Southern Europe · ITA

Italy

The story · 14 chapters

How it was drawn

Etruscans, Greeks and Romans shared the peninsula until Rome united it; it then splintered for fourteen centuries into kingdoms, papal lands and city republics fought over by empires, before unification between 1859 and 1870.

Play the story Take the first lesson

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Italy fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Etruscan cities509 BC to 264 BC
Rome expels its last king around 509 BC, then fights the Etruscan cities for two centuries. It destroys Veii in 396 BC and takes Volsinii in 264 BC, absorbing Etruria.
Gauls of the Po valley390 BC to 222 BC
Celtic Gauls settled in the north sack Rome around 390 BC. Rome finally defeats them at Telamon in 225 BC and takes Mediolanum, today's Milan, in 222 BC, conquering Cisalpine Gaul.
Samnites343 BC to 290 BC
The Samnites of the southern Apennines fight Rome in three wars. They trap a Roman army at the Caudine Forks in 321 BC, but lose at Sentinum in 295 BC and submit in 290 BC.
Carthage264 BC to 146 BC
Three Punic Wars for the western Mediterranean. Rome wins Sicily in 241 BC, survives Hannibal's invasion and the disaster of Cannae in 216 BC, wins at Zama in 202 BC and razes Carthage in 146 BC.
Eastern Roman Empire535 to 1071
Justinian's armies retake Italy from the Ostrogoths in a ruinous war from 535 to 554. Byzantium then loses most of it to the Lombards, Ravenna in 751, and its last Italian stronghold, Bari, falls to the Normans in 1071.
Aghlabid emirate827 to 902
Forces from Ifriqiya land at Mazara in 827 and conquer Sicily from Byzantium over 75 years, taking Palermo in 831 and Taormina in 902. Muslim raiders also sack the basilica of St Peter outside Rome's walls in 846.
Holy Roman Empire1154 to 1250
German emperors try to rule northern Italy. The Lombard League of cities defeats Frederick Barbarossa at Legnano in 1176. Frederick II fights the popes and the cities until his death in 1250.
Ottoman Empire1480 to 1571
An Ottoman force takes Otranto in 1480 and holds it for a year. Turkish fleets and corsairs raid Italian coasts for a century, until a Christian fleet led by Spain, Venice and the Pope wins at Lepanto in 1571.
Kingdom of France1494 to 1559
Charles VIII invades in 1494, opening the Italian Wars between France and Spain. Francis I is captured at Pavia in 1525 and Rome is sacked by imperial troops in 1527. The peace of 1559 leaves Spain in control.
Austrian Empire1848 to 1866
Three wars of independence. Austria defeats Sardinia in 1848 and 1849, loses Lombardy after Magenta and Solferino in 1859, and gives up Venetia in 1866 after its defeat by Prussia, Italy's ally.
Ethiopian Empire1895 to 1941
Italy's invasion of Ethiopia ends in defeat at Adwa in 1896. Mussolini invades again in 1935 and takes Addis Ababa in 1936, but British and Ethiopian forces drive the Italians out in 1941.
Austria-Hungary1915 to 1918
Italy joins the First World War in 1915 to win Trento and Trieste. Eleven battles on the Isonzo and the rout at Caporetto in 1917 precede victory at Vittorio Veneto in November 1918.
Nazi Germany1943 to 1945
When Italy changes sides in September 1943, Germany occupies the north and centre, frees Mussolini and sets up his Italian Social Republic. Partisans and the Allies fight until the German surrender in Italy in April 1945.
Yugoslavia1945 to 1975
Yugoslav partisans occupy Trieste in May 1945. The city becomes a free territory, split in 1954 between Italy, which gets Trieste, and Yugoslavia. The Treaty of Osimo in 1975 makes the line final.

Today

Italy now

Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946, and economic revival followed.

Capital: Rome
Government: parliamentary republic
Head of government: Giorgia Meloni
Head of state: Sergio Mattarella
Languages: Italian
Area: 302,070 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population59.5 million2023 · 46.4 million in 1950
Life expectancy83.7 years2023 · 65.7 years in 1950
GDP per person$36,2242022 · $5,582 in 1950
Living in cities70%2025 · 55% in 1950
Literacy99%2019 · 88% in 1950
Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Electoral democracy in 1950
Military alliancesNATO2024 · NATO in 1950
Military spending1.9% of GDP2025
War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

United States
France

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Italy fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Etruscan cities509 BC to 264 BC

Rome expels its last king around 509 BC, then fights the Etruscan cities for two centuries. It destroys Veii in 396 BC and takes Volsinii in 264 BC, absorbing Etruria.

