Milan (Milano) is the fashion center of Europe.
Armani, Versace, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Pucci, Gucci and many others started on Milan’s runways.
Fashionistas make a pilgrimage here to shop at the designers’ flagship stores in the Quadrilatero d’Oro (Golden Quad).
Milan’s design culture goes far beyond fashion.
Furniture, automobile, graphic and architectural design are an integral part of the city's creative atmosphere.
Publishing, advertising and intellectual property have also evolved to support the design economy.
The city's focus on and infatuation with creativity is imbedded in its artistic history.
Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, Duomo di Milano (cathedral), La Scala opera house and Castello Sforzesco are just a few examples of Milan's creative past.
Milan is Italy's economic engine and home to the stock exchange.
As a major transportation hub, Milan connects Italy to Europe and the rest of the world by train and air.
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Although we are accustomed to thinking of Italy as a place with a very long history, the Republic of Italy is actually quite young.
Unified in 1861 by Giovanni Garibaldi from a variety of warring kingdoms, city-state and republics, Italy took its present-day shape.
The Renaissance is said to have begun in 14th-century Italy and spread throughout Europe and the rest of the Western world.
Nearly every artistic movement since then has had an impact on Italy.
Today, Italy has the 7th-largest economy in the world, although the economic health of the country varies greatly from region to region.
Tourism, fashion and automotive industries remain the pillars of the Italian economy.
Pop: 59.3 million
Language: Italian
Currency: Euro
National holiday: Festival of the Republic, June 2
Local time: GMT+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington DC)
Just after WWII, the governing leaders of France and Germany realized the need for a cooperative organization that would essentially make war in Europe impossible. In 1951 the first European organization was born, the European Coal and Steel Community, with six members. As one of the six, Italy has been a pillar of the European push for integration and unity.
The EU represents perhaps the most successful intragovernmental and supranational cooperation in history. In a territory that extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern border of Russia and from the Arctic Circle to the small islands of the Mediterranean, member states of the EU have pledged to:
free movement of persons within the territory
free movement of capital within the territory
a common currency and common monetary policies
a common foreign and security policy
Currently, the European Union has 27 member countries. The euro is not yet the official currency in all of them, but is slated to become so within approximately ten years.
