ITALIA

‘’A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see ‘’

Samuel Johnson

Structure:General Information;Protagonists of Italian History;Pasta, pizza and….

General Information:Geographic position;Regions and population;Politics;National Features.

Geographic Position :

Regions :• 20 Regions;•Each one has its own statute, power and functions.•Five of them have special statutes.

Population:60.626.442 inhabitants (Fourth country for population, after Germany, France and Great Britain.);

Most densely populated areas: Po Valley, Rome and Naples;

4.6 millions of foreign residents (Mainly from Eastern Europe and North Africa).

Politics:The national emblem:

•“Lo stellone” (The big star), officially adopted on the 5th of May 1948 and designed by Paolo Paschetto.

Politics:

“L’Italia è una Repubblica democratica fondata sul lavoro. La sovranità appartiene al popolo che la esercita nella forma e nei limiti della Costituzione.” Article 1,Italian

Constitution.

Political System:•The Prime Minister(the chief of the government)owns the executive power.•The Parliament create the laws.•The Magistracy has the judicial power.•The Republic President is the head of the State.•Other important protagonists are the parties, organizations that represent the interests of different sectors of the society.

•Giorgio Napolitano,the contemporary President.

• Mario Monti, Prime Minister.

██ Il Popolo della Libertà██ Partito Democratico██ Lega Nord██ Movimento per le Autonomie██ Sinistra Ecologia Libertà██ Südtiroler Volkspartei██ Union Valdôtaine

National Features:Italian economy:

1. Italy has a diversified industrial economy with high GDP and developed infrastructure;

2. According to the IMF and the WB in 2010 was the 7th largest economy in the world and a leading country in EXP;

3. The main sectors are:• Agricultural Sector(World’s largest wine

producer!);

• High Quality Fashion-Sports/Luxury Vehicles;

• High Quality Home Appliances.

Language:

•Italian language is spoken mainly in Europe: Italy,Switzerland,San Marino, Vatican City;•According to the Bologna statistics of the EU, Italian is spoken as a mother language by 65 million people;•Italian has a poetic and literally origin: it derives from vulgar Latin(spoken version of classical Latin) and was first formalized in the early 14th Century by Dante Alighieri, in his Commedia.

Language and regions:

•In every Italian region exists a different form of the classical Italian language, the so called “Dialetto”.

•We can distinguish two types:Dialetti of Italy and Dialetti of Italian.

•Among the Dialetti of Italy we can find: Siciliano,Napoletano,Ligure,Veneto,Lombardo,Piemontese and they’re considered as languages not officially recognized.

•With Dialetti of Italian we define all the variations that in some regions are applied to the role model language.

Religion:

•Catholicism is the largest religious group in Italy.

The Flag:

The Italian Flag called « Tricolore », was born during the Restoration but formally it became an institution on January the 1st of 1948 when its colors were clearly indicated in the article 12 of the Italian Constitution.

Protagonists of Italian History:Giulio Cesare;Leonardo da Vinci;Giacomo Matteotti;Paolo Borsellino- Giovanni Falcone;Rita Levi Montalcini.

Giulio Cesare:

• Born in Suburra between the 13 July 101 a.C and the 12 July 100 a.C, Giulio Cesare was a general, dictator , orator and roman writer and he’s considered the first Emperor of the Roman Empire.

•He had a crucial role in the transaction between the Res Publica and the Empire and he’s famous for having led the roman soldiers till the borders of the Atlantic Ocean and the Reno River.

•He was such a powerful political man in the old Rome that he challenged the authority of the Senato entering Rome with his soldiers and becoming one of the most charismatic figure of that time.

Leonardo Da Vinci:•Leonardo di Ser Piero Da Vinci was born in Vinci, the 15th of April 1452 and died in Amboise the 2nd of May 1519.

•He’s considered one of the symbol of the Italian Rinascimento and he’s famous for his eclectic works.

•He applied his incredible knowledge in almost every cultural field of that time. He worked as sculptor, architect, painter, inventor, anatomist and projector.

•He’s also popular for his problems with the Catholic Church who tried several times to make his studies such a difficult dial.

Giacomo Matteotti:• Giacomo Matteotti was

born in Fratta Polesine, the 22nd of May of 1885 and died killed by fascists in Rome, the 10th of May 1924.

•He’s famous as one of the first political man who had the courage to oppose himself to the Fascism.

•In the 30th of May 1924 during a speech in the Parliament he publicly affirmed his opposition to the acts of violence and abuses perpetrated by the fascists.

•In the 10th of June he was found killed.

« You could kill me,but you’ll never kill the idea that live in me. ». G.Matteotti.

Paolo Borsellino e Giovanni Falcone:•Paolo Borsellino (19 Gennaio 1940-19 Luglio 1992) and Giovanni Falcone (20 Maggio 1939-23 Maggio 1992) are two judges involved in the fight against mafia, who were killed during the early 90’s.

•They’re both considered national heroes because they tried – joining a special judicial commission called “Pool Antimafia”- to find and destroy the bases of Cosa Nostra, a criminal association.

Rita Levi Montalcini:•Rita Levi Montalcini was

born in Torino the 22nd of April 1909 (103 years old!!!) is one of the most important personalities in the field of Medicine and Research.

•She gained the Nobel Prize in 1986 thanks to her researches on brain and neurology.

•When she turned at the age of 100 years old in 2009,she became one of the oldest Nobel Prizes still alive.

•She became permanent member of the Italian Senate and ,despite the age, she still has a great influence in the scientific field.

Pasta,Pizza and….

•Italy is the nation with the highest amount of historical monuments in the world (Statistics say that we have a monument of historical relevance every 10km!).

•Few people knows that the famous Pizza was invented in order to please the Queen Margherita, who was the head of the Naples’ Reign during the 14th Century and that the mixture of tomatos mozzarella cheese was totally accidental.

•We have two of the oldest european universities which are ALMA MATER STUDIORUM of Bologna and the FEDERICO II of Naples.

•The « annoying » habit to clap when a plane is landing it’s a form of thankfulness for the pilots ;).

•Statistics of the European Union say that we are one of the nation with the highest quality of life and the happiest population, not only thanks to our good weather and food…but simply because we know how enjoy life and pleasures.

Thank you soo much for your attention!!!!!