Short fun facts about Italy -There are many dialects of the Italian language spoken throughout Italy. The official Italian language spoken today originates from the Tuscan dialect (of Latin). - Italian is a Romance language and is related to the other Latin languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese and Romanian. - Italy manufacture most of the world's top sports cars, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Maserati and Alfa Romeo being some of the most popular. - The upbeat Italian National Anthem (often played at the Formula 1 and Moto GP due to the past victories of Michael Schumacher, Ferrari and Valentino Rossi) is called "Inno di Mameli" or "Canto degli Italiani" and was written by Goffredo Mameli. - The "Promessi Sposi" is Italy's literature equivalent of Rome and Juliet. -Many of Shakespeare's plays were set in Italy, including Romeo and Juliet from Verona. - There are many "Mafia" organizations in Italy. The Mafia (known as "Cosa Nostra") is only one of them and is based in Sicily. Camorra and Ndrangheta are the other bigger organizations. * SPQR stands for "Senatus Populusque Romanus" and means "The senate and the people of Rome". You still see the symbol all over Rome today (especially on drain covers) as it's used by the Rome Municipality. * The Romans mastered plumbing. They used copper piping and valves - the patents of some are still in use today. * Rome is known as the "Eternal city" and also "Caput Mundi", coming from Latin and meaning capital of the world. * Rome is the Capital, the largest city and has a population of roughly 3 million. * According to legend the brothers Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome) were raised by a she-wolf in a cave on Palatine Hill.