Where-Italy, is a genuine blog about vacancy and touristic info for to go in Italy.
Welcome in Italy. This country is one of most visited in the world. Evary year, other 60 million people visit the Italy. The most visited places are: Venice, Rome, Capri, Florence, Pisa, Milan, and the islands. In the summer this tourism like the sea, cities and the museums, in the winter the landscapes, snow and museums.
Is it easy to go in Italy as backpackers?
Yes, because today the english is in all places. The main airports are, Leonardo da Vinci (Rome) and Malpensa (Milan), but there are also other medium airports that has good connections with the europe. The hotels are many, and the guesthouse (also called pensione) are distribuited in any touristic city.
Why not have a problems?
There are many accomodations (hotels, pensioni, guesthouse, etc.)
The transport are goods (if you don't have a car, the train is the best solution).
The language is easy (as a espaniol) and many people speak english. Is not problem ask question on the street.
The criminality is low, as UK or Germany.
The Italy.
The country has 301,338 km2 of territories and has around 60.000.000 about population (2010 estimated). In theese last years the population is increased because of the immigration. The main immigrants are: indian, pakistan, north african, chinese and east Europe. The number is around 2 million immigrant (2 people on 25 italian), but if we include also the illegal and the people with visas (also touristic) the number is totally different (around 1 people and 8-10 italian).
In Italy there are many different territories. The north, has plains (Padania) and high mountains (Alp). Has also lagoons in east north (Venice). The centre, where there are beautiful countrysides (Tuscany) and medium mountains (Gran Sasso). The south, is famous about islands and sea and the wild places, has medium mountains and big islands (Sicily, Sardinia) and vulcans (Etna, Stromboli, Vulcano).
For visit the cities or the territories, click on the left menu.
About Italy.
Italy is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia—the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea—and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, whilst Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries the political centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire. After its decline, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into numerous kingdoms and city-states (such as the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Duchy of Milan), but was unified in 1861, following a tumultuous period in history known as "Il Risorgimento" ("The Resurgence"). In the late 19th century, through World War I, and to World War II, Italy possessed a colonial empire, which extended its rule to Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Albania, the Dodecanese and a concession in Tianjin, China.
Modern Italy is a democratic republic. It has been ranked the world's twenty-third most-developed country and its Quality-of-life index has been ranked in the top ten in the world. Italy enjoys a very high standard of living, and has a high nominal GDP per capita. It is a founding member of what is now the European Union and part of the Eurozone. Italy is also a member of the G8, G20 and NATO. It has the world's eighth-largest nominal GDP, tenth highest GDP (PPP) and the sixth highest government budget in the world. It is also a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, the Council of Europe, the Western European Union and the United Nations. Italy has the world's ninth-largest defence budget and shares NATO's nuclear weapons.
Italy plays a prominent role in European and global military, cultural and diplomatic affairs. The country's European political, social and economic influence make it a major regional power. The country has a high public education level and is a highly globalised nation.
Environment
After its quick industrial growth, Italy took a long time to confront its environmental problems. After several improvements, it now ranks 84th in the world for ecological sustainability. National parks cover about five percent of the country. In the last decade, Italy has became one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy, ranking as the world’s fifth largest solar energy producer in 2009 and the sixth largest producer of wind power in 2008.
Climate
The climate of Italy is highly diverse and can be far from the stereotypical Mediterranean climate, depending on location. Most of the inland northern regions of Italy, for example Piedmont, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, have a climate variously described as humid continental or temperate. Adriana Rigutti (in Meteorologia, Giunti 2005) states that the climte of the “Po valley region [is] continental ... with harsh winters and hot summers”. The coastal areas of Liguria and most of the peninsula south of Florence generally fit the Mediterranean stereotype (Köppen climate classification Csa). Conditions on peninsular coastal areas can be very different from the interior's higher ground and valleys, particularly during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer.
Administrative divisions
Italy is subdivided into 20 regions .
Economy
Continue Below.
Italy has a free market economy characterized by high per capita GDP and low unemployment rates. In 2010, it was the eighth-largest economy in the world and the fourth-largest in Europe in terms of nominal GDP, and the tenth-largest economy in the world and fifth-largest in Europe in terms of PPP. It is a founding member of the G8, the Eurozone and the OECD.
After World War II, Italy was rapidly transformed from an agriculture based economy into one of the world's most industrialized nations and a leading country in world trade and exports. It is a developed country, with the world's 8th highest quality of life and the 23rd Human Development Index. In spite of the recent global economic crisis, Italian per capita GDP at purchasing power parity remains approximately equal to the EU average, while the unemployment rate (8.5%) stands as one of the EU's lowest. The country is well known for its influential and innovative business economic sector, an industrious and competitive agricultural sector (Italy is the world's largest wine producer), and for its creative and high-quality automobile, industrial, appliance and fashion design.
