Italy Facts & Worksheets

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Europe with a long Mediterranean shoreline. It is located at the center of the Mediterranean Sea.

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Table of Contents

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Europe with a long Mediterranean shoreline. It is located at the center of the Mediterranean Sea. Its nickname is “Bel Paese”, meaning beautiful country.

See the fact file below for more information on Italy or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Italy worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

• Italy is located in Southern Europe, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
• The country covers an area of 116,310 sq mi (301,230 km2) with a population of nearly 60 million.
• Italy’s official language is Italian.
• There are also an estimated 64 million native Italian speakers around the world.
• The capital of Italy is the large city of Rome.
• Venice, in the Veneto region, is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals, and people and goods are transported in gondolas (a traditional long, narrow Venetian rowing boat) and other water vessels.
• The most popular sport in Italy is football, but they also enjoy basketball, volleyball, and cycling.
• Milan, Rome, and Florence are Italy’s fashion centers.
• The “Mediterranean Diet” forms the basis of Italian cuisine. It is rich in fish, pasta, vegetables, and fruits and is characterized by its variety and simplicity.

Geography

• Italy is in Southern Europe.
• Northern Italy shares borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia.
• Southern Italy shares borders with San Marino and Vatican City.
• Rome is the capital and the largest city in Italy.
• The Apennine Mountains form the Italian peninsula’s backbone, and the northern boundary is formed mostly by the Alps where you can find Italy’s highest point on Monte Bianco, which reaches 15,780 feet high.
• Italy’s longest river, Po, 424 mi (682 km), streams from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea.
• Italy is located at the center of the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate, which makes it vulnerable to seismic and volcanic activity.
• Four of the 14 volcanoes in the country are active.
• Italy’s main cities are Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice, Bologna, Siena, and Turin.
• Italy is one of the world’s leading producers of renewable energy. Italy is the fourth largest holder of installed solar energy capacity, and in 2010, it was the sixth largest holder of wind power capacity in the world.

Historical Background

• Thousands of Paleolithic-era artifacts were retrieved from Monte Poggiolo around 850,000 years ago. That makes them the oldest evidence of the first hominin habitation in the peninsula.
• The early people of Pre-Roman Italy were Indo-European. The possible non-Indo-European history includes the Etruscans, the Elymians, the Sicani in Sicily, and the prehistoric Sardinians who originated from the Nuragic culture.
• In 1991, a well-preserved natural mummy, known as Ötzi the Iceman, specified to be 5,000 years old between 3400 and 3100 BCE (Copper Age), was found in the Similaun glacier of South Tyrol.
• The first foreign settlers were the Phoenicians. They formed colonies and founded different businesses on the shores of Sicily and Sardinia.
• Matera in Italy is one of the oldest constantly occupied cities in the world.
• Rome was originally a community around a crossing place on the river Tiber which originated in 753 BCE. It was governed for 244 years by monarchs of Latin and Sabine ancestry, then later by Etruscan kings.
• During Julius Caesar’s rise and death in the first century BCE, Rome developed and, over many centuries, became a huge kingdom stretching from Britain to the borders of Persia and surrounding the whole Mediterranean basin. This united the Greeks, Romans, and many other cultures into a unique civilization.
• Augustus, the first emperor, ruled the people in a golden period of peace and prosperity.
• The Roman Empire was one of the strongest economic, cultural, political, and military forces in the world and was also one of the biggest empires in world history.
• Roman heritage has made a huge impact on Western civilization, shaping most of the modern world. Its legacies are the global use of the Romance languages from Latin, the numerical system, the modern Western alphabet and calendar, and the rise of Christianity as a major world religion.

