Note: The introductions of the country, dependency, and region entries are in the native languages and in English. The other introductions are in English.
La Repubblica Italiana è uno stato dell'Europa meridionale, che occupa gran parte della regione geografica italiana (o italica). L'Italia viene tradizionalmente chiamata la Penisola (in ragione della sua natura geografica prevalente) e lo Stivale (in virtù della sua caratteristica forma). La Repubblica Italiana, avente come capitale la città di Roma, confina con la Francia a ovest, con la Svizzera e l'Austria a nord e con la Slovenia a est; al suo interno sono presenti due microstati: San Marino e la Città del Vaticano. Fa parte della Repubblica anche l'exclave di Campione d'Italia, comune nel territorio della Svizzera italiana.
Die Italienische Republik ist eine Republik in Europa, die zum größten Teil auf einer vom Mittelmeer umschlossenen Halbinsel liegt. Italiens Hauptstadt ist Rom. Angrenzende Staaten sind Frankreich (488 km), die Schweiz (734,2 km), Österreich (430 km), Slowenien (232 km), sowie Kroatien (über eine Seegrenze), die Enklaven San Marino (39 km) und die Vatikanstadt (in Rom, 3 km). Zu Italien gehören die Mittelmeer-Inseln Sizilien, Sardinien und Elba.
La République Italienne est un pays d'Europe méridionale. Située au centre de la mer Méditerranée, elle est isolée du reste du continent par le massif des Alpes. L'apport de l'Italie à la civilisation occidentale est immense : elle est notamment le berceau de l'Empire romain et de la Renaissance italienne. Existant en tant qu'État depuis la Réunification (1861), elle est aujourd'hui une démocratie parlementaire solide, membre fondateur de l'Union européenne.
The Italian Republic is a country located in Southern Europe, that comprises the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia, situated south of Calabria and southwest of Italy, respectively. It is also called by Italians lo Stivale ("the Boot", due to its boot-like shape), or la Penisola ("the Peninsula" as an antonomasia). Italy has five autonomous regions: ► Aosta Valley, ► Friuli-Venezia Giulia, ► Sardinia, ► Sicily and ► Trentino-Alto Adige. Italy shares its northern alpine boundary with ► France, ► Switzerland, ► Austria and ► Slovenia. The independent countries of ► San Marino and the ► Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. South of Italy the island nation of ► Malta is located. The names in other (regional) languages are:
Calabrian: Itaglia - Repubblica (i)Tagliana
Emilian-Romagnol: Itâglia
Friulian: Italie
German: Italien
Ligurian: Italia
Lombard: Itàlia - Repüblica Italiana
Neapolitan: Italia
Piedmontese: Italia
Sardinian: Itàlia
Sicilian: Tàlia - Ripùbblica di Tàlia
Slovenian: Italija - Italijanska republika
Venetian: Itałia - Republica Tałiana
Short name
Italy
Official name
Italian Republic
Status
Independent country, united since 1861, member of the ► European Union since 1957
Location
South Europe
Capital
Roma (Rome)
Population
60,317,116 inhabitants
Area
301,340 square kilometres (116,350 sq mi)
Languages
Italian (official), twelve linguistic minorities, other languages
This section holds a short summary of the history of the area of present-day Italy, illustrated with maps, including historical maps of former countries and empires that included present-day Italy.
Pre-Roman period
The Terramare culture (or "Terramara culture") is a Bronze Age archaeological culture of Italy and Dalmatia, dating to ca. 1500-1100 BC. It takes its name from the "black earth" (terremare) residue of settlement mounds.
The Villanovan culture, the oldest phase of the Etruscan civilization, was one of the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy, abruptly following the Proto-Villanovan culture and giving way in the 7th century BC to an increasingly orientalizing culture influenced by Greek traders. The Villanovans introduced iron-working to the Italian peninsula; they practiced cremation and buried the ashes of their dead in pottery urns of distinctive double-cone shape. Villanovan culture is broadly divided into a Villanovan I from 900 BC to 800 BC and the Villanovan II from 800 BC to 720 BC. This map shows the Villanovan culture around 900 BC.
