Italy (Italia)
Italian Flag
Italy is in Europe. The official language of Italy is Italian but there are also quite a few regional languages spoken such as Corsican, Friulian, Sardinian, Sicilian and Venetian. There are also some minority languages which are legally recognised in Italy: Albanian, Catalan, Greek, Croatian and Occitan. Italy has borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino and the Vatican City so French, Franco-Provençal, German and Slovene are also legally recognised.
School in Italy
Children must attend primary school from the age of six to sixteen. They usually go kindergarten (scuola dell'infanzia) from the age of 3. They go to primary school (scuola primaria or scuola elementare) from the age of 6 to 11. Then they go to junior high school (scuola secondaria di primo grado or scuola media inferiore) until they are 14.
|
After that they have to go another high school (scuola secondaria di secondo grado or scuola media superiore) until they are 19. Some children go to vocational schools (Formazione professionale). After school some go on to university (università).
Learn some Italian
Food
There is a lot of delicious food in Italy. Click on the picture to learn about it:
Interesting Scenery
There are lots of interesting things to see in Italy: mountains, rivers, lakes, beaches and islands. There are also active volcanoes in Italy.
Animals
There are lots of animals to be found in the wild. Click on the picture to learn about them.
Italian Myths & Legends
Italian Festivals
Religion in Italy
Sports
There are lots of interesting sports in Italy. Sports such as soccer and rugby are popular. Aquatic sports are also very popular. Click on the picture to learn more about them.
Photographs
Click on the photograph to see some our Italian photo album.
Interesting things about Italy
- There are two independent states within the borders of Italy: The Vatican City and San Marino. The Vatican City is the smallest state in the world and San Marino is the oldest republic in the world.
- Italy is on a fault line. As a result there are often earthquakes. There are also three famous volcanoes in Italy: Vesuvius, Etna and Stromboli.
- The highest mountain in Europe, Monte Bianco, is in Italy.
- The currency of Italy is the Euro.
- In 2007 a dog named Rocco discovered a truffle that was sold for over €300,000.