Italy

Facts and Figures at a Glance

Land and People
******************

Form of government : Republic
National area in size 301. 337 sq km
Population: 59, 230, 175 (January 2007)
Currency Euro
National language Italian
other languages: French, German, Ladin, Slovenian Catalan (Sardinia), Greek (parts of Calabria)
State religion: Catholic
President: Giorgio Napolitano
Romano Prodi governor
Capital: Rome
Time zone UTC + 1
Internet:.. it
calling code: +39
the Italian regions:
* Abruzzo (Abruzzo)
* Aosta Valley (Valle d´Aosta)
* Apulia (Puglia)
* Basilicata (Basilicata)
* Emilia-Romagna
* Friuli-Venezia Giulia
* Calabria
* Campania
* Lazio
* Liguria (Liguria)
* Lombardy
* Marches
* Molise
* Piedmont (Piemonte)
* Sardinia (Sardegna)
* Sicily (Sicilia) *
* Tuscany (Toscana)
* Veneto (Veneto)
* Trentino Alto Adige (Trentino Alto Adige)
* Umbria (Umbria)

Important telephone numbers:
** *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 9> Roadside Assistance 116
Sea Rescue 1530
Forest Fire 1515

Weather:
********
https: // www.. wunderground.. com / global / IY.. html
https: // www.. weather Online.. de / travel.. htm
https: // weather.. com
https: // meteo.. it


Italy information pages:
*****************************
https: // en.. wikipedia.. org / wiki / Italy (SUPERINFORMATIVE!)
www.. journey to Italy.. de
www.. italianita.. de

The country
***********

Italy´s outline is reminiscent of a boot forming the Apennine Peninsula..
The mountain range of the Apennines runs completely from north to south..
Further mountain ranges are the Abruzzen in central Italy as well as the mountains in Calabrien and Apulien..
On the Italian west coast is the Ligurian Sea in the north, in the middle the Etruscan (Tuscan) Riviera, then the Tyrrhenian Sea with the Gulf of Naples in Campania..
On the Italian east coast, the coast from Trieste in the north, through the Gargano (spur) to the boot heel in Apulia is called the Adriatic Sea..
On the west coast are also famous islands such as Elba and Capri, further west in the Mediterranean Sardinia..

The most famous rivers are the Arno, Tiber, Po and Adige, known lakes are the northern Italian lakes Lago Maggiore, Lake Como and Lake Garda, in central Italy are known the Lago di Trasimeno and the Lago di Bolsena

Italy has an ´explosive´ underground near Naples the volcano Vesuvius, upstream on the islands of the volcano Stromboli and in Sicily the (almost always smoking) Etna

Famous cities are Rome, Milan, Naples, Genoa, Turin, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Bari, Catania and Palermo..

Italy´s highest mountain massif is the Gran Paradiso in the Graian Alps (4 061m), the highest peak Mont Blanc de Courmayeur at 4 748 m, a side peak of Mont Blanc..

Police
********
is not the same in Italy and can be confusing..
Italian police is multi-limbed and partly militarily organized..
first. Polizia di Stato = state police at the national level, reports to the Minister of the Interior and is located mainly in the big cities
2.. Carabinieri = is subordinate to the Ministry of Defense, but also here the Minister of the Interior is authorized to give instructions.. Provides police service also in the country.. (similar in France Gendarmerie or Spain Guardia Civil)
3.. Guardia di Finanzia = Financial and Customs Police, subordinate to the Ministry of Finance, also responsible for border management
4.. Polizia Municipale = local police, mainly. for road traffic





~womo66~fritz14~fritz~, 2007-11-27