


A land of southern Europe comprising the peninsula of Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, and individual smaller islands. It was effected in oldness by Italic tribes, Etruscans, and Greek colonists. The non-Roman peoples were gradually supplanted as the noesis of Rome grew from the ordinal century B.C. After the fall of the Roman Empire (A.D. 476), Italia was ruled by various savage tribes, local families, and popes. Nationalism in the 19th century led to conjugation low King Victor Emmanuel II in 1870. Italia became a ideology state low Benito Mussolini, whose program (1922–1943) was allied with FRG in World War II. After surrendering to the coalition in 1943, Italia was reconstituted as a commonwealth in 1946. Rome is the capital and the largest city. Population: 58,100,000.