Interesting Facts about Italy
Italy Interesting Facts
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Europe. Here are some interesting facts about Italy:
- One of the youngest countries in Western Europe is Italy.
- Rome is over 2,000 years old.
- Tourists throw €1,000,000 into the Trevi Fountain each year.
- The famous children's story "Pinocchio" was written by an Italian and was first published in an Italian newspaper.
- Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other country.
- There are only three active volcanoes in Italy.
- The world's smallest country - the Vatican City is located in Italy.
- Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world.
- There are more than 1500 lakes in Italy.
- Batteries were invented in Italy.
- Christopher Columbus was Italian. He was born in Genoa in 1451.
- The first ever bank started in Italy. It was the bank of San Giorgia in Genoa. It was opened in 1149.
- Eyeglasses were invented by Italians.
- Pizza was invented in Naples, Italy.
- Italy borders Austria, France, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Its longest border is with Switzerland.
- The piano was invented by an Italian.
- Famous Italian explorers include Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, John Cabot, and Amerigo Vespucci.
- Italian ancient city of Pompeii was destroyed by the volcano.
- Before adopting the euro, Italy's currency was known as the lira.
- The espresso machine hails from Italy.
- The telephone was created by an Italian.
- The national protest song of Italy is Bella Ciao. It was made famous by Italian partisans in WWII, and can be heard at almost any protest.
- 98% of Italians are Roman Catholic and the Roman Catholic Church is based in Italy.
- Rome's nickname is "The Eternal City".
- The largest city in Italy is Rome.
- Italy shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, and Vatican City.
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