Italy, officially the Italian Republic (in Italian: Repubblica Italiana), is a sovereign country member of the European Union. It is a bicontinental country; its territory is in Southern Europe and in North Africa; its European territory (99.97%) is made up of the Italic peninsula, the Po Valley and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia; the African territory (0.03%) is made up of the islands of Lampedusa, Lampione and Pantelleria. In the north it is bordered by the Alps, where it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent states of San Marino and Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory. In turn Campione d'Italia is an Italian municipality that forms a small enclave in Swiss territory.

It has been the home of many European cultures such as the civilization of Nuraga, the Etruscans, the Greeks and the Romans and was also the cradle of Humanism and the Renaissance, which began in the region of Tuscany and soon spread throughout Europe. The capital of Italy, Rome, has been for centuries the political and cultural center of Western civilization, and is also the holy city for the Catholic Church, since within the city is the microstate of the Vatican. The cultural significance of the country is reflected in all its World Heritage Sites, since it has 50, the country with the largest number in the world.4

It is the third country in the European Union that receives the most tourists per year, with Rome being the third most visited city.5 Other important cities are Milan, center of finance and industry, and, according to the Global Language Monitor, the capital of Fashion , 6Turín, center for the automotive industry and industrial design. Italy is a democratic republic, is part of the G8 or group of the eight most industrialized nations of the world and is a developed country with a high quality of life, being in 2005 among the first eight in the world.7 Although it has had decreases in its positions Over the years, their quality of life continues to be considered very high.