History UsefulNotes / Italy

Such [[SarcasmMode charming experiences]] tend to make Italians quite cynical about nationalism, to the extent of seeing the Risorgimento and the succeeding Italian Republic not as a truly national entity but merely another hegemonic entity out to exploit them. Economically, there is major imbalance and difference with the North being wealthier than the South, with Milan's GDP exceeding that of many countries, and this and the other experiences outlined above led to mass emigration of Italians to other countries, including South America (Argentina), the United Kingdom, Australia, France and of course the United States. It is also reflected in the culture of the Italians [[WorldOfSnark who tend to sarcastically mock anything and anyone if given a chance]] -- even [[SelfDeprecation themselves]] (an ancient tradition dating back to antiquity[[note]]The Romans, who, to stave off haughtiness, had the habit of having victorious generals ''getting mocked by their own troops during their triumphal parade'' and having a slave follow the general during said parade just to tell him "Remember you have to die")[[/note]]. Another national quirk is complaining: Italians definitely have a love-hate relationship with their own country, and will quickly [[CulturalCringe point out all its flaws and passionately complain about all the things that don't work]] ([[SleazyPolitician politics]], infrastructures, [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucracy]], the long list goes on), often joking that these things could only happen in Italy because we can't manage anything[[note]]A trait largely shared by [[UsefulNotes/{{France}} their Western neighbours]], incidentally[[/note]]. While there's definitely some TruthInTelevision--as [[UsefulNotes/{{Culture of Italy}} this page]] explains -- to many people it's just a normal conversational topic, kinda like Brits talking about the weather. It's a land of snark indeed (which might be why the Brits and Italians have historically gotten on rather well--particularly as regards Italians moving to Britain).

There were many attempts at unification until the 19th Century with individual city-states like the Florentine Republic, [[UsefulNotes/{{Venice}} the Venetian Republic]], and the Genoan Republic and several other Duchies becoming great powers and expanding their reach and territory. However, their oligarchical and merchant origins clashed with national consciousness and led them to depend on mercenaries as well as alliance with neighboring kingdoms during the UsefulNotes/ItalianWars. The Catholic Church ''should'' have unified the Peninsula under UsefulNotes/ThePapalStates, and they came close a few times. But the Church became a major institution and NGOSuperpower by legitimizing and recognizing the Kingdoms of neighboring powers, who naturally saw the advantage of one of their own countrymen or favored candidates becoming UsefulNotes/ThePope, or failing that, neuter the papacy from interfering in their secular power. Likewise, a unified Italy under the Church was not in the interests of most, let alone all, Italians. This led to the Guelph-Ghibelline Wars, the Avignon Papacy, the Protestant Reformation and the Wars of Religion, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou which naturally made Italy prey to neighboring powers]]. Parts of Central, North and South Italy were at various times governed by Arabs, Normans, Franks, the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire, the French Kingdom, the Spanish Empire, [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution Revolutionary]] and [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleonic]] France, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] also made an attempt of PuttingTheBandBackTogether, but their conflict with the Ostrogoths was devastating enough to the region to end nostalgia for the days of antiquity, and the Venetians and Normans later crippled the Byzantines during UsefulNotes/TheCrusades.

Regionalism is [[CreatorProvincialism still quite strong]] in Italy, a reflection of a weaker and more fragmented national identity compared to people in other countries. This is directly tied to the fact that it has a much smaller history as a single unified state than other European powers. It had unity under the Roman Republic and Empire [[BrieferThanTheyThink for some 500-odd years]], but it spent the next 1300-odd years in UsefulNotes/TheCityStateEra. The modern unified Italy dates to the Risorgimento of 1861, making its history as a unified state younger than the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, England, France, Spain and Russia. There were many attempts at unification until the 19th Century with individual city-states like the Florentine Republic, [[UsefulNotes/{{Venice}} the Venetian Republic]], and the Genoan Republic and several other Duchies becoming great powers and expanding their reach and territory. However, their oligarchical and merchant origins clashed with national consciousness and led them to depend on mercenaries as well as alliance with neighboring kingdoms during the UsefulNotes/ItalianWars. The Catholic Church ''should'' have unified the Peninsula under UsefulNotes/ThePapalStates, and they came close a few times. But the Church became a major institution and NGOSuperpower by legitimizing and recognizing the Kingdoms of neighboring powers, who naturally saw the advantage of one of their own countrymen or favored candidates becoming UsefulNotes/ThePope, or failing that, neuter the papacy from interfering in their secular power. Likewise, a unified Italy under the Church was not in the interests of most, let alone all, Italians. This led to the Guelph-Ghibelline Wars, the Avignon Papacy, the Protestant Reformation and the Wars of Religion, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou which naturally made Italy prey to neighboring powers]]. Parts of Central, North and South Italy were at various times governed by Arabs, Normans, Franks, the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire, the French Kingdom, the Spanish Empire, [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution Revolutionary]] and [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleonic]] France, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] also made an attempt of PuttingTheBandBackTogether, but their conflict with the Ostrogoths was devastating enough to the region to end nostalgia for the days of antiquity, and the Venetians and Normans later crippled the Byzantines during UsefulNotes/TheCrusades.

