Italian Cultural Ties

Italy is a boot-like peninsula jutting out of the European continent. The Italian peninsula is surrounded by four different seas, namely, the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian in the west, the Adriatic in the east, and the Ionic Sea in the South. These seas are all branches of the Mediterranean Sea. Italy is also comprised of two large islands, Sicily and Sardinia. The geographical location of Italy made it accessible to both European and Eastern influences. Italy had been the cradle of many ancient civilizations, the mightiest of which was the Roman Empire.

Italians share common historical and cultural ties with other European people such as the Spaniards, French, Portuguese, and Romanians. All of these people share a common language origin. The languages of these people evolved from Latin, the Roman language. Although Latin is now a dead language, its vocabulary still influence the languages of the European people. The closest to Latin is, of course, the Italian language.

Before Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte conquered most of Europe, Italy was fragmented into different self-governing territories. Napoleon inspired nationalism in Italy. It was only in the 1870 that Italy was finally united as a nation-state under King Emmanuel II.