At the end of the bronze age, the most important civilization was the Etruscan civilization,[1] or in Etruscan Rasenna. As distinguished by its own language, the civilization endured from c. 900 BC to the foundation of Rome until its complete assimilation to Italic Rome in the Roman Republic. At its maximum extent during the foundation period of Rome and the Roman kingdom, it flourished in three confederacies: of Etruria, of the Po valley with the eastern Alps, and of Latium and Campania. Rome was sited in Etruscan territory. There is considerable evidence that early Rome was dominated by Etruscans until the Romans sacked Veii in 396 BC. The preceding Iron Age Villanovan culture gave way in the seventh century to a culture that was influenced by Greek traders and Greek neighbors in Magna Graecia, the Hellenic civilization of southern Italy.
The Etruscans are believed to have spoken a non-Indo-European language. Knowledge of their language is still far from complete.
The mining and commerce of metal, especially copper and iron, led to an enrichment of the Etruscans and to the expansion of their influence in the Italian peninsula and the western Mediterranean sea. Here their interests collided with those of the Greeks, especially in the sixth century BCE, when Phoceans of Italy founded colonies along the coast of France, Catalonia and Corsica. This led the Etruscans to ally themselves with the Carthaginians, whose interests also collided with the Greeks.
Around 540 BC, the Battle of Alalia led to a new distribution of power in the western Mediterranean Sea. Though the battle had no clear winner, Carthage managed to expand its sphere of influence at the expense of both the Etruscans and the Greeks, and Etruria saw itself relegated to the northern Tyrrhenian Sea.
Since the first half of the fifth century, the new international political situation meant the beginning of the Etruscan decline. In 480 BCE, Etruria's ally Carthage was defeated by a coalition of Magna Graecia cities led by Syracuse. A few years later, in 474, Syracuse's tyrant Hiero defeated the Etruscans at the Battle of Cumae. Etruria's influence over the cities in the Latium and Campania weakened, and it was taken over by Romans and Samnites. In the fourth century, Etruria saw a Gallic invasion end its influence over the Po valley and the Adriatic coast. Meanwhile, Rome had started annexing Etruscan cities. At the beginning of the 1st century BCE, Rome annexed all the Etruscan territory.
Other tribes in Italy include:
In the north, the Ligures or Ligurians, an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, which once stretched from Northern Italy into southern Gaul. The Ligures inhabited what now corresponds to Liguria, northern Tuscany, Piedmont, part of Emilia-Romagna, part of Lombardy, and parts of southeastern France. It is not known for certain whether they were a pre-Indo-European people akin to Iberians; a separate Indo-European branch with Italic and Celtic affinities; or even a branch of the Celts. Kinship between the Ligures and Lepontii has also been proposed. Another theory traces their origin to Betica (modern Andalusia). See for the spread of Celtic culture the two maps of Central Europe.
More to the north, the Lepontii: The Lepontii were an ancient people occupying portions of Rhaetia (in modern Switzerland and Italy) in the Alps during the time of the Roman conquest of that territory. The Lepontii have been variously described as a Celtic, Ligurian, Raetian, and Germanic tribe. However, most evidence, including recent archeological excavations, and their association with the 'Golasecca culture' of Northern Italy, indicates a Celtic origin although they might actually be an amalgamation of Raetians (who were of Etruscan origin) and Celts.
To the north-east: The Veneti were an ancient people who inhabited north-eastern Italy, in an area corresponding to the modern-day region of the Veneto. They spoke Venetic, an independent Indo-European language, which is attested in approximately 300 short inscriptions dating from 6th to 1st centuries BC. Venetic appears to share several similarities with Latin and the Italic languages, but also has some affinities with other IE languages, especially Germanic as well as Celtic.
In the centre: The Latins were an ancient Italic people who migrated to central Italy, in the 2nd millennium B.C., maybe from the Adriatic East Coast and Balcanic Area, perhaps from pressures by Illyrian peoples. Although they lived in independent city-states, the Latins had a common language (Latin), common religious beliefs and a close sense of kinship, expressed in the myth that they were all descendants of Latinus, the father-in-law of Aeneas. The Latin cities extended common right to residence and trade to one another. One of these states was Rome.
To the east: The Umbri are one of the oldest races of indigenous people in Italy. Most Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th - 4th centuries BC and were located on easily defendable hilltops. The region of Umbria is the land bordered by the Tiber and Nar rivers and the area covered by the Appennine slopes on the Adriatic. The Umbrian language is part of a group called Oscan-Umbrian which is related to Latin.
More to the south: the Osci, were historic inhabitants of Southern Italy dwelling in Northern Campania and ultimately settling in the border region between Latium and Campania. They also competed with the Etruscans for possession over Campania. Later in the 5th century, the Samnites (Samnium), a warlike people who also spoke Oscan, took over the Oscan region and subjugated the Osci.