Regionalism is [[CreatorProvincialism still quite strong]] in Italy, a reflection of a weaker and more fragmented national identity compared to people in other countries. This is directly tied to the fact that it has a much smaller history as a single unified state than other European powers. It had unity under the Roman Republic and Empire [[BrieferThanTheyThink for some 500-odd years]], but it spent the next 1300-odd years in UsefulNotes/TheCityStateEra. The modern unified Italy dates to the Risorgimento of 1861, making its history as a unified state younger than America, England, France, Spain and Russia. There were many attempts at unification until the 19th Century with individual city-states like the Florentine Republic, [[UsefulNotes/{{Venice}} the Venetian Republic]], and the Genoan Republic and several other Duchies becoming great powers and expanding their reach and territory. However, their oligarchical and merchant origins clashed with national consciousness and led them to depend on mercenaries as well as alliance with neighboring kingdoms during the UsefulNotes/ItalianWars. The Catholic Church ''should'' have unified the Peninsula under UsefulNotes/ThePapalStates, and they came close a few times. But the Church became a major institution and NGOSuperpower by legitimizing and recognizing the Kingdoms of neighboring powers, who naturally saw the advantage of one of their own countrymen or favored candidates becoming UsefulNotes/ThePope, or failing that, neuter the papacy from interfering in their secular power. Likewise, a unified Italy under the Church was not in the interests of most, let alone all, Italians. This led to the Guelph-Ghibelline Wars, the Avignon Papacy, the Protestant Reformation and the Wars of Religion, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou which naturally made Italy prey to neighboring powers]]. Parts of Central, North and South Italy were at various times governed by Arabs, Normans, Franks, the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire, the French Kingdom, the Spanish Empire, [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution Revolutionary]] and [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleonic]] France, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] also made an attempt of PuttingTheBandBackTogether, but their conflict with the Ostrogoths was devastating enough to the region to end nostalgia for the days of antiquity, and the Venetians and Normans later crippled the Byzantines during UsefulNotes/TheCrusades.

The earliest known instance of the word Italy applied as a political entity was during the Socii War against UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic. The latter had started abusing and mistreating many of its client republics, including the ones who had loyally sided with the Republic against UsefulNotes/HannibalBarca during the UsefulNotes/PunicWars. Reformers who tried to bring their grievances and extend citizenship outside the city-state, such as the populare Gracchi and the optimate-moderate Marcus Livius Drussus were rebuffed and brutally murdered. The latter's mysterious death was the spark that led to the brutal war between an alliance of tribes from the south who called themselves Italia, and minted coins showing a bull (a heraldic symbol for the South) goring a wolf (a symbol of Rome). The war resulted in 300,000 deaths [[VictoriousLoser but by the end of it, even if the Romans won, citizenship was extended across Italy]] (though not universally to all classes and peoples). When UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire was erected, UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} described the entire peninsula as Italia more or less under its current territorial and geographical extent, but when the empire fell, the geographical factors that hampered and prevented its unity reasserted itself [[ShaggyDogStory and the Peninsula returned to what it had been in the pre-Roman era]], a bunch of city-states, small towns and isolated countryside divided by geography, dialect, wealth, class and ideology. Unity under Rome was a hard won tragic struggle, for both the Romans and the non-Romans, but it was even harder after the Empire fell and the various regional powers asserted themselves, taking much advantage of the geographical isolation (the many mountains that divide the peninsula) which on the other hand did allow for an astonishing regional and linguistic diversity to develop and flourish, that was a major aspect of the glories of UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance.

The earliest known instance of the word Italy applied as a political entity was during the Socii War against UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic. The latter had started abusing and mistreating many of its client republics, including the ones who had loyally sided with the Republic against Hannibal during the UsefulNotes/PunicWars. Reformers who tried to bring their grievances and extend citizenship outside the city-state, such as the populare Gracchi and the optimate-moderate Marcus Livius Drussus were rebuffed and brutally murdered. The latter's mysterious death was the spark that led to the brutal war between an alliance of tribes from the south who called themselves Italia, and minted coins showing a bull (a heraldic symbol for the South) goring a wolf (a symbol of Rome). The war resulted in 300,000 deaths [[VictoriousLoser but by the end of it, even if the Romans won, citizenship was extended across Italy]] (though not universally to all classes and peoples). When UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire was erected, UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} described the entire peninsula as Italia more or less under its current territorial and geographical extent, but when the empire fell, the geographical factors that hampered and prevented its unity reasserted itself [[ShaggyDogStory and the Peninsula returned to what it had been in the pre-Roman era]], a bunch of city-states, small towns and isolated countryside divided by geography, dialect, wealth, class and ideology. Unity under Rome was a hard won tragic struggle, for both the Romans and the non-Romans, but it was even harder after the Empire fell and the various regional powers asserted themselves, taking much advantage of the geographical isolation (the many mountains that divide the peninsula) which on the other hand did allow for an astonishing regional and linguistic diversity to develop and flourish, that was a major aspect of the glories of UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance.

