2. Geography : Italy is a peninsula shaped like a boot, that is why people call it “the boot”. Almost the whole country is surrounded by water. The seas that surround it are the Tyrrhenian Sea on the southwestern corner. The Ionian Sea on the southeastern part. The Adriatic Sea on the northeastern part, and the Ligurian Sea covers the northwestern part. The have lots of mountains, the mountain ranges are the Alps and the Apennies. They have rivers throughout the country, the major rivers are the Po River, the Tiber River, the Piave River, and the Arno River. Since Italy is a big peninsula they have lots of beaches. Climate : In northern Italy it is very cold and rainy in the winter, in the south the weather is mild. In the summer it is warm everywhere, but in the south it is very hot. Natural Resources : Italy isn’t rich in natural resources but it does have a decent amount. Their main resources are natural gas, coal, mercury, zinc, marble, pumice, feldspar, fish, arable land, and potash. Essential Question Answer: Italy has had to build cities around rivers and canals, for example Venice has canals instead of roads. A lot of Italy’s tourism revolves around their geography. Some tourist attractions are lakes, cities on top of tall cliffs, beaches, volcanoes, vineyards (fields of grapes that are made into wine), rivers, and islands. If Italy wasn’t warm they wouldn’t be able to farm and farming is a big part of their economy. In Italy fishing is a major industry; so a lot of fish is consumed.

3.  Essential Question Answer: Italy has had to build cities around rivers and canals, for example Venice has canals instead of roads. A lot of Italy’s tourism revolves around their geography. Some tourist attractions are lakes, cities on top of tall cliffs, beaches, volcanoes, vineyards (fields of grapes that are made into wine), rivers, and islands. If Italy wasn’t warm they wouldn’t be able to farm and farming is a big part of their economy. In Italy fishing is a major industry; so a lot of fish is consumed.

4. These are pictures of Venice, it is a town in northern Italy that has canals used as roads. The boats used are called gondolas and the man that stands in the back and rows the gondola is called a gondolier.

5.  Unemployment rate is 10.9%, (117)  Poverty rate is 22.2%  GDP per capita is $30,100, (45)  Inflation rate is 3%, (78)  Italy earns $483.3 billion on exports (10). Some goods that they export are engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, and motor vehicles. Their export partners are Germany 13.3%, France 11.8%, USA 5.9%.  Italy imports $469.7 billion worth of goods (13). They import engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, and energy products. Their import partners are Germany 16.5%, France 8.8%, and China 7.7%.

6.  Essential Question Answer: Italy’s economy has two parts. The north is developed with a high standard of living, due to its industry. The north has many private companies. The south has a lower standard of living and is less-developed, with a high unemployment rate and government aid. Most of Italy’s agriculture is in the south. The biggest problem in their economy is the extremely high public debt.

7.  Northern Italy is mostly Italians with small clusters of French-Italians, German- Italians, and Slovene-Italians, where as southern Italy is home to Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians.  The official language is Italian, however they also speak some German and French.  Almost all Italians are Roman Catholic, but many Catholics do not practice their religion. Some other religions are Protestant, and Muslim.  Italians celebrate many of the same holidays that we do, such as New Year’s Day, Easter, Christmas, and Labor Day. They celebrate a lot of religious holidays such as Epiphany, All Saint’s Day, and St. Stephen’s Day.  For recreation Italians like to go to the beach, the countryside, dances, movies, and sporting events. Futbol (soccer) is the most popular sport. Other popular sports include bicycling, horse racing, skiing, tennis, and swimming. They also really like to play Bocce.  Italian meals usually consist of three courses. Their main foods are pasta, fish, meat, and vegetables. They eat a lot of salad too, the regular salad dressing contains olive oil and vinegar. Pizza’s birthplace was Italy, but their pizza is a little bit different from our pizza. The pasta sauce usually doesn’t contain meat.  Italians love arts. They like paintings, music, and dancing. Some of the greatest painters of all time came from Italy, such as Michelangelo and da Vinci. Romans use unique architectures such as arches and domes. Opera started in Italy and is a very popular music genre there.

8.  Essential Question Answer: We need to understand that Italians are strongly influenced by their Roman Catholic heritage and their love for the arts. They also have special diets and unique hobbies.

9. Italy has become the focus of growing economic concerns. Other countries fear Italy will default on it’s enormous debt, which has raised the cost of their government borrowing. Their Prime Minister (which is like their president) Silvio Berlusconi addressed lawmakers in a bid to reassure the markets. However, since then, Prime Minister Berlusconi resigned (due to bad decisions he had made). Now, Italy is headed for a new phase of chaos and uncertainty, with political and economic problems.

10.  Essential Question Answer: The political and economic uncertainties in Italy have effected the US and European stock markets, causing them to take a dip. US citizens have lost money due to the Italy’s government debt.

11. The Colosseum MaManarola Trevi Fountain The Leaning Tower of Pisa

12. (Finished) Thanks for watching!