Rome:
Rome (Italian and Latin: Roma) is the capital of Italy and of its Latium region. It is located on the Tiber and Aniene rivers, near the Mediterranean Sea, at 41°54'N 12°29'E. The Vatican City, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church and the home of the Pope.
Rome is the largest city and commune in Italy; the commune or municipality is one of the largest in Europe with an area of 1290 square kilometers. Within the city limits, the population is 2,546,807 (2004); almost 4 million live in the general area of Rome as represented by the Province of Rome. The current mayor of Rome is Walter Veltroni.
With a GDP of €75 billion (higher than New Zealand's and equivalent to Singapore's — all three have roughly the same population of around 4 million), in the year 2001 the commune of Rome produced 6.5% of Italy's total GDP, the highest rate among all of Italy's cities.
The city's history extends nearly 2,800 years, during which time it has been the seat of ancient Rome (the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic, Roman Empire), and later the Papal States, Kingdom of Italy and Italian Republic.
The City of Rome, Italy is located along the Tiber River in the west-central part of the Italian mainland, approximately a mere fifteen miles inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The City of Rome is situated on the famous Seven Hills of Rome, which are again bordered by hills to the north, south, and east. Rome originally rests on the Campagna, a coastal lowland built up from volcanic rocks. The hills are not very high averaging only one-hundred to two-hundred feet high and are covered by green plant life.
Originally settlers migrated to this area because of the high elevations which were free of the disease-ridden bacteria which spread malaria throughout the low-lying areas. Increased settlement progressed in the sixth century B.C. by the Latins and the Sabines whose main priority was the physical aspects of Rome.