Italy ('''Italian:''' ''Italia''), officially known as the '''Italian Republic''' ('''Italian:''' ''Repubblica italiana''), is the Southern European country which gave us two popular foodstuffs (pasta and pizza), the Latin alphabet (used by Romance, Germanic, Celtic, and many other languages), opera, ballet, UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance, the Republic (the form of government, not the book), musical notation, the university system (started in Bologna in 1088 A.D.), eyeglasses, Humanism, ''[[InsistentTerminology Roman]]'' [[ChristianityIsCatholic Catholicism]], the world's oldest active firearms manufacturing company (Beretta), UsefulNotes/{{Fascism}} and TheMafia. Despite importing its two major religious influences (the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek gods]] influenced the pre-existing Roman religion in classical times and Christianity was imported from UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}), Italy has been a major center of theological thought. Member of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion and UsefulNotes/{{NATO}}. Now has the Euro, so RidiculousExchangeRates jokes no longer work. One of the top 8 largest economies in the world by GDP, and easily in the top 20 by any economic measurement, despite corruption, few natural resources, a backwards South, an archaic political structure and incompetent (at best) politicians.

Italy ('''Italian:''' ''Italia''), officially known as the '''Italian Republic''' ('''Italian:''' ''Repubblica italiana''), is the Southern European country which gave us two popular foodstuffs (pasta and pizza), the Latin alphabet (used by Romance, Germanic, Celtic, and many other languages), opera, ballet, UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance, the Republic (the form of government, not the book), musical notation, the university system (started in Bologna in 1088 A.D.), eyeglasses, Humanism, ''[[InsistentTerminology Roman]]'' [[ChristianityIsCatholic Catholicism]], the world's oldest active firearms manufacturing company (Beretta), UsefulNotes/{{Fascism}} and TheMafia. Despite importing its two major religious influences (the Greek gods influenced the pre-existing Roman religion in classical times and Christianity was imported from UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}), Italy has been a major center of theological thought. Member of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion and UsefulNotes/{{NATO}}. Now has the Euro, so RidiculousExchangeRates jokes no longer work. One of the top 8 largest economies in the world by GDP, and easily in the top 20 by any economic measurement, despite corruption, few natural resources, a backwards South, an archaic political structure and incompetent (at best) politicians.

The so-called "dialects" are not variations of standard Italian, but real languages with their own grammar and pronunciation: the differences between them can be so huge that, ironically, an Italian living in Frascati would have an easier time understanding, let's say, a Spaniard than another Italian living in Rome if both Italians spoke their respective dialect-and Frascati is in the ''Metropolitan City of Rome Capital''.[[note]]During the Middle Ages both areas spoke dialects of Napulitano, the language spoken mostly in the Kingdom of Naples and strongly influenced by Spanish. During the sixteenth century, however, there was a strong immigration from Tuscany to Rome, and that, combined with the death or escape of many locals caused by the 1527 Sack of Rome, caused a language shift in the city that was not mirrored outside the walls[[/note]] However, all Italians learn Standard Italian (based on the Florence variety of the Tuscan dialect, as the Tuscans will proudly tell you) in school and since the rise of television and Creator/{{RAI}} and the private owned media companies that followed, the regional dialect has given way to greater standardization. All these languages reflect the different local cultures: in fact, every Italian region has its own unique traditions and foods, and it's not rare to notice a bit of rivalry between regions, each one of them claiming to have the best people, or the best dishes. [[SpaghettiAndGondolas Hollywood Italy]] erroneously tends to portray all Italians as dark haired, olive-skinned folks[[note]]which by the way falls under PhenotypeStereotype: dark hair is simply proportionally more common and olive skin is actually quite rare, being mostly restricted to the south. Even then, centuries of mixing between peoples has made it so that it's not uncommon to find blonde-haired, blue-eyed folks in Sicily, for example. To give you an idea, it's like portraying all Germans as light blondes.[[/note]] either living in Rome, Tuscany, Milan, Venice, Naples or Sicily, but real Italy is actually a diverse country with radically different people everywhere you go. This has often led to stereotypes even ''[[SlobsVersusSnobs between Italians themselves]]'', especially during the 1950s and 1960s, when many southern Italians emigrated to northern Italy; northern Italians weren't pleased and (very) often [[RichBitch looked down on them]], labeling them [[LowerClassLout as lazy and poor]]; in turn, southern Italians considered their northern fellows [[UpperClassTwit stuck-up and boring]]. Luckily, it got better with time and nowadays these stereotypes are usually [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]], as no one really takes them seriously anymore (mostly). Italians identify both by region and by nationality, distinguishing between Central, Northwest, Northeast, South and Insular Italy, which is more or less how it worked even in the Roman era, where Roman citizenship sat side-by-side with their regional and provincial identity and label. Since it was the Kingdom of Piedmont (ruled by the House of Savoy) that ended up uniting the Italians, the colour of the House of Savoy being blue, is why Italian sports teams play in blue to this day.

