Location:
Italy is a peninsula located in the south of Europe, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea and bordering Austria, France, Switzerland, and Slovenia. The large islands of Sicily and Sardinia, together with a number of smaller islands located in the Mediterranean Sea are also part of Italy.

Population:
 About 57,500,000.

Administrative Regions:
Italy is divided into twenty regions, namely: Abruzzi, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Valle d'Aosta, Veneto

Capital:
Rome with population of about 2,650,000.

Languages:
The official language is Italian, but French and German are also spoken in some regions.

Predominant Religion:
Roman Catholic

Currency:
 The euro: 100 cents = 1 euro.

Time Zone:
1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+1)

Weather:
In general, Italy has a temperate Mediterranean climate, with warm summers and cool winters in the north and hot summers and mild winters in the south.