With all the antiquities and ruins to see throughout Italy, it is easy to forget that the actual country of Italy is quite young. For centuries, the Italian peninsula was comprised of independent city-states, the Papal States and other areas controlled by various European kingdoms. The Italy we know today only dates back to 1861 when the modern Italian state was founded following battles by unifier Giuseppe Garibaldi. The movement to unify Italy was called Risorgimento. In 1861, much of northern and southern Italy (with big exceptions including Rome and the Papal States) was united into the newly formed Kingdom of Italy, headed by King Victor Emmanuel and Turin was named the first capital. Despite the fact that Rome didn’t join unified Italy until nine years later, Italy is celebrating its 150th birthday in 2011 with events all over the country…
Read more about Italy’s 150th birthday celebrations
(Map from WW Norton)