Italy
Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy is a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC) and its subsequent successors the EC and the EU. It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include sluggish economic growth, high youth and female unemployment, organized crime, corruption, and economic disparities between southern Italy and the more prosperous north.
Geography
Location
Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of TunisiaGeographic coordinates
42 50 N, 12 50 EArea
total: 301,340 sq km land: 294,140 sq km water: 7,200 sq kmGeography - Note
strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
Location under
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