Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and several islands surrounding it. Italy is located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, in Southern Europe, and is also often considered part of Western Europe. A unitary parliamentary republic with Rome as its capital and largest city, the country covers a total area of 301,340 km² and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland and a maritime exclave in Tunisian waters. With around 60 million inhabitants, Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union, after Germany and France.
Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures.