About Rome

To get you more informed about where you'll be going to Nu.in, here are some basic facts about Italy and the city of Rome.

Italy:

• Language

  • Official Language: Italian

  • These two other regions have an official second language

    • Aosta Valley: French

    • Trentino Alto Adige: German

• Religion

  • The Italian Constitution states that all people of Italy are guaranteed freedom of worship.

  • Most of the population identifies as Catholic, however other religions such as; Apostolic Church, Mormon, Evangelical Church, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist, among others.

• Offical Currency: Euro

• Central European Time (CET) Zone

Rome:

• Capital City of Italy

• The eternal city

• 2021 Population: 4,278,350

• Founded in 753 BC

• Approximately 9.5% of Rome's citizens are not Italian

• Vatican City

  • Sovereign city-state

  • Enclosed with walls

  • Population of 800

Social Habits

The most notable and important custom to know before traveling to Italy is that Italians take pride in how they dress. This means that it is not acceptable to wear sweatpants to class as you might in the U.S. Another part of this custom is to never have wet hair when leaving your home. I once went to the dining hall at JCU with wet hair and a worker there told me that I would get sick if I was outside with wet hair. This is a very popular belief among Italians; that you will get catch a cold if you go outside with wet hair. It also goes along with the appearance custom because you will most likely look nicer with dry and styled hair.

When visiting tourist attractions like churches, it is custom for women to have their knees and shoulders covered and men should remove their hats, as a sign of respect.

Citations:

More information. Italian Tourism Official Website. (2020, September 21). http://www.italia.it/en/useful-info/more- information.html.

Gambardella, N. (2019). Capital Building.