Italy (the Italian Republic, Repubblica Italiana in Italian) is a country situated in Southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula. It also owns two islands in the Mediterranean Sea - Sicily and Sardinia. Italy borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. And there are two enclaves within its territory – the independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City. Italy covers the total area of 301,318 square km and has population of about 59,536,500 people. Official language is Italian. French, German and Sardinian are also spoken in some regions.

The capital and the largest city is Rome located on the confluence of the rivers Aniene and Tiber. Its population is about 2,705,000 inhabitants (about 4,013,000 including urban area). Rome is one of the most ancient cities in the world and is the third most-visited tourist destination in the European Union. It is one of the few large European cities, which escape serious damage during the World War II, so there are lots of architectural masterpieces belonging to different époques remained untouched in Rome. The whole old center of Rome is a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site.

Italy is located on a long, boot-shaped peninsula, whose backbone is formed by the Apennine Mountains and the Northern boundary is created by the Alps. There are some active volcanoes in Italy - Etna, Vulcano, Stromboli, and Vesuvius. Due to peculiarities of country’s topography, the climate there is very diverse and varies from typical Mediterranean on the shores to continental in the northern areas. On higher altitudes winters tend to be rather cold, wet, and snowy.

Italy is a very popular skiing destination, although local ski resorts are not so fashionable as the best French, Swiss and Austrian ones. But anyway Italy provides a lot of possibilities for alpine skiers and snowboarders – local ski centers spread from the French border in the west, to the astonishing Dolomites in the east.