Italy: Difference between revisions

Today, Italy is considered to be one of the world's most culturally and economically advanced countries,<ref name=qq /><ref name=cia>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-b.html |title=Appendix B. International Organizations and Groups |work=[[World Factbook]] |author=CIA |year=2008 |access-date=10 April 2008|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409033504/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-b.html |archive-date=9 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="wb">[http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-and-lending-groups#High_income Country and Lending Groups.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702131322/http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-and-lending-groups |date=2 July 2014 }} [[World Bank]]. Retrieved 1 August 2016.</ref> with the world's [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|eighth-largest economy]] by nominal GDP (third in the [[European Union]]), sixth-largest [[List of countries by total wealth|national wealth]] and third-largest central bank [[gold reserve]]. It ranks very highly in [[life expectancy]], quality of life,<ref name="economist.com">[https://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf The Economist Intelligence Unit's quality-of-life index] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802135752/http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf |date=2 August 2012 }}, Economist, 2005</ref> [[Healthcare in Italy|healthcare]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html |title=The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems |publisher=Photius.com |access-date=7 September 2015}}</ref> and education. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs; it is both a [[regional power]]<ref>Gabriele Abbondanza, ''Italy as a Regional Power: the African Context from National Unification to the Present Day'' (Rome: Aracne, 2016)</ref><ref>"''[[Operation Alba]] may be considered one of the most important instances in which Italy has acted as a regional power, taking the lead in executing a technically and politically coherent and determined strategy.''" See Federiga Bindi, ''Italy and the European Union'' (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2011), p. 171.</ref> and a [[great power]],<ref name="Canada Among Nations">{{cite book |title=Canada Among Nations, 2004: Setting Priorities Straight |date=17 January 2005 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-2836-9 |page=85 |url={{Google books|nTKBdY5HBeUC |page= |keywords=Canada%20Among%20Nations%2C%202004%3A%20Setting%20Priorities Straight |text= |plainurl=yes}}|access-date=13 June 2016}} ("''The United States is the sole world's superpower. France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom are great powers''")</ref><ref name="Milena Sterio">{{cite book |last1=Sterio |first1=Milena |title=The right to self-determination under international law : "selfistans", secession and the rule of the great powers |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |location=Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=978-0-415-66818-7 |page=xii (preface) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QuI6n_OVMYC&q=The%20Right%20to%20Self-determination%20Under%20International%20Law%3A%20%22selfistans%22%2C%20Secession%20and%20the%20Rule%20of%20the%20Great%20Powers |access-date=13 June 2016}} ("''The great powers are super-sovereign states: an exclusive club of the most powerful states economically, militarily, politically and strategically. These states include veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council (United States, United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia), as well as economic powerhouses such as Germany, Italy and Japan.''")</ref> and is ranked the world's [[Military#Capability development|eighth most-powerful military]]. Italy is a [[Inner Six|founding]] and [[Big Four (Western Europe)|leading]] member of the [[European Union]] and a member of numerous international institutions, including the [[United Nations]], [[NATO]], the [[OECD]], the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]], the [[World Trade Organization]], the [[Group of Seven]], the [[G20]], the [[Union for the Mediterranean]], the [[Council of Europe]], [[Uniting for Consensus]], the [[Schengen Area]] and [[Foreign relations of Italy#International institutions|many more]]. The source of [[List of Italian inventions and discoveries|many inventions and discoveries]], the country has long been a global centre of [[Italian art|art]], [[Music of Italy|music]], [[Italian literature|literature]], [[Italian philosophy|philosophy]], [[Science and technology in Italy|science and technology]], and [[Italian fashion|fashion]], and has greatly influenced and contributed to diverse fields including [[Cinema of Italy|cinema]], [[Italian cuisine|cuisine]], [[Sport in Italy|sports]], jurisprudence, banking and business.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crvp.org/book/Series04/IV-5/chapter_vi.htm |title=The essence of Italian culture and the challenge of the global age |author=Michael Barone |date=2 September 2010 |publisher=Council for Research in Values and philosophy |access-date=22 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922063927/http://www.crvp.org/book/Series04/IV-5/chapter_vi.htm |archive-date=22 September 2012}}</ref> As a reflection of [[Culture of Italy|its cultural wealth]], Italy has the world's [[World Heritage Sites by country#Countries with major concentrations of World Heritage Sites|largest number]] of [[List of World Heritage Sites in Italy|World Heritage Sites]] alongside China, and is the [[World Tourism rankings|fifth-most visited country]].