Sam's+European+Nation+Profile

=Italy= toc The country of Italy is located in southern Europe. It is a peninisula surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. Italy is well known around the world for its great food. Some well known foods would be pasta, meatballs, and pizza. There is not a very large mix of ethnic groups in Italy. In Italy, 98% of the citizens are ethnic Italians. Other groups include Germans and Slovenes. The geography of Italy is very mountainous and has many rivers because of the melting glaciers of the Alps. Italy is divided into eight land regions. They are: the Alpine Slope, the Po Valley, the Adriatic Plain, the Apennines, Apulia and Southern Plains, the Western Uplands and Plains, Sicily and Sardinia.

__﻿__ Food
The food of Italy is made with pride. The food of Italy includes famous foods such as spaghetti and meatballs, pizza and risotto. Italians eat their main meal midday. It consists of an antipasto (appetizers), a pasta course, then a main course of meat or fish. The antipasto usually contains cold meats and vegetables. Meals vary from place to place in Italy. In the northern part of Italy, pastas such as linguine and fettuccine are served in cream sauces. But in the southern part of Italy, the pasta used is macaroni and it is served with tomato sauce. The regions of Italy each have their own style of preparing food.

The tradition of meals in Italy is very important to the Italians and involves families. These strong traditions have come over to the United States. The tradition of eating meals in Italy must be done right or its is improper. Italians eat with their fork in the left hand and knife in the right hand, and hands must stay above the table because it is considered improper to place your hands in your lap. Typical meals in italy last from 1 hour to almost 4 hours long. I have tasted many different foods from Italy. Some of the Italian foods that I have tried include spaghetti, fettuccine alfredo, rigatoni, meatballs, and pizza. A food that looks delicious from Italy that I would like to try is gelato. It looks good to me because you can have any flavor and it has ice in it which would be good on a hot summer day. The foods of Italy have influenced countries all over the world.

People
The people of Italy have a diverse population. The population of Italy is 58,090,681 people. Its population consists of 98% ethnic Italians and the other major inhabitants are Germans, French and Slovenes. Italy's population is decreasing slightly because Italy has one of the lowest birthrates in Europe. Italy is very concerned that in upcoming years the population will decrease severely. In the history of Italy, it has lost a lot of its citizens to emigration. Even though many citizens emigrated to other countries, Italy has seen an increase of immigrants in the last two decades. The population of people in Italy has been going up and down for a while.

Italy has a great education system, a decent life expectancy, and good job opportunities. Kids in Italy must go to school from the ages of six to sixteen, and classes are held Monday through Saturday. Italians are very serious about their education. Italy has a high literacy rate of 99% for males and 98% for females. Italy has a wide variety of job opportunities. Some job opportunities include jobs in agriculture, manufacturing cars, transportation and working with trading with other countries. Italy has a pretty decent life expectancy for men and women. In Italy, the life expectancy for men is 77 years, and for women it is 84 years. People in Italy have a good chance of having a well educated, long, happy life.

Geography
Italy's geography is mostly beautiful mountains and rivers. There are two main mountain ranges in Italy, the Alps and the Apennines. In these mountain ranges, many rivers such as the Arno and the Tiber, have eroded these ranges. Italy has two major problems, periodic flooding and waterway pollution. The periodic flooding has caused a ton of damage to cities on the coastline, and the waterway pollution is caused by the runoff from industrial waste, fertillizers, and pesticides. Italy's climate during spring, summer, and fall is mostly sunny, but winter is cloudy and rainy. Italy's yearly precipitation decreases from north to south. The geography of Italy is one of beauty, with serious problems.

Italy is broken into eight land regions. The Aline Slope and the Apennines are both mountainous regions. In both areas, there are Italy's largest mountains, the Apline Slope region has the Alps and the Apennines region has the Apennines. The Po Valley and the Adriatic Plain regions are not alike at all. The Po Valley is a plain that is really good for farming, but the Adriatic Plain is a plateau made of limestone which makes it a horrible place for farming. Sardinia and Sicily are islands of Italy. Both regions are not very good for farming because the islands are covered with mountains and plateaus. Apulia and the Southern Plains along with the Western Uplands and Plains are both good for farming. Even though farming is big in both regions, they are located on the coastal areas making fishing their biggest industry. The eight land regions of Italy are all different, but make the geography of Italy beautiful.