Italy, officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Italia, IPA: or Repubblica Italiana, IPA: ), is a Southern European country. It comprises the Italian Peninsula, the Po River valley, and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia, and shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. The country also shares a sea border with Croatia, and France. The independent countries of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory. It is shaped like a boot, and for this reason it is commonly called lo stivale (Italian for the boot).

Italy was home to many well-known and influential European civilizations, including the Etruscans, Greeks and the Romans. For more than 3,000 years Italy experienced migrations and invasions from Germanic, Celtic, Frankish, Byzantine Greek, Saracen, Norman, and the French Angevin, and Lombard peoples, and was divided into many independent states until 1861 when Italy became a nation-state.

Italy is called "il Belpaese" (Italian for beautiful country) by its inhabitants, due to the beauty and variety of its landscapes and for having the world's largest artistic patrimony; the country is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (41 as of July 13 2006).

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NYT > Italy

With Divisive Figure Out, Festival Hopes to Rebound
By DANIEL J. WAKINFrancis Menotti, facing persistent criticism as ruler of Spoleto’s Festival of Two Worlds, has been sent packing.
In Italy, ‘Eroica’ Energizes a Frail Fixture of Period Music
By DANIEL J. WAKINFrans Bruggen conducted Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony, batonless, with the Orchestra of the 18th Century at the Spoleto Festival.
Bollywood Flavors Opening of Spoleto
By DANIEL J. WAKINThe Spoleto festival began its 51st season with a splashy Bollywood-style production of an early-20th-century opera-ballet by Albert Roussel, “Padmavati.”
The Knicks Look Abroad and Hope for the Best
By MIKE OGLE; HOWARD BECK CONTRIBUTED REPORTING.Danilo Gallinari, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound small forward, is a versatile scorer but will be a work-in-progress as he makes his transition to the N.B.A.
New Allegations Revive an Italian Mystery of the 1980s
By ELISABETTA POVOLEDOThe case of Emanuela Orlandi, who vanished in 1983, resuscitated after the news media reported a witness claiming that she had been kidnapped on the orders of an American archbishop.
Spain Stops Italy in Shootout; Russia Is Next
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSA penalty kick delivered by Cesc Fabregas marked a 4-2 shootout victory for Spain over Italy, the first in a major competition in 88 years.

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