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Italy is a parliamentary republic that is a founder member of the European Union.
The population is around 59 million people, with an average density of 196 inhabitants per square kilometre.

However, only three cities have more than one million inhabitants: Naples, Milan, and Rome, which as well as being the most populous Italian city (with around 2.5 million inhabitants), is also the Capital.

In administrative terms, the country is divided into twenty regions, each of them rich in history, art, and culture. There are also two small independent states completely surrounded by Italian territory (the only such cases in the world): San Marino (its fortress is at the border between the regions of the Marches and Emilia-Romagna) and the Vatican, located within the city of Rome.

In addition to being a member of the European Union, Italy has also been part of the United Nations since 1955 and of Nato since 1949, and is also one of the G8 countries.

The division of Italy into 20 regions with a high level of administrative autonomy is an expression of the history of the country; since the Roman Empire was conquered by foreign tribes, it remained divided into autonomous states, duchies, kingdoms, and principalities for centuries, until its relatively recent unification in 1861.