Talk:Italy

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    Please do not edit archived pages. If you want to react to a statement made in an archived discussion, please make a new header on THIS page. Baristarim 20:38, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

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    [edit] == Ragusa- Dubrovnik- has never been in Italy!

    This article's statement in the part of "Maratime Republics" claiming that Ragusa was in Italy and therefore implying that it was an Italian republic is clearly a mistake. One just needs to go into the Sponza palace, the Ragusian state archive in Dubrovnik and see any of the official documents. The laws regarding inner policy are clearly stated in Croatian: Those regarding foreign policy are written both in Croatian and Italian. All of the ruling families of Ragusa from Sorkocevic to Gucetic to Restic etc were Croatian. The greatest Ragusian poet and writer Ivan Gundulic, an aristocrat and one of the rulers, famous for his book "Suze sina razmetnoga", was one of the greatest Croatian nationalists. Source: "Dubrovnik, a history", written by Robin Harris 2006. According to the Robert Harris book Ragusa was independent until 1808 when Napoleon annexed it. According to Harris Dubrovnik with it's fleet of 700.000 tons (surpassing Venice in 1660) was the main hated rival of Venice in the Adriatic and always resisted the invasion plans of Venice. The last Venitian rector was sent home packing- politely but firmly- in 1351. According to Harris the rector packed his belongings in a hurry.

    In future I would like to suggest to Italians to stop leering at Croatia s coast and culture. Italy is a wonderful European country.

    [edit] Romanians in 2007/2008

    I think now that Romanians are the largest minority in Italy, someone should add this fact from this year.Sambure (talk) 17:09, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

    If you can give a reliable source that says this, go ahead and add it (including a reference to the source). However merely "thinking" that it's true is not a reliable source. Tonywalton  | Talk 17:18, 22 November 2007 (UTC)
    From BBC, The number of Romanians in Italy is estimated at more than 550,000, about 1% of the total population. Romanians are the largest community in Italy after Italians. Around 500,000 Romanians are officially registered as living in Italy, but unofficial estimates put the actual number at double that figure or perhaps even more. --Sambure (talk) 17:20, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

    There is no doubt Romanians make up a large part of the population in Italy today- they are commonly found even in the smaller cities. I think it is very difficult to put a number to them, however, since they are not exactly a "visible" minority and with open EU borders it is impossible to say how many are there at any given time. Unfortunately, because of their large numbers, in Italy as elsewhere in Europe, there are many vagrant Romanians and there is somewhat of a backlash directed towards them these days. On another note, many Romanians have completely integrated into Italian society, mostly thanks to the similar language. I agree this "confirmed" info should be added to the article, especially with the BBC source. Mariokempes (talk) 19:03, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

    it's true, thanks for the input. It's so easy for a Romanian that after only 2 weeks one can speak almost perfect italian. Just a slight accent can tell he's a romanian.Sambure (talk) 19:07, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

    I updated the table based on these sources. Mariokempes (talk) 22:52, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

    Thank you Mario!--Sambure (talk) 17:41, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

    No problem. I actually resisted making the change because of the source's main content. If you could find a different or, better still, the original source for these figures it would be better... the articles cited do not present a good light on the Romanian situation! Mariokempes (talk) 19:13, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

    True. I will look further. I know the situation of Romanians is not the best one right now..Italy president: „Expelling 200,000 Romanians would be the same thing as a deportation”. To be honest all Romanians like and simply love Italy. Romanians consider Italy and Italians as the second mother country and our brothers. I asked myself what was the trigger to all of this? was it only the Mailat case? Sambure talk 20:07, 23 November 2007 (UTC)
    From International Herlad Tribune The association of Romanians in Italy says the actual number of Romanians is closer to 1.5 million, not including Romanian Gypsies. --Sambure talk 20:11, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Italy as a regional power

    I think we should state in the introduction that Italy is generally considered one of the five European regional powers, along with France, the UK, Germany and Russia. --Fertuno 15:04, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Demographics of Italy

    The demographics of Italy is far too large. All these charts are unnecessary; just the very written words is good enough; much like Germany's! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Galati (talk • contribs) 23:22, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