Such [[SarcasmMode charming experiences]] tend to make Italians quite cynical about nationalism, to the extent of seeing the Risorgimento and the succeeding Italian Republic not as a truly national entity but merely another hegemonic entity out to exploit them. Economically, there is major imbalance and difference with the North being wealthier than the South, with Milan's GDP exceeding that of many countries, and this and the other experiences outlined above led to mass emigration of Italians to other countries, including South America (Argentina), the United Kingdom, Australia, France and of course the United States. It is also reflected in the culture of the Italians [[WorldOfSnark who tend to sarcastically mock anything and anyone if given a chance]] -- even [[SelfDeprecation themselves]] (an ancient tradition dating back to antiquity[[note]]The Romans, who, to stave off haughtiness, had the habit of having victorious generals ''getting mocked by their own troops during their triumphal parade'' and having a slave follow the general during said parade just to tell him "Remember you have to die")[[/note]]. Another national quirk is complaining: Italians definitely have a love-hate relationship with their own country, and will quickly [[CulturalCringe point out all its flaws and passionately complain about all the things that don't work]] (politics, infrastructures, the long list goes on), often joking that these things could only happen in Italy because we can't manage anything[[note]]A trait largely shared by [[UsefulNotes/{{France}} their Western neighbours]], incidentally[[/note]]. While there's definitely some TruthInTelevision--as [[UsefulNotes/{{Culture of Italy}} this page]] explains -- to many people it's just a normal conversational topic, kinda like Brits talking about the weather. It's a land of snark indeed (which might be why the Brits and Italians have historically gotten on rather well--particularly as regards Italians moving to Britain).

** President of the Council of Ministers: Mario Draghi
** President of the Senate: Elisabetta Casellati
** President of the Chamber of Deputies: Roberto Fico

Modern Italy manages to be one of the world's leading economies, despite the country having all the political stability of a pyramid of cards [[UpToEleven in front of an active fan]] (seriously, since the birth of republican Italy, the government lasted less than a year in average!) and an (ex, for now) Prime Minister convicted ''and'' still under investigation for all manner of corruption, [[Main/WhiteCollarCrime white-collar crimes]] and rather more interesting crimes. The main Italian car company is Turin-based Fiat, which currently owns Chrysler (marking the second time a European car company owns Chrysler, the first being German Daimler corporation); ENI and ENEL are two major players in the oil industry and electricity, respectively, and Italy's Unicredit is one of Europe's largest banks. It is no surprise that just about every major Italian company is headquartered in or north of Rome.

The so-called "dialects" are not variations of standard Italian, but real languages with their own grammar and pronunciation: the differences between them can be so huge that, ironically, an Italian living in Frascati would have an easier time understanding, let's say, a Spaniard than another Italian living in Rome if both Italians spoke their respective dialect-and Frascati is in the ''Metropolitan City of Rome Capital''.[[note]]During the Middle Ages both areas spoke dialects of Napulitano, the language spoken mostly in the Kingdom of Naples and strongly influenced by Spanish. During the sixteenth century, however, there was a strong immigration from Tuscany to Rome, and that, combined with the death or escape of many locals caused by the 1527 Sack of Rome, caused a language shift in the city that was not mirrored outside the walls[[/note]] However, all Italians learn Standard Italian (based on the Florence variety of the Tuscan dialect, as the Tuscans will proudly tell you) in school and since the rise of television and Creator/{{RAI}} and the private owned media companies that followed, the regional dialect has given way to greater standardization. All these languages reflect the different local cultures: in fact, every Italian region has its own unique traditions and foods, and it's not rare to notice a bit of rivalry between regions, each one of them claiming to have the best people, or the best dishes. [[SpaghettiAndGondolas Hollywood Italy]] erroneously tends to portray all Italians as dark haired, olive-skinned folks[[note]]which by the way falls under PhenotypeStereotype: dark hair is simply proportionally more common and olive skin is actually quite rare, being mostly restricted to the south. Even then, centuries of mixing between peoples has made it so that it's not uncommon to find blonde-haired, blue-eyed folks in Sicily, for example. To give you an idea, it's like portraying all Germans as light blondes.[[/note]] either living in Rome, Tuscany, Venice, Naples or Sicily, but real Italy is actually a diverse country with radically different people everywhere you go. This has often led to stereotypes even ''[[SlobsVersusSnobs between Italians themselves]]'', especially during the 1950s and 1960s, when many southern Italians emigrated to northern Italy; northern Italians weren't pleased and (very) often [[RichBitch looked down on them]], labeling them [[LowerClassLout as lazy and poor]]; in turn, southern Italians considered their northern fellows [[UpperClassTwit stuck-up and boring]]. Luckily, it got better with time and nowadays these stereotypes are usually [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]], as no one really takes them seriously anymore (mostly). Italians identify both by region and by nationality, distinguishing between Central, Northwest, Northeast, South and Insular Italy, which is more or less how it worked even in the Roman era, where Roman citizenship sat side-by-side with their regional and provincial identity and label. Since it was the Kingdom of Piedmont (ruled by the House of Savoy) that ended up uniting the Italians, the colour of the House of Savoy being blue, is why Italian sports teams play in blue to this day.

