Italy Facts

Interesting Facts for Kids

Here are some interesting Italy Facts which were chosen and researched by kids especially for kids.

Population: About 59 million people live in Italy (2024)
Capital: Roma (Rome) with 4.3 million inhabitants
Name: Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic) or simply: Italia, Nickname: 'Bel Paese' which means beautiful country
Government: Democracy, Republic
Language: Italian. Official minority languages are German, French and Ladin in some regions in Northern Italy
Literacy: More than 98% can read and write
Religion: mainly Christians (80%, of theses most are Roman Catholics)
Currency: 1 euro = 100 cents, before 2001: Italian lira

History: Rome was founded in 753 BC by the twins Romulus and Remus. The Roman Empire was founded in 27 BC and Augustus Caesar proclaimed himself emperor of Rome in 31 BC. After the Roman Empire broke down in 395 AD, there were many separate kingdoms and city states. Italy became one nation only in 1861. Since then the country also includes the islands of Sicily and Sardegna. The 'Kingdom of Italy' lasted from 1861 until 1946. During the Second World War, Italy's Prime Minister Benito Mussolini sided with the German Nazi regime. The Italian Republic was formed in 1946.

Anthem

Prime Minister: Giorgia Meloni (since 2022)
National Day: 2 June (Festa della Repubblica)
National Symbols: Italian grey wolf (national animal), red rose or white lily (national flowers) and the white five-pointed star with a thin red border line

Italy Flag

Flag: 'Tricolore' with green, white and red coloured vertical bands. The flag colours are said to represent these virtues: hope (green), faith (white), and charity (red)

Italy Facts
Where is Italy?

Italy is a country in Southern Europe. The country is located on a peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Adriatic Sea borders the eastern side of the peninsula while the Ligurian Sea and the Thyrrenian Sea border the western coastline of Italy. The Ionian Sea is to the south of the peninsula.

Italy borders six countries: France, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Vatican City and San Marino. Both, Vatican City and San Marino, are enclaves within Italy as you can see on the map.

Italy Map

The country is easy to recognize on any world map, as the country is shaped like a high-heeled boot, as you can see on the map above. The island of Sicily could be imagined as a ball, so that it looks like the boot is kicking a ball, don’t you think?

Italy is slightly larger in size than the three countries of the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium combined or about as big as the state of Arizona/ USA.

A flight to Italy's capital city Rome takes roughly 2.5 hours from London/ UK and about 8 hours from New York/ USA.

Italy Facts | Italy Geography

Italy has more than 7,600 km/ 4,722 miles of coastline as the peninsula is located for a large part in the Mediterranean sea.

Italy is popular for its many picturesque ports, scenic lakes and sandy beaches.

Beach resort on the Amalfi coast

Italy has two bigger islands, Sicily to the south and Sardegna to the west.

Two islands of Italy, Lampedusa and Lampione, are located far to the south and are closer to Africa than to Italy. Both islands are on the African continental shelf.

There are many smaller islands such as Capri, Ischia and Elba which are all to the west of mainland Italy.

Beautiful Cavoli on the island of Elba

The main cities in Italy are Roma/Rome, Milano/Milan, Firenze/Florence and Napoli/Naples.

The Alps and the Apennines are the two main mountain ranges in Italy. About 40% of the country is covered by hills and mountains.

In the North, the mountain range of the Alps separates Italy from the other European countries France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.

The highest mountains of Italy can be found in the Alps. The Dolomites are a part of the Alps mountain range in Italy's north and many of the peaks are above 3,000 m/ 9,843 ft high!

Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Italian Alps

There are many lakes in northern Italy, in the centre of the country, the landscape flattens, this flat area is called the Po Valley.

The Apennines mountain range run all the way down the boot and separates the eastern and the western regions of Italy.

And did you know that in Italy, there are still active volcanos?

Eruption of Etna - See the lava flowing down the slopes

In the South of Italy you will find Italy’s three active volcanoes: Vesuvius near Naples, Etna on Sicily and Stromboli off the Coast of Italy.

Italy Facts | Italy Geography Superlatives

Here are some fascinating Italy facts that are always good to know:

Italy's largest island is Sicily. This island is also the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
The biggest city of the country is Rome with 4.2 million people.
The highest mountain peak in Italy is Monte Bianco, better known as Mont Blanc, which is 4,807 m or 15,776 ft. high.
The longest river in Italy is the Po River in Northern Italy with a length of 652 km/ 405 miles.
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in northern Italy and famous for the winds that attract many surfers to its shores.
The longest border to any neighbouring country is shared with Switzerland. This border is 698 km/ 434 miles long.
The Etna is the most active volcano in Europe. It is located on the island of Sicily.

