Italy - Europe (EU)

Italy (in Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia ) is a country in southern Europe.  Italy comprises a boot-shaped peninsula and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia.  The country shares its northern alpine boundary with France , Switzerland , Austria and Slovenia .

The independent countries of San Marino and the Vatican City (Holy See) are enclaves within Italian territory.

The capital of Italy is Rome .

conventional long form: Italian Republic
conventional short form: Italy
local long form: Repubblica Italiana
local short form: Italia
former: Kingdom of Italy