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Italy /ˈɪtəli/ (help·info) (Italian: Italia, [iˈta:lja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a country located partly on the European Continent and partly on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within the Italian Peninsula, and Campione d’Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers 301,338 km² and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.2 million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country in Europe, and the twenty-third most populous in the world.

The land known as Italy today has been the cradle of European cultures and peoples, such as the Etruscans and the Romans. Italy’s capital, Rome, was for centuries the political centre of Western civilisation, as the capital of the Roman Empire. After its decline, Italy would endure numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Normans and later, the Byzantines, among others. Centuries later, Italy would become the birthplace of the Renaissance,^[5] an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.

Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into numerous kingdoms and city-states (such as the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Duchy of Milan), but was unified in 1861,^[6] a tumultuous period in history known as the “Risorgimento“. In the late 19th century, through World War I, and to World War II, Italy possessed a colonial empire, which extended its rule to Libya, Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, Ethiopia, Albania, Rhodes, the Dodecanese and a concession in Tianjin, China.^[7]

Modern Italy is a democratic republic and the world’s eighteenth most developed country,^[8] with the eighth or tenth highest quality of life index rating in the world.^[9][10] Italy enjoys a very high standard of living, and has a high nominal GDP per capita.^[11][12] It is a founding member of what is now the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Italy is also a member of the G8 and G20. It has the world’s seventh-largest nominal GDP, tenth highest GDP (PPP)^[13] and the fifth highest government budget in the world.^[14] It is also a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, the Council of Europe, and the Western European Union. Italy, on addition to this, has the world’s eight-largest defence budget and shares NATO’s nuclear weapons.

Italy, especially Rome, has an important place in political, military and cultural affairs, with worldwide organizations such as Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),^[15] World Food Programme (WFP), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Glocal Forum,^[16] and the NATO Defence College being headquartered in the country and the city. The country’s European political, social and economic influence make it a major regional power, alongside the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Russia,^{[17][18][19][20][21]} and Italy has been classified in a study, measuring hard power, as being the eleventh greatest worldwide national power.^[22] The country has a high public education level, high labour force,^[23] is a globalised nation,^[24] and also has 2009′s sixth best international reputation.^[25] Italy also has the world’s nineteenth highest life expectancy,^[26] and the world’s second best healthcare system.^[27][28][29] It is the world’s fifth most visited country, with over 43.7 million international arrivals,^[30] and boasts a long tradition in the arts, science and technology, including the world’s highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites to date (44).

Modern humans have inhabited Southern Africa for more than 100,000 years. At the time of European contact, the indigenous peoples reflected migrations from other parts of Africa, where new tribes had become dominant. Two major groups were Xhosa and Zulu peoples.

In 1652, a century and a half after the discovery of the Cape Sea Route, the Dutch East India Company founded a refreshment station at what would become Cape Town.^[11] Cape Town became a British colony in 1806. European settlement expanded during the 1820s as the Boers (original Dutch, Flemish, German and French settlers) and the British 1820 Settlers claimed land in the north and east of the country. Conflicts arose among the Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaner groups who competed for territory.

The discovery of diamonds and later gold triggered the conflict known as the Anglo-Boer War, as the Boers and the British fought for the control of the South African mineral wealth. Although the Boers were defeated, the British gave limited independence to South Africa in 1910 as a British dominion. Within the country, anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, racial segregation was mostly informal, though some legislation were enacted to control the settlement and movement of native people, including the Native Location Act of 1879 and the system of pass laws.^[12][13][14] Power was held by the colonists. In the Boer republics,^[15] from as early as the Pretoria Convention (chapter XXVI),^[16] and subsequent South African governments, the system became legally institutionalised segregation, later known as apartheid, which established three classes of racial stratification. South Africa achieved its political independence in 1961 when it was declared a republic. The government legislated for a continuation of apartheid, despite opposition both in and outside of the country. In 1990, South African government began negotiations that led to dismantling of discriminative laws, and democratic elections in 1994. The country then rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations.

South Africa is known for its diversity in cultures, languages, and religious beliefs. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution.^[9] English is the most commonly spoken language in official and commercial public life; however, it is only the fifth most-spoken home language.^[9] South Africa is ethnically diverse, with the largest Caucasian, Indian, and racially mixed communities in Africa. Although 79.5% of the South African population is Black,^[4] this represents a variety of ethnic groups and different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status.^[9] About a quarter of the population is unemployed^[17] and lives on less than US$ 1.25 a day.^[18]

South Africa is one of the founding members of the African Union, and has the largest economy of all its members. It is also a founding member of the United Nations and NEPAD. Besides these South Africa is a member of the ATS, Group of 77 ,South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, Southern African Customs Union, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, G20 and G8+5.

The Republic of Botswana (Tswana: Lefatshe la Botswana) is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called “Batswana” (singular: Motswana), regardless of ethnicity. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. It meets Zambia at a single point.

Geographically the country is flat and up to 70% of Botswana is covered by the Kalahari Desert. Botswana was one of the most impoverished countries in Africa when it became independent in 1966. Today, it is home to a relatively stable political system and a rapidly developing market economy. Being closely tied with the economy of South Africa, the country’s economy is one of the most successful in Africa and is dominated by the fast-growing service sector, world-renowned diamond industry, tourism, and manufacturing.

About 60% of the population live above the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.Botswana’s economic growth rate has outpaced the economic growth of even the Asian Tigers, and the World Bank cites Botswana as one of the world’s great development success stories.

Zimbabwe (pronounced /zɪmˈbɑːbweɪ/), (officially the Republic of Zimbabwe and formerly Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of Rhodesia, and Zimbabwe Rhodesia) is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three official languages: English, Shona (a Bantu language), and Ndebele.

Zimbabwe began as a part of the British crown colony of Rhodesia. Today, Zimbabwe is governed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s administration, with President Robert Mugabe as Head of State. Mugabe has been in power since the country’s long war for independence. His rule has been characterized by economic mismanagement, hyperinflation, and widespread reports of human rights abuses.^[3] The collapse of the nation’s economy and widespread poverty and unemployment has increased support for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change, which in late 2008 agreed to share power with Mugabe.

The United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.

At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with about 308 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by land area and population. It is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries.^[7] The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with an estimated 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) of US $14.4 trillion (a quarter of nominal global GDP and a fifth of global GDP at purchasing power parity).^[4][8]

Indigenous peoples, probably of Asian descent, have inhabited what is now the mainland United States for many thousands of years. This Native American population was greatly reduced after European contact by disease and warfare. The United States was founded by thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their right to self-determination and their establishment of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence.^[9] The Philadelphia Convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.

In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states’ rights and the expansion of the institution of slavery provoked the American Civil War of the 1860s. The North’s victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, the national economy was the world’s largest.^[10] The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country’s status as a military power. It emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union left the United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for two-fifths of global military spending and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world.