IT.PT PT 51 ITE13 268,503 965 TC pistoiesi
Pordenone IT.PN PN 33 ITD41 286,198 2,274 FV pordenonesi
Potenza IT.PZ PZ 85 ITF51 393,529 6,551 BC potentini
Prato IT.PO PO 59 ITE15 227,886 366 TC pratesi
Ragusa IT.RG RG 97 ITG18 295,264 1,614 SC ragusani
Ravenna IT.RA RA 48 ITD57 347,847 1,859 ER ravennati
Reggio di Calabria IT.RC RC 89 ITF65 564,223 3,185 CI reggini
Reggio nell'Emilia IT.RE RE 42 ITD53 453,892 2,293 ER reggiani
Rieti IT.RI RI 02 ITE42 147,410 2,750 LZ reatini
Rimini IT.RN RN 47 ITD59 272,676 534 ER riminesi
Rome IT.RM RM 00 ITE43 3,700,424 5,353 LZ romani
Rovigo IT.RO RO 45 ITD37 242,538 1,791 VN rodigini
Salerno IT.SA SA 84 ITF35 1,073,643 4,919 CM salernitani
Sassari IT.SX SS 07 ITG21 322,326 4,282 SD sassaresi
Savona IT.SV SV 17 ITC32 272,528 1,546 LG savonesi
Siena IT.SI SI 53 ITE19 252,288 3,821 TC senesi
Sondrio IT.SO SO 23 ITC44 176,856 3,212 LM sondriesi
Syracuse IT.SR SR 96 ITG19 396,167 2,109 SC siracusani
Taranto IT.TA TA 74 ITF43 579,806 2,437 PU tarantini
Teramo IT.TE TE 64 ITF12 287,411 1,949 AB teramani
Terni IT.TR TR 05 ITE22 219,876 2,123 UM ternani
Trapani IT.TP TP 91 ITG11 425,121 2,461 SC trapanesi
Trento IT.TN TN 38 ITD20 477,017 6,209 TT trentini
Treviso IT.TV TV 31 ITD34 795,264 2,477 VN trevigiani
Trieste IT.TS TS 34 ITD44 242,235 212 FV triestini
Turin IT.TO TO 10 ITC11 2,165,619 6,833 PM torinesi
Udine IT.UD UD 33 ITD42 518,840 4,907 FV udinesi
Varese IT.VA VA 21 ITC41 812,477 1,199 LM varesini
Venice IT.VE VE 30 ITD35 809,586 2,462 VN veneziani
Verbano-Cusio-Ossola IT.VB VB 28 ITC14 159,040 2,256 PM verbanesi
Vercelli IT.VC VC 13 ITC12 176,829 2,089 PM vercellesi
Verona IT.VR VR 37 ITD31 826,582 3,121 VN veronesi
Vibo Valentia IT.VV VV 88 ITF64 170,746 1,140 CI vibonesi
Vicenza IT.VI VI 36 ITD32 794,317 2,723 VN vicentini
Viterbo IT.VT VT 01 ITE41 288,783 3,613 LZ viterbesi
107 provinces 56,995,744 301,252    
  • Province: Names are given in their common English form, where that differs from the Italian.
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes.
  • ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2 (see note below).
  • CAP: Codici di Avviamento Postale (postal codes). Italy has a system of five-digit postal codes. The first two digits are constant within each province. (In a few cases, two or more provinces use the same first two digits.).
  • NUTS: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, a European standard. The first four characters of the NUTS code for each province are the NUTS code for the region to which the province belongs. (If the fourth character is a 0, it is truncated.).
  • Population: 2001-10-21 census.
  • Reg: Region to which the province belongs (see list below).
  • Capital: Capitals have the same names as provinces. When a province name mentions more than one city, they are co-capitals. Exceptions: The capital of Medio Campidano is Sanluri. The capitals of Ogliastra are Lanusei and Tortolì.
  • Adjective: Masculine plural adjective for inhabitants of the provincial capital, or the province as a whole.
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