To the south-east: The Messapii were an ancient tribe that inhabited the south-eastern peninsula or "heel" of Italy. They spoke the Messapian language. They are often referred to as "the most southerly of the Iapygian tribes".
The small Italian state of the Roman Kingdom 753-510 BCE develops after 510 in the Roman Empire. The second map shows the territorial development of the Roman Empire, that at it height controls most of Southern and Western Europe, North Africa and West Asia.
After 100 Germanic tribes gradually enter the area of the Roman Empire. This map shows invasions of the Roman Empire 100-500.
Map showing Scandinavian settlement in the eighth (dark red), ninth (red), tenth (orange) and eleventh (yellow) centuries. Areas denoted in green are those affected by frequent viking incursions but with little or no Scandinavian settlement.
South Italy as part of the Byzantine Empire at the accession of Basil I, c. 867
Italy 1000
Republic of Venice c. 1000
Aragonese Empire
South Italy as part of the Byzantine Empire under Basil II, c. 1025
After the collapse of the French rule and the Congress of Vienna, Italy is divided in several independent countries. This map shows the countries in 1859 before the unification (Kingdom of Sardinia, Papal States, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Grand Duchy of Tuscany with the duchies of Parma and Modena (green), the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom. The main of these countries was Sardinia. That kingdom was restored in 1814 and enlarged with the addition of the former Republic of Genoa. In 1850 a liberal ministry under Count Camillo Benso di Cavour was installed, and the Kingdom of Sardinia became the engine driving the Italian Unification.
In 1859 Sardinia conquered Lombardy. In 1860 Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna voted in referenda to join the Kingdom of Sardinia. The same year it acquired the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In 1861 the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed thus ending the Kingdom of Sardinia as a separate kingdom.
United Italy
Kingdom of Italy in 1861
Kingdom of Italy in 1866
Kingdom of Italy in 1870
Kingdom of Italy in 1871
Kingdom of Italy in 1919
Kingdom of Italy in 1924, before WWII
Italian colonial empire around 1940
Invasion in Italy 1943
Germans defense lines in 1943
Italian Social Republic in 1943
Free Territory of Trieste 1947-1954
Partition of the FTT according to the Treaty of Osimo (1975)
Old maps
This section holds copies of original general maps more than 70 years old.
Napoleonic departments in Northern Italy
Map of the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1839
Italy in 1905
Ethno-linguistic maps
Languages of Italy
Historical linguistic minorities of Italy
German settlements in Piedmont and Aosta Valley
Old demographic map of Italy
Presence of Blondism in Italy
Pigmentation eyes & hair and height
Satellite maps
Satellite map
Notes and references
General remarks:
The WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Atlas of the World is an organized and commented collection of geographical, political and historical maps available at Wikimedia Commons. The main page is therefore the portal to maps and cartography on Wikimedia. That page contains links to entries by country, continent and by topic as well as general notes and references.
Every entry has an introduction section in English. If other languages are native and/or official in an entity, introductions in other languages are added in separate sections. The text of the introduction(s) is based on the content of the Wikipedia encyclopedia. For sources of the introduction see therefore the Wikipedia entries linked to. The same goes for the texts in the history sections.
Historical maps are included in the continent, country and dependency entries.
The status of various entities is disputed. See the content for the entities concerned.
The maps of former countries that are more or less continued by a present-day country or had a territory included in only one or two countries are included in the atlas of the present-day country. For example the Ottoman Empire can be found in the Atlas of Turkey.
Map of Abruzzo
Map of Aosta Valley
Map of Apulia
Map of Basilicata
Map of Calabria
Map of Campania
Map of Emilia-Romagna
Map of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Map of Latium
Map of Liguria
Map of Lombardy
Map of Marche
Map of Molise
Map of Piedmont
Map of Sardinia
Map of Sicily
Map of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Map of Tuscany
Map of Umbria
Map of Veneto
Abruzzo provinces
Apulia provinces
Basilicata provinces
Calabria provinces
Campania provinces
Emilila-Romagna provinces
Friuli-Venezia Giulia provinces
Latium provinces
Liguria provinces
Lombardy provinces
Marche provinces
Molise provinces
Piedmont provinces
Sardinia provinces
Sicily provinces
Trentino-South Tyrol provinces
Tuscany provinces
Umbria provinces
Valle d'Aosta provinces
Veneto provinces
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