The so-called "dialects" are not variations of standard Italian, but real languages with their own grammar and pronunciation: the differences between them can be so huge that, ironically, an Italian living in Frascati would have an easier time understanding, let's say, a Spaniard than another Italian living in Rome if both Italians spoke their respective dialect-and Frascati is in the ''Metropolitan City of Rome Capital''.[[note]]During the Middle Ages both areas spoke dialects of Napulitano, the language spoken mostly in the Kingdom of Naples and strongly influenced by Spanish. During the sixteenth century, however, there was a strong immigration from Tuscany to Rome, and that, combined with the death or escape of many locals caused by the 1527 Sack of Rome, caused a language shift in the city that was not mirrored outside the walls[[/note]] However, all Italians learn Standard Italian (based on the Florence variety of the Tuscan dialect, as the Tuscans will proudly tell you) in school and since the rise of television and Creator/{{RAI}} and the private owned media companies that followed, the regional dialect has given way to greater standardization. All these languages reflect the different local cultures: in fact, every Italian region has its own unique traditions and foods, and it's not rare to notice a bit of rivalry between regions, each one of them claiming to have the best people, or the best dishes. [[SpaghettiAndGondolas Hollywood Italy]] erroneously tends to portray all Italians as dark haired, olive-skinned folks[[note]]which by the way falls under PhenotypeStereotype: dark hair is simply proportionally more common and olive skin is actually quite rare, being mostly restricted to the south. Even then, centuries of mixing between peoples has made it so that it's not uncommon to find blonde-haired, blue-eyed folks in Sicily, for example. To give you an idea, it's like portraying all Germans as light blondes.[[/note]] either living in Rome, Tuscany, Venice, Naples or Sicily, but real Italy is actually a diverse country with radically different people everywhere you go. This has often led to stereotypes even ''[[SlobsVersusSnobs between Italians themselves]]'', especially during the 1950s and 1960s, when many southern Italians emigrated to northern Italy; northern Italians weren't pleased and (very) often [[RichBitch looked down on them]], labeling them [[LowerClassLout as lazy and poor]]; in turn, southern Italians considered their northern fellows [[UpperClassTwit stuck-up and boring]]. Luckily, it got better with time and nowadays these stereotypes are usually [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]], as no one really takes them seriously anymore (mostly). Italians identify both by region and by nationality, distinguishing between Central, Northwest, South, Northeast and Insular Italy, which is more or less how it worked even in the Roman era, where Roman citizenship sat side-by-side with their regional and provincial identity and label. Since it was the Kingdom of Piedmont (ruled by the House of Savoy) that ended up uniting the Italians, the colour of the House of Savoy being blue, is why Italian sports teams play in blue to this day.

The so-called "dialects" are not variations of standard Italian, but real languages with their own grammar and pronunciation: the differences between them can be so huge that, ironically, an Italian living in Frascati would have an easier time understanding, let's say, a Spaniard than another Italian living in Rome if both Italians spoke their respective dialect-and Frascati is in the ''Metropolitan City of Rome Capital''.[[note]]During the Middle Ages both areas spoke dialects of Napulitano, the language spoken mostly in the Kingdom of Naples and strongly influenced by Spanish. During the sixteenth century, however, there was a strong immigration from Tuscany to Rome, and that, combined with the death or escape of many locals caused by the 1527 Sack of Rome, caused a language shift in the city that was not mirrored outside the walls[[/note]] However, all Italians learn Standard Italian (based on the Florence variety of the Tuscan dialect, as the Tuscans will proudly tell you) in school and since the rise of television and Creator/{{RAI}} and the private owned media companies that followed, the regional dialect has given way to greater standardization. All these languages reflect the different local cultures: in fact, every Italian region has its own unique traditions and foods, and it's not rare to notice a bit of rivalry between regions, each one of them claiming to have the best people, or the best dishes. [[SpaghettiAndGondolas Hollywood Italy]] erroneously tends to portray all Italians as dark haired, olive-skinned folks[[note]]which by the way falls under PhenotypeStereotype: dark hair is simply proportionally more common and olive skin is actually quite rare, being mostly restricted to the south. Even then, centuries of mixing between peoples has made it so that it's not uncommon to find blonde-haired, blue-eyed folks in Sicily, for example. To give you an idea, it's like portraying all Germans as light blondes.[[/note]] either living in Rome, Tuscany, Venice, Naples or Sicily, but real Italy is actually a diverse country with radically different people everywhere you go. This has often led to stereotypes even ''[[SlobsVersusSnobs between Italians themselves]]'', especially during the 1950s and 1960s, when many southern Italians emigrated to northern Italy; northern Italians weren't pleased and (very) often [[RichBitch looked down on them]], labeling them [[LowerClassLout as lazy and poor]]; in turn, southern Italians considered their northern fellows [[UpperClassTwit stuck-up and boring]]. Luckily, it got better with time and nowadays these stereotypes are usually [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]], as no one really takes them seriously anymore (mostly). Italians identify both by region and by nationality, distinguishing between Central, Northwest, Northeast, South and Insular Italy, which is more or less how it worked even in the Roman era, where Roman citizenship sat side-by-side with their regional and provincial identity and label. Since it was the Kingdom of Piedmont (ruled by the House of Savoy) that ended up uniting the Italians, the colour of the House of Savoy being blue, is why Italian sports teams play in blue to this day.

