Italy

Italy is one of the only countries in the world that has a distinct shape. Italy is shaped like a boot. However, many nasty jokes usually spring from this, the most frequent one being: "Why is Italy shaped like a boot? 'Cause they couldn't fit that much poop in a shoe!" But people really shouldn't make fun of Italy. Without Italy, there would be no pizza! Calzones! Lasagna! Ice Cream! Even mozzarella! These are all dishes that were invented in Italy. I don't think that I could live in a world without pizza.... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Italy is known for more than food, however. In fact, it is best known for it's religious influence on the world! More than 95% of Italians are Roman Catholic. Celebrating the church's many religious festivals is one of the main parts of Italian religious life. Vatican City in Rome is home of the pope, who is the head of the church. Vatican City is also renowned for it's wonderful collection of art, and for the world's largest church, St. Peter's Basilica.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Rome is the capital of Italy. As of 2011, 3.57 million people lived there. That's over half of Italy's population! Rome is known for it's fine churches and old Colosseum, which is basically a work of art left standing. Colosseums were used to entertain people, mainly with gruesome live performances of gladiator against wild beast.

 But then again, all of Italy is full of culture and old art. Just take a look at the Leaning Tower of Pisa! Started in 1173, this building was already tilting before it was complete! Soft dirt was removed by professionals, who also added led weights to the foundation of the tower. However, they left it crooked, probably for tourism reasons.

I hope everyone enjoyed this post and learned something from it. I know I did.

Maddie