    Also, how are there 58.9 million ethnic Italians in Italy. There are only 59.2 million persons in Italy in which migrant account for almost 3 million persons. The chart is now invalid. Galati (talk) 16:42, 14 December 2007 (UTC)Galati

    I'm the author of the demographic section (I made it a couple of years ago) You are right Galati, ethcnic Italians are about 56 million! I fixed the mistake...I don't know who changes datas without appropriate knowledge. --Conte di Cavour (talk) 14:15, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Incorrect map

    The Regions, provinces, and municipalities section shows a map of Italy with it's administrative divisions, however it only shows 4 provinces on Sardinia when there are 8. (BigTurnip (talk) 21:33, 30 December 2007 (UTC))

    i second the motion! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 222.127.68.187 (talk) 06:42, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
    This map has been incorrect for 2 years, since Sardinia changed to 8 provinces from 4, I don't possess the technical know how to change the map, but perhaps somebody else does. BigTurnip (talk) 01:41, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] mafia 7% gdp

    Point 24 says that 7% italian gdp is done by Mafia - that's from NYT article: The annual report was released by the Confesercenti, an association of small businesses. It says that through various activities — extortion, usury, contraband, robberies, gambling and Internet piracy — organized crime accounts for 7 percent of Italy’s gross domestic product. I would say that whose do extortion, usury, robberies, and so on don't declare this type of 'incomings' on tax declaration - so that incomes aren't computed in GDP- that is measured on earnings declaration. Also that's a bad translation of Confesercenti, that said that Mafia earning is the same as 7% italian gdp. You could verify on: http://www.jugo.it/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6752 or differents mirror that reports original news. The same sentence, the same examples, but misunderstanding of word 'pari' that means 'the same as'. So, my english is not so good, but also isn't italian of New York Times . And also it's quite offensive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.222.13.123 (talk) 00:45, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Regia Aeronautica

    Regia Aeronautica means Royal Air Force. I dont understand the citation needed tag. —Preceding unsigned comment added by TheDRaKKaR (talk • contribs) 11:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Girl Scout or Girl Guides

    What are the Girl Scouts called in your country? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.176.17.6 (talk) 14:03, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

    As far as I know they're called "coccinelle" (that is "ladybugs").--Gspinoza (talk) 17:09, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
    Guides. Coccinelle is used for 8 to 12 years only, and in some not all scout organisations. In the largest one, AGESCI, within the 13-17 years old branch, females are called "Guide" that is guides; males are "esploratori" that is explorers. All collectively are called "scouts" using the english word more often than "guide" or "esploratori". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.166.34.69 (talk) 14:58, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Resignation of Romano Prodi

    Romano Prodi has resigned from his role as Prime Minister of Italy![1] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Galati (talk • contribs) 15:15, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Food

    Italians enjoy many types of food. One of Italians favorites are the famous Pizza, Spaggetti, Lasana, and many others. Pizza is not like the pizza in the U.S. Italian pizza is very small. Usually Italians eat their main meal around noon and sleep through the afternoon. Italians also enjoy many types of desserts like ice cream. Ice cream is not called ice cream in Italy. In Italy ice cream is called gelato. Italians did not have proper refrigeration so the gelato was very soft. There are many flavors of gelato. One of the most popular flavors is pistachio. Pistachios are very popular nuts in Italy. Other flavors of gelato include orange, vannila, chocolate and lemon. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.252.198.75 (talk) 23:02, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

    You have probably only heard about Italy: spaghetti (not spaggetti) is a kind of pasta and IMHO it's the sauce that create a spaghetti dish. Same for lasagne (not lasana) but in this case could be a kind of pasta and a dish. Personally I don't know a single adult Italian that sleeps in the afternoon, and it's the first time I've heard about ice cream consistency related to improper refrigeration. Industrial ice cream is quite different from "hand made" ice cream (gelato artigianale). In Italy pistachio (pistacchio) is a niche cultivation, majority is imported from Turkey, California and Iran. Finally it's vaniglia not vannila. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.58.156.145 (talk) 14:29, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Science