The so-called "dialects" are not variations of standard Italian, but real languages with their own grammar and pronunciation: the differences between them can be so huge that, ironically, an Italian living in Frascati would have an easier time understanding, let's say, a Spaniard than another Italian living in Rome if both Italians spoke their respective dialect-and Frascati is in the ''Metropolitan City of Rome Capital''.[[note]]During the Middle Ages both areas spoke dialects of Napulitano, the language spoken mostly in the Kingdom of Naples and strongly influenced by Spanish. During the sixteenth century, however, there was a strong immigration from Tuscany to Rome, and that, combined with the death or escape of many locals caused by the 1527 Sack of Rome, caused a language shift in the city that was not mirrored outside the walls[[/note]] However, all Italians learn Standard Italian (based on the Florence variety of the Tuscan dialect, as the Tuscans will proudly tell you) in school and since the rise of television and Creator/{{RAI}} and the private owned media companies that followed, the regional dialect has given way to greater standardization. All these languages reflect the different local cultures: in fact, every Italian region has its own unique traditions and foods, and it's not rare to notice a bit of rivalry between regions, each one of them claiming to have the best people, or the best dishes. [[SpaghettiAndGondolas Hollywood Italy]] erroneously tends to portray all Italians as dark haired, olive-skinned folks[[note]]which by the way falls under PhenotypeStereotype: dark hair is simply proportionally more common and olive skin is actually quite rare, being mostly restricted to the south. Even then, centuries of mixing between peoples has made it so that it's not uncommon to find blonde-haired, blue-eyed folks in Sicily, for example. To give you an idea, it's like portraying all Germans as light blondes.[[/note]] either living in Rome, Tuscany, Venice, Naples or Sicily, but real Italy is actually a diverse country with radically different people everywhere you go. This has often led to stereotypes even ''[[SlobsVersusSnobs between Italians themselves]]'', especially during the 1950s and 1960s, when many southern Italians emigrated to northern Italy; northern Italians weren't pleased and (very) often [[RichBitch looked down on them]], labeling them [[LowerClassLout as lazy and poor]]; in turn, southern Italians considered their northern fellows [[UpperClassTwit stuck-up and boring]]. Luckily, it got better with time and nowadays these stereotypes are usually [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]], as no one really takes them seriously anymore (mostly). Italians identify both by region and by nationality, distinguishing between Central, Northwest, South, Northeast and Insular Italy, which is more or less how it worked even in the Roman era, where Roman citizenship sat side-by-side with their regional and provincial identity and label. Since it was the Kingdom of Piedmont (ruled by the House of Savoy) that ended up uniting the Italians, the colour of the House of Savoy being blue, is why Italian sports teams play in blue to this day.

The so-called "dialects" are not variations of standard Italian, but real languages with their own grammar and pronunciation: the differences between them can be so huge that, ironically, an Italian living in Frascati would have an easier time understanding, let's say, a Spaniard than another Italian living in Rome if both Italians spoke their respective dialect-and Frascati is in the ''Metropolitan City of Rome Capital''.[[note]]During the Middle Ages both areas spoke dialects of Napulitano, the language spoken mostly in the Kingdom of Naples and strongly influenced by Spanish. During the sixteenth century, however, there was a strong immigration from Tuscany to Rome, and that, combined with the death or escape of many locals caused by the 1527 Sack of Rome, caused a language shift in the city that was not mirrored outside the walls[[/note]] However, all Italians learn Standard Italian (based on the Florence variety of the Tuscan dialect, as the Tuscans will proudly tell you) in school and since the rise of television and Creator/{{RAI}} and the private owned media companies that followed, the regional dialect has given way to greater standardization. All these languages reflect the different local cultures: in fact, every Italian region has its own unique traditions and foods, and it's not rare to notice a bit of rivalry between regions, each one of them claiming to have the best people, or the best dishes. [[SpaghettiAndGondolas Hollywood Italy]] erroneously tends to portray all Italians as dark haired, olive-skinned folks[[note]]which by the way falls under PhenotypeStereotype: dark hair is simply proportionally more common and olive skin is actually quite rare, being mostly restricted to the south. Even then, centuries of mixing between peoples has made it so that it's not uncommon to find blonde-haired, blue-eyed folks in Sicily, for example. To give you an idea, it's like portraying all Germans as light blondes.[[/note]] either living in Rome, Tuscany, Venice, Naples or Sicily, but real Italy is actually a diverse country with radically different people everywhere you go. This has often led to stereotypes even ''[[SlobsVersusSnobs between Italians themselves]]'', especially during the 1950s and 1960s, when many southern Italians emigrated to northern Italy; northern Italians weren't pleased and (very) often [[RichBitch looked down on them]], labeling them [[LowerClassLout as lazy and poor]]; in turn, southern Italians considered their northern fellows [[UpperClassTwit stuck-up and boring]]. Luckily, it got better with time and nowadays these stereotypes are usually [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]], as no one really takes them seriously anymore (mostly). Italians identify both by region and by nationality, distinguishing between Central, Northwest, Northeast, South and Insular Italy, which is more or less how it worked even in the Roman era, where Roman citizenship sat side-by-side with their regional and provincial identity and label. Since it was the Kingdom of Piedmont (ruled by the House of Savoy) that ended up uniting the Italians, the colour of the House of Savoy being blue, is why Italian sports teams play in blue to this day.