Notable Italians

• The Renaissance was a period of strong restoration of the arts and culture, which started in Italy.
• Giuseppe Garibaldi is one of the greatest generals of modern times and one of Italy’s “fathers of the fatherland”, who led and fought in many military battles that caused the unity of the Italian people. He is dubbed the Hero of the Two Worlds.
• As of today, Italy is known to be one of the world’s most culturally and economically established countries.
• The Italian explorers Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci discovered the Americas, while Marco Polo discovered the East.
• Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian scientist and artist who was the first to prove the world was round.
• Alessandro Volta introduced the studies he did in electricity.
• Bartolomeo Cristofori was the inventor of the piano.
• Galileo Galilei is dubbed “The Father of Modern Science” and “The Father of Modern Physics“. He also invented the thermometer.

Politics and Government

• In 509 BCE, the Romans removed the last king from their city and started an oligarchic republic.
• Italy became a unitary parliamentary republic after a public vote on June 2, 1946. The Republican Constitution was validated on January 1, 1948.
• Alcide De Gasperi was the first republican Prime Minister of Italy. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union.
• From 2015 to the present, the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, is Italy’s head of state.
• The Parliament of Italy, and some regional voters, in a joint session, elect the President for a single seven-year ordinance.
• Italy now has a parliamentary government.

Attractions and Food

• Many Italian artists, such as Michelangelo and many famous museums, originated in Florence, Italy.
• Italy is home to The Leaning Tower of Pisa.
• Lagoon City, which is built on islands, is known for its Carnival and is found in Venice, Italy.
• The Province of Ravenna in northern Italy is home to stunning mosaics and beautiful churches.
• Bolzano’s Natural History Museum, which features Ötzi the Mummy, is located in the Alps.
• In 1860, Napoli/Naples invented the famous Italian dish called pizza. Then came calzone, which the Italians also invented. This is a folded pizza bread with different fillings.
• Pesto, a thick green sauce with olives, herbs, olive oil, pine kernels, and Parmigiano cheese, originated in Italy.
• The Italians also invented gelato ice cream.
• Lasagna is another famous Italian dish. Lasagna is a layered pasta dish filled with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and ground meat.
• Mozzarella is an Italian cheese ball originally made from buffalo milk.

Flora and Fauna

• Italy has the largest faunal biodiversity in Europe. It has over 57,000 recorded species.
• Mediterranean vegetation predominates in Italy.
• Evergreen species include pine, holly, and cork oak.
• Juniper, laurel, myrtle, bramble, and dwarf palm are other forms of vegetation found in Italy.
• The national flower of Italy is the white lily, and its botanical name is Lilium .
• Larger mammals are scarce in Italy.
• Chamois, ibex, and roe deer are found in the Alps, and bears, chamois, and otters inhabit the Apennines.
• Unique mammals in Italy include the Corsican hare, the Sardinian long-eared bat, the Udine shrew, the Apennine shrew, the Calabria pine vole, and the Sardinian deer.
• The Italian sparrow is the national bird of Italy.

Italy Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Italy across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Italy worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Italy, officially the Italian Republic, which is a country in Europe with a long Mediterranean shoreline. It is located at the center of the Mediterranean Sea. Its nickname is “Bel Paese”, meaning beautiful country.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

• Italy Facts
• Locate Italy
• Yay or Nay
• Notable People
• Delizioso!
• Beautiful Country
• Roman Empire
• Rome Idioms
• Italy in One Page
• Italy Song
• Favorite City Map

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Italian flag look like?

The national flag of Italy also referred to in Italian as il Tricolore, is a tricolor flag featuring three equally sized vertical panels of green, white, and red. These are the national colors of Italy.

What is Italy known for?

Italy is well known/famous for many things. Millions are attracted to its cities to enjoy unique scenery, Renaissance pieces, opera and fashion houses, and luxury brands. It is also known for its exceptional football team.

What are some interesting facts about Italy?

• Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world.
• Tourists throw more than €1,000,000 into the Trevi Fountain in Rome each year.
• Thirteen of Shakespeare’s 38 plays are set in Italy.
• Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy has over 1,730,000 acres (702,000 hectares) of vineyard cultivation, with wine contributing millions to the economy.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.