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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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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 the Italy or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Italy worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

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 Italian peninsula’s backbone is formed by the Apennine Mountains 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, 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.
  • Italy has the largest faunal biodiversity in Europe with over 57,000 species recorded, while the flora is around 5,500 plant species.

Historical Background

  • Thousands of Paleolithic-era artifacts have been retrieved from Monte Poggiolo around 850,000 years ago. That makes them the oldest evidence of 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 in Italy was a community around a crossing place on the river Tiber which originated in 753 B.C. 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 B.C., Rome developed over many centuries and 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 civilisation.
  • 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. It was one of the biggest empires in world history.
  • The Roman heritage has made a huge impact on Western civilisation. It has shaped 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 is 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 as 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 is 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 B.C., 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 present, the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, is Italy’s head of state.
  • The Parliament of Italy, and some regional voters in joint session, elect the President for a single seven year ordinance.
  • Italy now has a parliamentary government.

Food and Attractions

  • Many of the Italian artists such as Michelangelo and many famous museums originated in Florence, Italy.
  • Italy is a 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.
  • Ravenna in Italy is home to stunning mosaics and beautiful churches.
  • Bolzano’s Natural History Museum that features Ötzi the Mummy is located in the Alps.
  • In 1860, Napoli/Naples invented the most famous Italian dish called pizza. To make it more exciting, calzone was also invented by the Italians, which is a folded up pizza bread with all kinds of fillings.
  • Pesto originated in Italy. Pesto is a thick green sauce with olives, herbs, olive oil, pine kernels, and parmigiano cheese.
  • Gelato ice cream was invented by the Italians.
  • Lasagna is a famous Italian dish as well. Lasagna is a layered pasta dish filled with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and ground meat.
  • Mozzarella is Italian cheese balls originally made from buffalo milk.
italy-facts
Vineyards in San Gimignano, Tuscany region, 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 the 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

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Link will appear as Italy Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, November 1, 2018

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.

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