Italy ('''Italian:''' ''Italia''), officially known as the '''Italian Republic''' ('''Italian:''' ''Repubblica italiana''), is the Southern European country which gave us two popular foodstuffs (pasta and pizza), the Latin alphabet (used by Romance, Germanic, Celtic, and many other languages), opera, ballet, the Renaissance, the Republic (the form of government, not the book), musical notation, the university system (started in Bologna in 1088 A.D.), eyeglasses, Humanism, ''[[InsistentTerminology Roman]]'' [[ChristianityIsCatholic Catholicism]], the world's oldest active firearms manufacturing company (Beretta), UsefulNotes/{{Fascism}} and TheMafia. Despite importing its two major religious influences (the Greek gods influenced the pre-existing Roman religion in classical times and Christianity was imported from UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}), Italy has been a major center of theological thought. Member of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion and UsefulNotes/{{NATO}}. Now has the Euro, so RidiculousExchangeRates jokes no longer work. One of the top 8 largest economies in the world by GDP, and easily in the top 20 by any economic measurement, despite corruption, few natural resources, a backwards South, an archaic political structure and incompetent (at best) politicians.

* '''Highest point:''' Monte Bianco (4810 m/15,781 ft) (33rd[[note]]shared with France[[/note]])

The so-called "dialects" are not variations of standard Italian, but real languages with their own grammar and pronunciation: the differences between them can be so huge that, ironically, an Italian living in Frascati would have an easier time understanding, let's say, a Spaniard than another Italian living in Rome if both Italians spoke their respective dialect-and Frascati is in the ''Metropolitan City of Rome Capital''.[[note]]During the Middle Ages both areas spoke dialects of Napulitano, the language spoken mostly in the Kingdom of Naples and strongly influenced by Spanish. During the sixteenth century, however, there was a strong immigration from Tuscany to Rome, and that, combined with the death or escape of many locals caused by the 1527 Sack of Rome, caused a language shift in the city that was not mirrored outside the walls[[/note]] However, all Italians learn Standard Italian (based on the Florence variety of the Tuscan dialect, as the Tuscans will proudly tell you) in school and since the rise of television and Creator/{{RAI}} and the private owned media companies that followed, the regional dialect has given way to greater standardization. All these languages reflect the different local cultures: in fact, every Italian region has its own unique traditions and foods, and it's not rare to notice a bit of rivalry between regions, each one of them claiming to have the best people, or the best dishes. [[SpaghettiAndGondolas Hollywood Italy]] erroneously tends to portray all Italians as dark haired, olive-skinned folks[[note]]which by the way falls under PhenotypeStereotype: dark hair is simply proportionally more common and olive skin is actually quite rare, being mostly restricted to the south. Even then, centuries of mixing between peoples has made it so that it's not uncommon to find blonde-haired, blue-eyed folks in Sicily, for example. To give you an idea, it's like portraying all Germans as light blondes.[[/note]] either living in Rome, Tuscany, Naples, Venice or Sicily, but real Italy is actually a diverse country with radically different people everywhere you go. This has often led to stereotypes even ''[[SlobsVersusSnobs between Italians themselves]]'', especially during the 1950s and 1960s, when many southern Italians emigrated to northern Italy; northern Italians weren't pleased and (very) often [[RichBitch looked down on them]], labeling them [[LowerClassLout as lazy and poor]]; in turn, southern Italians considered their northern fellows [[UpperClassTwit stuck-up and boring]]. Luckily, it got better with time and nowadays these stereotypes are usually [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]], as no one really takes them seriously anymore (mostly). Italians identify both by region and by nationality, distinguishing between Central, Northwest, South, Northeast and Insular Italy, which is more or less how it worked even in the Roman era, where Roman citizenship sat side-by-side with their regional and provincial identity and label. Since it was the Kingdom of Piedmont (ruled by the House of Savoy) that ended up uniting the Italians, the colour of the House of Savoy being blue, is why Italian sports teams play in blue to this day.

