project: “European countries through their languages” „Euroopa maad läbi euroopa keelte“ February 10, 2014 – November 30, 2014

Italy

Ciao! – Hello or Hi Buongiorno! - HelloItaly is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is in Southern Europe, on the Apennine Peninsula. Capital of Italy: Rome Area: 301,000 sq km Population: 60,097,564 Money: the euro Italy is a member of EU Language: Italian

Italian is spoken: in Italy by 58 million people; in San Marino by 30, 000; in Switzerland by 840, 000; in other European countries by one million; in North and South America by five million.

Italian is the official language of Italy and San Marino, and one of the official languages of Switzerland. Historically, Italian is a daughter language of Latin. It is the dominant language of the Italic branch of the Indo-European family of languages.

Modern Italian is based on the dialect of the Tuscany area. Italy has numerous dialects spoken all over the country and some Italians cannot speak Italian at all.

Italian is often described both as the language of art and music. Since the Renaissance, its cultural importance has been considerable. Internationally, it continues to be used mainly in music and opera, gastronomy, as well as in some sports, and in the design and fashion industries.

Italian language has Latin alphabet. 21 letters of the Latin alphabet are used. Letters J, K, W, X and Y are used in foreign loanwords. It is not easy to write a word from pronunciation due to a number of spelling conventions. The classical lexicon of written Italian is rather vast.

Italy has unusual shape - it`s like a boot.Italy is well known for the famous Italian explorers like Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, John Cabot and Amerigo Vespucci.

Italy is rich in history, culture and art. Augustus - the founder of the Roman Empire. Andrea Palladio - the greatest architect of the Italian Renaissance Caligula - the third emperor of the Roman Empire

Famous Italian artists

Leonardo da Vinci Michelangelo Leonardo da Vinci – painted Mona Lisa, the Last Supper and etc.

Michelangelo was a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci. He was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High Renaissance period.

Galileo Galilei – a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and a philosopher

Botticelli

Famous poets of Italy

Dante Alighieri Francesco Petrarch

Raffaello Santi

Italy is known for its music.

Giuseppe Verdi - the composer

Puccini – the composer

Morricone

Famous Italian singers

Much of the land in Italy is used for farming. Italy is famous for grapes used to make wine. The figs in Italy are wonderful!

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Farmers grow tomatoes, oranges, olives and wheat on mountain slopes.

Italy is very mountainous. There are two major mountain ranges: the Alps and the Apennines. Italy is home to three active volcanoes: Mount Vesuvius, Stromboli and Mount Etna. Mount Vesuvius is famous for the destruction of the Roman towns of Pompei and Herculaneum in 79 BC.

Italy is known for its beautiful and historic cities. There is a famous saying, "All roads lead to Rome." Rome is the largest city called the city of 7 hills.

Venice is known for its Carnivals, which are in February. Italian masks go back to the 12th century. Naples is a city full of legends, mystery and wonder, but also full of magic, superstition and numbers. TARANTELLA – a traditional dance in Naples Milan is famous for its clothing designers such as Giorgio Armani and Gianni Versace.  

Arrivederci!