Italy has a smaller number of global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size, but there is a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, notoriously clustered in several industrial districts, which are the backbone of the Italian industry. This has produced a manufacturing sector often focused on the export of niche market and luxury products, that if on one side is less capable to compete on the quantity, on the other side is more capable of facing the competition from China and other emerging Asian economies based on lower labour costs, with higher quality products. The country was the world's 7th largest exporter in 2009. Italy's closest trade ties are with the other countries of the European Union, with whom it conducts about 59% of its total trade. Its largest EU trade partners, in order of market share, are Germany (12.9%), France (11.4%), and Spain (7.4%). Finally, tourism is one of the fastest growing and profitable sectors of the national economy: with 43.7 million international tourist arrivals and total receipts estimated at $42.7 billion, Italy is the fourth highest tourism earner and the fifth most visited country in the world.
Despite these important achievements, the Italian economy today suffers from many and relevant problems. After a strong GDP growth of 5–6% per year from the 1950s to the early 1970s, and a progressive slowdown in the 1980s and 1990s, the last decade's average annual growth rates poorly performed at 1.23% in comparison to an average EU annual growth rate of 2.28%. The stagnation in economic growth, and the political efforts to revive it with massive government spending from the 1980s onwards, eventually produced a severe rise in public debt. According to the EU's statistics body Eurostat, Italian public debt stood at 116% of GDP in 2010, ranking as the second biggest debt ratio after Greece (with 126.8%). However, the biggest chunk of Italian public debt is owned by national subjects, a major difference between Italy and Greece. In addition, Italian living standards have a considerable north-south divide. The average GDP per capita in the north exceeds by far the EU average, whilst many regions of Southern Italy are dramatically below. Italy has often been referred the sick man of Europe, characterised by economic stagnation, political instability and problems in pursuing reform programs.
More specifically, Italy suffers from structural weaknesses due to its geographical conformation and the lack of raw materials and energy resources: in 2006 the country imported more than 86% of its total energy consumption (99.7% of the solid fuels, 92.5% of oil, 91.2% of natural gas and 15% of electricity). The Italian economy is weakened by the lack of infrastructure development, market reforms and research investment, and also high public deficit. In the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, the country ranked 64th in the world and 29th in Europe, the lowest rating in the Eurozone. Italy still receives development assistance from the European Union every year. Between 2000 and 2006, Italy received €27.4 billion from the EU. The country has an inefficient state bureaucracy, low property rights protection and high levels of corruption, heavy taxation and public spending that accounts for about half of the national GDP. In addition, the most recent data show that Italy's spending in R&D in 2006 was equal to 1.14% of GDP, below the EU average of 1.84% and the Lisbon Strategy target of devoting 3% of GDP to research and development activities. Finally, organized crime is also a strong contributing factor in Italy's economic weakness.
Infrastructure
In 2004 the transport sector in Italy generated a turnover of about 119.4 billion euros, employing 935,700 persons in 153,700 enterprises. Regarding the national road network, in 2002 there were 668,721 km (415,612 mi) of serviceable roads in Italy, including 6,487 km (4,031 mi) of motorways, state-owned but privately operated by Atlantia. In 2005, about 34,667,000 passenger cars (590 cars per 1,000 people) and 4,015,000 goods vehicles circulated on the national road network. The national railway network, state-owned and operated by Ferrovie dello Stato, in 2003 totalled 16,287 km (10,122 mi) of which 69% is electrified, and on which 4,937 locomotives and railcars circulated. The national inland waterways network comprised 1,477 km (918 mi) of navigable rivers and channels in 2002. In 2004 there were approximately 30 main airports (including the two hubs of Malpensa International in Milan and Leonardo Da Vinci International in Rome) and 43 major seaports (including the seaport of Genoa, the country's largest and second largest in the Mediterranean Sea). In 2005 Italy maintained a civilian air fleet of about 389,000 units and a merchant fleet of 581 ships.
Urbanization
Largest cities of Italy
ISTAT estimates for 31 December 2010 |
Rome
Milan
|
| Rank | City Name | Region | Pop. | Rank | City Name | Region | Pop. | 
Naples
Turin
|
| 1 |
Rome |
Lazio |
2,761,477 |
11 |
Venice |
Veneto |
270,884 |
| 2 |
Milan |
Lombardy |
1,324,110 |
12 |
Verona |
Veneto |
263,964 |
| 3 |
Naples |
Campania |
959,574 |
13 |
Messina |
Sicily |
242,503 |
| 4 |
Turin |
Piedmont |
907,563 |
14 |
Padua |
Veneto |
214,198 |
| 5 |
Palermo |
Sicily |
655,875 |
15 |
Trieste |
Friuli-Venezia Giulia |
205,535 |
| 6 |
Genoa |
Liguria |
607,906 |
16 |
Brescia |
Lombardy |
193,879 |
| 7 |
Bologna |
Emilia-Romagna |
380,181 |
17 |
Taranto |
Apulia |
191,810 |
| 8 |
Florence |
Tuscany |
371,282 |
18 |
Prato |
Tuscany |
188,011 |
| 9 |
Bari |
Apulia |
320,475 |
19 |
Parma |
Emilia-Romagna |
186,690 |
| 10 |
Catania |
Sicily |
293,458 |
20 |
Reggio Calabria |
Calabria |
186,547 |
The largest conurbations are:
- Milan – 7.4 million
- Rome – 3.7 million
- Naples – 3.1 million
- Turin – 2.2 million
Helped by Wikipedia.