The so-called "dialects" are not variations of standard Italian, but real languages with their own grammar and pronunciation: the differences between them can be so huge that, ironically, an Italian living in Frascati would have an easier time understanding, let's say, a Spaniard than another Italian living in Rome if both Italians spoke their respective dialect-and Frascati is in the ''Metropolitan City of Rome Capital''.[[note]]During the Middle Ages both areas spoke dialects of Napulitano, the language spoken mostly in the Kingdom of Naples and strongly influenced by Spanish. During the sixteenth century, however, there was a strong immigration from Tuscany to Rome, and that, combined with the death or escape of many locals caused by the 1527 Sack of Rome, caused a language shift in the city that was not mirrored outside the walls[[/note]] However, all Italians learn Standard Italian (based on the Florence variety of the Tuscan dialect, as the Tuscans will proudly tell you) in school and since the rise of television and Creator/{{RAI}} and the private owned media companies that followed, the regional dialect has given way to greater standardization. All these languages reflect the different local cultures: in fact, every Italian region has its own unique traditions and foods, and it's not rare to notice a bit of rivalry between regions, each one of them claiming to have the best people, or the best dishes. [[SpaghettiAndGondolas Hollywood Italy]] erroneously tends to portray all Italians as dark haired, olive-skinned folks[[note]]which by the way falls under PhenotypeStereotype: dark hair is simply proportionally more common and olive skin is actually quite rare, being mostly restricted to the south. Even then, centuries of mixing between peoples has made it so that it's not uncommon to find blonde-haired, blue-eyed folks in Sicily, for example. To give you an idea, it's like portraying all Germans as light blondes.[[/note]] either living in Rome, Tuscany, Venice, Naples or Sicily, but real Italy is actually a diverse country with radically different people everywhere you go. This has often led to stereotypes even ''[[SlobsVersusSnobs between Italians themselves]]'', especially during the 1950s and 1960s, when many southern Italians emigrated to northern Italy; northern Italians weren't pleased and (very) often [[RichBitch looked down on them]], labeling them [[LowerClassLout as lazy and poor]]; in turn, southern Italians considered their northern fellows [[UpperClassTwit stuck-up and boring]]. Luckily, it got better with time and nowadays these stereotypes are usually [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]], as no one really takes them seriously anymore (mostly). Italians identify both by region and by nationality, distinguishing between Central, Northwest, Northeast, South and Insular Italy, which is more or less how it worked even in the Roman era, where Roman citizenship sat side-by-side with their regional and provincial identity and label. Since it was the Kingdom of Piedmont (ruled by the House of Savoy) that ended up uniting the Italians, the colour of the House of Savoy being blue, is why Italian sports teams play in blue to this day.

* '''Highest point:''' Monte Bianco (4810 m/15,781 ft) (52nd[[note]]shared with France[[/note]])

* '''Highest point:''' Monte Bianco (4810 m/15,781 ft) (52nd[[note]]shared with Franco[[/note]])

* '''Country calling code:''' 39

* UsefulNotes/{{Culture of Italy}}

[[AC:Other]]

[[AC:People]]
* Creator/{{Cicero}}
* UsefulNotes/MarcusJuniusBrutus
* UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar
* UsefulNotes/PompeyTheGreat
* UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}
* UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}
* UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}
* [[Literature/TheTravelsOfMarcoPolo Marco Polo]]
* [[Literature/TheDivineComedy Dante Alighieri]]
* Creator/GiovanniBoccaccio
* Creator/ItaloCalvino
* [[UsefulNotes/CaterinaDeMedici Caterina de’ Medici]]
* UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus
* Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli
* Music/GioachinoRossini
* Music/GiuseppeVerdi
* UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini
* Creator/MichelangeloAntonioni
* Creator/RobertoRossellini
* Creator/LuchinoVisconti
* Creator/FedericoFellini
* Creator/MonicaVitti
* Creator/GinaLollobrigida
* Creator/UmbertoEco
* Creator/SophiaLoren
* Creator/RaffaellaCarra
* Creator/DarioArgento
* Creator/LucioFulci
* Creator/BernardoBertolucci
* Creator/MonicaBellucci
* Creator/AsiaArgento
* Music/{{Caparezza}}
* Music/ElioELeStorieTese
* Music/{{Verdena}}
* Creator/LeonardoDaVinci
* Creator/BenitoJacovitti
* Creator/LucaGuadagnino
* Creator/RobertoBenigni

->Italy has called! Yes!

->Italy has called! Yes!

->Italy has called! Yes!

->Italy has called! Yes!

->Italy has called! Yes!

->We were for centuries
->downtrodden, derided,
->because we are not one people,
->because we are divided.
->Let one flag, one hope
->gather us all.
->The hour has struck
->for us to unite.

->We were for centuries
->downtrodden, derided,
->because we are not one people,
->because we are divided.
->Let one flag, one hope
->gather us all.
->The hour has struck
->for us to unite.

->We were for centuries
->downtrodden, derided,
->because we are not one people,
->because we are divided.
->Let one flag, one hope
->gather us all.
->The hour has struck
->for us to unite.

->l'Italia chiamò! Sì!

->Italy has called! Yes! [[note]] The ''yes'' at the end of the anthem is always heard during popular events like soccer games, but it might not be present if the anthem is played in more official occasions: some people say this is due to the fact that the ''yes'' was added under Mussolini's dictatorship, but this claim is disputed, and many others just think that that ''yes'' at the end is just unclassy and unfit for formal occasions. [[/note]]