Repubblica Italiana is a country located in southern eastern Europe. Besides widely known cities like Milan, one of the most important fashion capitals of the world, Italy is home to the third-oldest continually inhabited settlement in the world. Matera is 9,000 years old and it used to be known as the “shame” of Italy with high child mortality and poverty rates according to the Guardian.

While Matera is an ancient settlement, it was able to overcome its title of shame. Its cave dwellings have recently been restored and filming for the 2004 movie The Passion of the Christ put Matera on the map. But, tourism didn’t take off until 2014 when Matera was named 2019’s European Capital of Culture.

Besides diverse cities, Italy has a deep historical background with the capital city of Rome being founded in 753 BC. Even though Italy has a rich history, the focus will be on modern Italian history.

Historical background

The states of the Italian peninsula and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were united by King Victor Emmanuel Ⅱ in 1861 according to a BBC Timeline of Italian history. The major internal conflicts occurred during this time including the Italian Wars of Unification, a name given to a group of separate wars that eventually resulted in one nation. The complete unification of Italy under one monarchy was achieved in 1870 after the annexation of Venetia and Rome.

After being established as a nation- state, Italy went through a three year period of political and economic unrest. Although in the First Work war, Italy was on the side with the allies, after being nudged out of postwar reparations, Benito Mussolini formed a fascist government with himself as the authoritarian leader in 1922.

Mussolini

After taking power, Mussolini formed an alliance with Nazi Germany and entered the Second World War on the German side. Sicily was invaded by the Allies and Mussolini was overthrown and eventually executed by Italian partisans. Mussolini ‘s reign ended after 21 years of rule.

After Mussolini’s rule ended, with a general vote by the electorate in 1946, Italy replaced its monarchy with a republic. Italy created a new constitution and Christian Democrats won the elections.

Then, between 1976 and 1978, Communists began gaining a voice in elections. However, it wasn’t until 1983 that Italy had its first Socialist prime minister since the Second World War.

Italy then became a member of NATO and the, now, European Union and although the 1970’s brought terrorist outbreaks, by the 1980’s, the terrorist groups had been suppressed.

Berlusconi

In 2001, Silvio Berlusconi was sworn in as prime minister bringing lots of controversy due to the fact that he owned 90 percent of Italy’s media. After accusations of Mafia connections, being indicted for tax fraud and bribery and losing the regional elections by 25,000 votes, Berlusconi conceded to Romano Prodi.

However, this was not the end of Berlusconi’s political career. With Prodi’s loss in the Senate and Parliament, Berlusconi saw a moment of weakness and was eve tally sworn in for his third term and prime minister.

Berlusconi remained in office even through various political and personal scandals only to eventually resign in November of 2011 due to Italy’s debt crisis, which he couldn’t solve.

In the years following his resignation, Berlusconi was sentenced to an illegal wiretap and tax fraud resulting in him being expelled from parliament and losing his immunity to being arrested.

Rise of the populists

In June 2018, Italy’s new populist government took office with promises to cut taxes, boost welfare spending and overhaul E.U. budgets and immigration rules according to BBC. But, the government had to scale back on spending after EU objected

January 2019 shows the Italian economy slipped into a recession in the last quarter of 2018.

GOVERNMENT

Italy’s government is a parliamentary republic with a multiparty system.

The President is the commander of chief in time of war and serves as the connection between the three branches, which are Legislative, Executive and Judicial. The executive branch is overseen by the Prime Minister. In Italy, the President in selected by parliament and regional representative to serve seven year terms. o

An interesting fact about Italian government is that Italy is one of the only countries that reserves seats for Italians abroad withs 12 seats reserved in the Chamber of Duties and six reserved in the senate.

The new Populist Italian government was sworn in June of 2018. According to BBC, the populists are “aiming to reset the economy and revisit the EU’s rules on debt,” however, The League is also anti-immigration.

The Five Star Movement and right -wing League have formed a coalition and although they have both expressed distaste for Italy’s single currency , they have dropped trying to get rid of the euro and are instead trying to reform from within.

Italian citizenship is granted through the paternal line or through the maternal line for individual born after January first 1948. Considering the process of application wait times, it takes an average of one to three years to gain Italian Citizenship if all the requirements are met.

Government and Media

There have been many headlines nationally and internationally about the vast amount of Italy’s media being owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

According to BBC, Berlusconi’s “Mediaset empire operates Italy’s top private TV stations” and public broadcaster, Rai, is often influenced meaning that when Berlusconi was prime minister he controlled both public and private broadcasting.

