Study in Italy

Italy (Italia), officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana), is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within the Italian Peninsula, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland.

Italy is subdivided into 20 regions (regioni). Five of these regions enjoy a special autonomous status that enables them to enact legislation on some of their specific local matters. It is further divided into 109 provinces (province) and 8,101 municipalities (comuni).

Italy’s population was estimated at just over 59 million people in 2006, which gives it the fourth largest population in the European Union. Migrants make a significant percentage of the population with the largest groups coming from Albania, Morocco, Romania, China and Ukraine. In terms of religion Roman Catholicism dominates with almost 88% of Italians identifying with it. Italian culture is a rich mixture, varying across regions and the country is also of world renowned in sites and artefacts of  historical and cultural significance and interest.

Italy is a democratic republic, and a developed country with the 7th-highest GDP (nominal) and the 17th-highest Human Development Index rating in the world. It is a founding member of what is now the European Union (one of the founding 6 countries), and also a member of the G8, the Council of Europe, the Western European Union, and the Central European Initiative. Itsq currency is now the Euro.

The Italian Higher Education system is a large one featuring a number of specialist and generalist postgraduate courses. In Italy there are over 89 university institutions of which 17 are private. A variety of courses in numerous subjects are available including Master’s courses eligible under the Erasmus Mundus program open to Australian students.
Note that are 21 Italian universities offering courses taught in English at both Masters and Doctoral levels. For more on this see Italian Useful links and Italian Higher Education pages.