Italy is a country in southern Europe. On a map the land looks a bit like a boot, with the Mediterranean Sea around most of it and other European countries to the north. Rome is the capital. Italy belongs to the European Union. About sixty million people live there — though actually any exact headcount goes out of date, so a round number is kinder than a fake-precise one. Long ago this land was the centre of Roman power, and Roman law, roads, and language still sit under a lot of European life. Much later, in the 1300s, a great flowering of art and learning that we call the Renaissance began in Italian cities. People still go to Italy for painting, sculpture, old towns, and food. Italian is the language; Italy is the place.