And again, remember, Italy surrounds two of the world’s smallest countries! These are San Marino in Northern Italy, which is also the oldest republic in the world, and Vatican City in Rome, the smallest country in the world.

Read about the most famous landmarks in Italy on our separate page here.

Italy Facts
Italy Attractions for Kids

Colosseum in Rome

Rome: Italy's capital city is a wonderful place to learn about the Romans and ancient history. There are so many historic sites in the city that is nicknamed 'Eternal City' and you must visit historic monuments as as the Foro Romano (Forum Romanum) with its ancient Roman ruins or the Colosseo.

Rialto Bridge in Venice

Venice: This Northern Italian city is often referred to as 'Lagoon City' or 'The City of Masks'. The Italian name of the city is Venezia. Venice is famous for its canals, bridges and gondolas. The city is built on 120 islands and is known for its colourful carnival.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Pisa: The city on the river Arno is famous for its duomo and the leaning tower. One just must experience the Leaning Tower of Pisa which dates back to the 12th century. The bell tower of the main cathedral of the city is as fascinating as the colourful decorated churches.

Mosaics in Ravenna

Ravenna: The city is famous for the ancient colourful mosaics that decorate the city's churches. The extensive mosaic decorations date back to the 5th century and are fascinating artworks to explore. The city was once on of the main centres of Roman Christian art.

Tuscany

Tuscany: The Tuscany is a popular tourist region with scenic countryside in central Italy. The rolling hills invite for hiking trips and there are lovely medieval towns such as San Gimignano, Lucca or Montepulciano. The capital of the Tuscany region is Florence.

Florence

Florence: This city in Tuscany called Firenze in Italian is known for its arts museums and historic churches, Renaissance art and architecture. Many of the great Italian artists such as Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci once lived in this city.

Italian dolomites

Dolomites/Dolomiti and Italian Alps: The provinces in Northern Italy are renowned for fabulous skiing, hiking and mountainside holidays. You should also to visit South Tyrol's capital Bolzano. In the city’s Natural History Museum you can marvel at Oetzi, a mummy from the Ice-age.

Trulli in Alberobello

Alberobello: This small town is located in Apulia (Puglia in Italian). This town in southern Italy is known for its historic stone huts with cone hat-roofs. These unique houses are called trulli.

Read here about the most famous Italian landmarks and attractions here.

10 famous landmarks in Italy by Kids World Travel Guide

Italy Facts | Italian People

Italy is quite densely populated, with most people living in the country's northern regions. The Po Valley, also referred to as Padan Plain, is an area with many industrial centres. Almost half of Italy's population live in the Po Valley. The Po Valley's biggest cities include Milan (Milano), Modena, Turin (Torino) and Verona.

Milan is the main industrial centre of Italy and also known to be one of the world's fashion capitals.

Cityscape of Milan

Italians lead a modern lifestyle especially in the urban centres but they also celebrate century-old cultural traditions. Famous festivals that are celebrated annually are the carnival celebrations before Lent. In Venice, these are said to originate in the 12th century.

Traditional Carnival costumes in Venice

The Palio in Siena is dating back to 1644 when the first horse race in the city's main square was held.

And of course, Italians love soccer! The admittedly quite brutal Calcio storico match is still played and celebrated in Florence once a year. Calcio means soccer in Italian.

The Italian soccer league is followed by many Italians abroad too: Inter Milan, Lazio Roma and Juventus Turin are just some of the Italian soccer teams which are favoured by Italians.

Soccer youth team

Soccer, skiing, cycling, surfing or motor racing are just some of the sports Italians have very strong interest in.

The family is very important for Italians, where there are still many big families including grandparents, parents and children in the household.

Italians love their food, which is usually prepared freshly by 'la mama', the mother, or the nonna, the grandmother.

Piazza in San Gimignano in Italy - image by Nataliya Nazarova

Piazza in San Gimignano - image by Nataliya Nazarova

In the afternoon or evening it is common to meet up with family and friends on the piazza. The piazza is the main square of the village or town.

Italy Facts | Famous Italians

Christopher Columbus

Italians are famous for their inventions and discoveries. The Italian explorers Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci explored many places in the Americas while Marco Polo travelled extensively in Asia.

Leonardo da Vinci was a scientist and artist who was the first to prove the world is round and not flat.

Alessandro Volta, was the prioneer who did studies in electricity, hence the name 'Volt' describing a unit of electricity.

Did you know that Italians also invented the piano and the thermometer?

More Italy Facts about Famous Italians for Kids: Explorers, Inventors and more

Italy Facts | Italian Language

Italian is a Romance language and the language roots are in the Latin language. Italian is very close to French, as 89% of the vocabulary are shared, and 82% is shared with the Spanish vocabulary.

Italian is an official language not only in Italy but also in Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City.

The Italian alphabet consists of 21 letters only. The letters j, k, w, x and y do not exist, except for lean words, that means words that originate in another language.

"Grazie" means "thank you"

Italy Facts: 10 useful Italian words and terms

ciao - hello
grazie - thank you
prego - please, you are welcome
bene - good
come stai? - how are you? (informal, with family and friends)
sì - yes
no - no
scusami - excuse me
ho fame - I am hungry
ho sete - I am thirsty

The pronunciation is soft and very melodic and so the language is used in opera and also popular by young pop music artists.

Try to say football (soccer) in Italian? - Calcio

Most young people in Italy learn to speak English, French or German in school.

In remote rural villages in Italy's northern regions, some of the older people, however, do only speak a little Italian and still mainly use a regional language such as German in the Alto Adige or French in the Valle d’Aosta or the unique Ladino (Ladin) language in the Trentino.

Italy Facts | Italy Economy

EU Facts

Italy is one of the original six founding countries of the European Union with Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Read more about the European Union here.

Italy's extreme northern regions and most parts in Southern Italy are used for agriculture. In the North the main produce are dairy products and grains, while in the south mainly fruits and olives are harvested.

Ferrari factory in Modena - image by todamo/shutterstock

Italy also has a lot of industry especial in the country's north around Milan. Among the famous Italian brands are: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Fiat (car manufacturers), Gucci, Prada (fashion) and Ferrero (food - Nutella) or Barilla (food - spaghetti and pasta).

The main trading partners of Italy are Germany, France, the USA and China.

Italy Facts | Italian Food

The Italian main dishes often contain pork and beef, seafood as well as potatoes, rice and pasta (wheat and egg noodles) products and of course, tomatoes.

Italian food ingredients - Italy Facts for Kids

Typical Italian food - which ingredients can you name?

Pizza is surely one of the most famous exports and in Italy pizza is usually baked in a wood-fired oven. Italian pizza is very thin, but loaded with fresh vegetables or thinly sliced ham, salami, artichokes or olives.

The Italian pasta (variety of noodles) is renowned worldwide and there are more than 200 different shapes.

Italians love their food and many dishes are based on fresh vegetables and seafood too. There are delicious sweet cakes in Italy, such as panettone (a yeast cake with raisins), panforte (a hard and flat fruit cake) and almond cookies such as amaretti.

Here is some typical Italian food:

Pizza: probably the most famous Italian dish, pizza was is said to have been invented in Napoli (Naples in English) around the year 1860
Spaghetti: long thin pasta/noodles served with a large variety of topping or sauce
Calzone: this folded-up pizza bread is filled with tomatoes, ham, cheese and all kinds of other filling
Pesto: a thick green sauce made with olives, basil or other herbs and olive oil, pine kernels and parmiggiano, which is an Italian hard cheese
Gelato: ice-cream is another famous Italian invention
Lasagna: this layered pasta dish is made with layers of pasta sheets, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and mince meat
Mozzarella: Italian soft cheese balls, that originally were made mainly from buffalo milk, but today mozzarella is often made with cow's milk

Did you know that Italians eat spaghetti only with a fork and don't use a spoon?

Italy Facts | Animals in Italy

One third of all European animal species can be found in Italy. The country also houses half of all plant species that grow in Europe.

There are over 4,770 endemic species in Italy. Endemic means that these animal species are native and only exist in Italy. There are about 100 mammal species and over 500 bird species. Among the species that you might encounter are the unique Sardinian deer and the Corsican hare.

There are 20 national parks in Italy and 16 Marine Reserves to ensure the protection of threatened species such as the Italian shark or the Italian wolf, the national animal.

Italian wolf

Italy Facts for Kids: Sheep are held mainly in Southern Italy and donkeys still help farmers in remote villages as they are trained to carry heavy loads over steep terrain.

Brown bears are protected in Italy. There are only few bears left in the wild now.

In the Alps you will very likely see marmots, a ground squirrel species, which call each other with very high pitched calling sounds. And if you are very lucky you might even spot a lynx, a wild cat with little hair tuffs on the ears!

Eurasian Lynx

Read the fascinating essay about wildlife, and especially about white lions, by Lorenzo Pelagatti, student from Italy, here.

Resources for Italy Facts

Central Intelligence Agency. "Italy." WorldFactBook. Last updated 22 March 2023. Last accessed 29 March 2023
Città di Venezia. "Carnevale di Venezia." Venezia. Last accessed 29 March 2023
Italia Agenzia Nazionale Turismo "Italia." Italia.it. Last accessed 29 March 2023

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