    Fermi wasn't the head of the Manhattan Project (Oppenheimer was). Fermi was the leader of the project that built the first nuclear reactor though. Nighthealer (talk) 09:42, 10 February 2008 (UTC) i like cheese and so do italians. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.27.72.30 (talk) 13:04, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] MODA (fashion)

    MILANO (Milan) and ROMA (Rome) are very famous for fashion design in all over the world —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.104.198.73 (talk) 22:31, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Italian Design

    Well, what a pity that you need a Condoleeza rice's photo to show here in this page! That shows many things! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.167.209.10 (talk) 17:35, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] The inclusion of Kosovo

    I'm resuming with the inclusion of independent Kosovo in the maps of the countries that recognise it. Bardhylius (talk) 13:26, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Latin Europe

    Hello Italy! There is a vote going on at Latin Europe that might interest you. Please everyone, do come and give your opinion and votes. Thank you. The Ogre (talk) 20:40, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] article bias

    Wikipedia should remain free of bias from any side. "tragedy of the First World War", under the history section, should be replaced by the simpler "First World War" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.126.99.143 (talk) 05:19, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

    Done. Carl.bunderson (talk) 09:23, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Official languages

    Greek? In a generic "southern Italy"? ROTFLMAO. I'm not a lawyer, but AFAIK there cannot be any official language other than Italian except in the five special regions (Regioni a statuto speciale), i.e. Val d'Aosta, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Sardegna and Sicilia.

    AFAIK French is co-official in Val d'Aosta and German in Alto Adige (i.e. in the province of Bolzano/Bozen, I don't think it's official in the province of Trento).

    What i see written in the table...

    French is co-official in the Aosta Valley; German and Ladin are co-official in the province of Bolzano-Bozen. Sardinian, Catalan and Corsican in Sardinia, Albanian and Greek in Southern Italy, Occitan in Piedmont, Ladin in the Province of Belluno, and Friulan and Slovenian in Friuli-Venezia Giulia are also officially recognized at different degrees.

    ...sounds very much like random bullshit.

    Now, I'm removing that, and anybody who isn't actually an Italian lawyer should not add anything like that.

    --Lo'oris (talk) 21:48, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

    Why is it odd to you that different regions may recognize regional languages? For example, in Slovenia, Italian is official in some regions. --KevinBas (talk) 05:19, 29 March 2008 (UTC)
    Because I'm Italian and I've never heard of such a thing, maybe? --Lo'oris (talk) 11:17, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
    According to our article Occitan language
    Italy adopted in 1999 a Linguistic Minorities Protection Law, or "Law 482"
    I’d guess that the list of languages from Sardinian to Slovenian might have been derived from that. Anyway, it could be worth following up. —Ian Spackman (talk) 08:45, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
    Mmmh intresting, I'll do some research --Lo'oris (talk) 11:17, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
    Done. Here it is. Article 1, comma 1

    1. La lingua ufficiale della Repubblica è l'italiano.

    "The official language of the Republic is Italian."
    Then it talks about allowing the use of some other languages in some cities or areas, but this doesn't make them official, as stated in the first article. --Lo'oris (talk) 11:28, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] View of Americans?

    I'm doing a project, and need to know what Italians think of Americans. I've looked just about everythere. and foung NOTHING.

    can someone please help?

    Thank You. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.102.177.23 (talk) 02:18, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

    That's really not something that can be found an encyclopedia. Of course you'll also realize that many people will have many different opinions, don't you? --Lo'oris (talk) 11:30, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] New cabinet

    This is more of a question. Does anyone know when will Berlusconi will assume office, and does anyone have a list of who his cabinet members are??? Like Minister of family, or minister of the interior? Any info would help! Galati (talk) 21:05, 25 April 2008 (UTC)Galati

    [edit] D'Alema is the former Foreign Affairs minister

    The picture with d'Alema and Rice should say: D'Alema former minister... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Teddyfresco (talk • contribs) 11:54, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Contradiction in Population Ranking

    Tagged the page as contradictory - info box at top ranks population as 23rd largest in the world, article says 22nd. I don't know which is correct, merely that 22!=23. Could someone who might know fix this? Madmonk325 (talk) 04:44, 9 June 2008 (UTC)