This is especially and issue in Italy because “80% of the population is said to rely on television for its daily news – the highest percentage in the EU” according to a BBC Media Profile on Italy demonstrating the political power behind Mediaset and Rai.

Economy

A Breakdown of Italy’s current economy from Heritage.

• GDP (PPP):
  • $2.3 trillion
  • 1.5% growth
  • 0.3% 5-year compound annual growth
  • $38,140 per capita
• Unemployment:
  • 11.2%
• Inflation (CPI):
  • 1.3%

Italy continues to show moderate growth economically. Italy’s economy is ranked the 80th freest according to the 2019 index. Italy has a history of political interference whether it be corruption, poor management, high public debt and these in combination with market inefficiencies contribute to structural issues that prevent growth.

In 2008, Italy was hit hard by the financial crisis that shrunk the economy by about six percent and resulted in three million more people in poverty.

According to Heritage, the top “personal income tax rate is 43 percent, while the top corporate rate is 27.5 percent”. Also, the tax burden is about 42.9 percent of the total domestic income. 

People and Society

Italy’s rich history translates right into the population and according to the US Bureau of the Census based on statistics from population censuses in 2017, Italy’s population size is about 62,137,802 (July 2017 est.). Out of the total population, 96 percent is Native Italian, with the other 4 percent is mostly made up of Romanian citizens, Moroccans and Albanians, with a few other groups.

The official language of Italy is Italian and the dominant religion in Italy is Roman Catholic.

Italy has an older population, with the median age at around 45 years old. Furthermore, in 2014, 22 percent of its population was 65 or older, with just 13.5 percent under the age of 15.

According to the World Population Review, Italy’s population is “expected to decline throughout the 21st century with the death rate now greatly exceeding the birth rate.” In fact, the foreign residents in Italy are actually growing at a higher rate than the overall population growth at around 7.4 percent in 2012, while the overall population is growing less than a percent.

One Italy’s widely known celebration is Carnival. One of the most famous cities Carnival takes place in in Viareggio where the festival lasts for a month. Although bans have been placed in many cities against masks, this doesn’t stop them for celebrating with floats, parades, dances and shows.

Immigration

Italy, by the late 1970s, began to attract a large amount of foreign immigrants. Today, it is estimated that about seven and a half percent of the total population is an immigrant.

A new law approved in November 2018 made it more difficult for those seeking asylum to enter Italy. The new government in Italy will only grant asylum to “legitimate refugees of war or victims of political persecution” according to Gatestone Institute. Additionally, more funds, about $1.5 million in 2018 and $1.7 million in 2019 will be put towards deporting immigrants.

These new laws are devastating for many migrants arriving by sea because of Italy’s geographic location.

Culture

Italian culture is centered around family, the arts, architecture, music and food.

Family is an important value in the Italian culture especially extended family. Large gatherings are common and children are a large part of the family dynamics.

Italian art flourished during the Renaissance period, and a common theme among paintings during this period is a distinct triangle shape of the subject.

Famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa but Leonardo da Vinci and the birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli (pictured left).

Italy is home to many museums, styles of architecture and the opera. In fact, many operas today are still performed in Italian.

Architecture is also a large part of Italian culture with styles including Classical roman Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical. Some of the most famous structures in Italy include the Colosseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Italian cuisine is a large influence around the world. Besides the stereotypical pizza and spaghetti, most Italian meals include wine, cheese and pasta. Food is more of an art form in Italy with meat curing techniques passed down from generations. According to CNN, each region in Italy has a “spin” on Italian food. Wine is a large part of Italian culture with Italy housing some of the world’s oldest and most famous wineries.

Fun Facts

Fun facts about Italy courtesy of Rough Guides.

Around 3,000 Euros are thrown int the Trevi Fountain by tourists daily. The money is then collected and donated to charity.

Up until 1999 children only had to attend school until they were 14.

Pizza was invented in Naples and dates back to 1860.

Fourteen billion espressos are consumer in Italy each year and Italians use about 3.7 kilograms of coffee per capita.

The use of pasta in Italy can be traced back as far as the 4th century BC.

The Vatican City in Rome is the smallest country in the world.

Italy is the fourth most visited country in the world.

Italy is the world’s largest exporter of wine.