Background: Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north.
March 10th 2008Europe » Italy » Liguria » Genoa Ciao. We continue to have a great time. We had a great local dining experience last night. The waiter did not speak English and Jim wasn't sure what he was ordering, but all turned out well. Jim also ... [full story]
March 9th 2008Europe » Italy » Liguria » Genoa ciao. scusi the typing. punctuation hard and im too lazy to find it and want to type fast since im paying per hour here at the internet place here in genoa. having a great time. wwoofing was great. da ... [full story]
February 8th 2008Europe » Italy » Liguria » Genoa The day started early with small hike to the old Genoa wall where youcan get a good Panoramic of the city. For the life of me i couldn't find my way to the old wall but i did get some good panoramic v ... [full story]
August 20th 2007Europe » Italy » Liguria » Genoa The train ride from La Spezia to Genoa was a pretty one, winding along the coast passed a lot of seaside villages. One thing that I have noticed is that Italy’s population of 60 million is sprea ... 10 photos[full story]
December 4th 2007Europe » Italy » Liguria » Genoa Well, I spent my remaining days of my italian trip in Finale Ligure, visiting yet again some of my relatives. I spent most of my time with Laura. She is one of the nicest person I've ever met! We got ... 7 photos[full story]
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