Gauls of the Po valley390 BC to 222 BC

Celtic Gauls settled in the north sack Rome around 390 BC. Rome finally defeats them at Telamon in 225 BC and takes Mediolanum, today's Milan, in 222 BC, conquering Cisalpine Gaul.

Samnites343 BC to 290 BC

The Samnites of the southern Apennines fight Rome in three wars. They trap a Roman army at the Caudine Forks in 321 BC, but lose at Sentinum in 295 BC and submit in 290 BC.

Carthage264 BC to 146 BC

Three Punic Wars for the western Mediterranean. Rome wins Sicily in 241 BC, survives Hannibal's invasion and the disaster of Cannae in 216 BC, wins at Zama in 202 BC and razes Carthage in 146 BC.

Eastern Roman Empire535 to 1071

Justinian's armies retake Italy from the Ostrogoths in a ruinous war from 535 to 554. Byzantium then loses most of it to the Lombards, Ravenna in 751, and its last Italian stronghold, Bari, falls to the Normans in 1071.

Aghlabid emirate827 to 902

Forces from Ifriqiya land at Mazara in 827 and conquer Sicily from Byzantium over 75 years, taking Palermo in 831 and Taormina in 902. Muslim raiders also sack the basilica of St Peter outside Rome's walls in 846.

Holy Roman Empire1154 to 1250

German emperors try to rule northern Italy. The Lombard League of cities defeats Frederick Barbarossa at Legnano in 1176. Frederick II fights the popes and the cities until his death in 1250.

Ottoman Empire1480 to 1571

An Ottoman force takes Otranto in 1480 and holds it for a year. Turkish fleets and corsairs raid Italian coasts for a century, until a Christian fleet led by Spain, Venice and the Pope wins at Lepanto in 1571.

Kingdom of France1494 to 1559

Charles VIII invades in 1494, opening the Italian Wars between France and Spain. Francis I is captured at Pavia in 1525 and Rome is sacked by imperial troops in 1527. The peace of 1559 leaves Spain in control.

Austrian Empire1848 to 1866

Three wars of independence. Austria defeats Sardinia in 1848 and 1849, loses Lombardy after Magenta and Solferino in 1859, and gives up Venetia in 1866 after its defeat by Prussia, Italy's ally.

Ethiopian Empire1895 to 1941

Italy's invasion of Ethiopia ends in defeat at Adwa in 1896. Mussolini invades again in 1935 and takes Addis Ababa in 1936, but British and Ethiopian forces drive the Italians out in 1941.

Austria-Hungary1915 to 1918

Italy joins the First World War in 1915 to win Trento and Trieste. Eleven battles on the Isonzo and the rout at Caporetto in 1917 precede victory at Vittorio Veneto in November 1918.

Nazi Germany1943 to 1945

When Italy changes sides in September 1943, Germany occupies the north and centre, frees Mussolini and sets up his Italian Social Republic. Partisans and the Allies fight until the German surrender in Italy in April 1945.

Yugoslavia1945 to 1975

Yugoslav partisans occupy Trieste in May 1945. The city becomes a free territory, split in 1954 between Italy, which gets Trieste, and Yugoslavia. The Treaty of Osimo in 1975 makes the line final.

Italy now

Capital

Rome

Government

parliamentary republic

Head of government

Giorgia Meloni

Head of state

Sergio Mattarella

Languages

Italian

Area

302,070 km²

Then and now

Population59.5 million2023 · 46.4 million in 1950

Life expectancy83.7 years2023 · 65.7 years in 1950

GDP per person$36,2242022 · $5,582 in 1950

Living in cities70%2025 · 55% in 1950

Literacy99%2019 · 88% in 1950

Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Electoral democracy in 1950

Military alliancesNATO2024 · NATO in 1950

Military spending1.9% of GDP2025

War deathsNone2025