Italy

Take the art works of Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Tintoretto and Caravaggio, the operas of Verdi and Puccini, the cinema of Federico Fellini, add the architecture of Venice, Florence and Rome and you have just a fraction of Italy's treasures from over the centuries. While the country is renowned for these and other delights, it is also notorious for its precarious political life and has had several dozen governments since the end of World War II. Italy has a fantastic culture from it's unique food to it's breath taking sights and monuments. Italy has something for everyone ranging from winter sports to romantic city breaks. Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religion in the country. Although the Catholic Church has never been the state religion, it still plays a role in the nation's political affairs, partly due to the Holy See's location in Rome. 87.8% of Italians identified as Roman Catholic [10], although only about one-third of these described themselves as active members (36.8%).