Cynthia H. Roberts
Italy is the leading tourist country of Europe. Every year, millions of visitor from other countries come to Italy. Rome, the capital and largest city, has been an important center of civilization for more than 2,000 years.
Since World War II ended in 1945, Italy's population has increased by less than 1 percent a year. In 1981, Italy had about 58 million.
About 59 percent of the people live in cities with populations of more than 100,000. Four cities have more than a million persons. In order of size, they are Rome, Milan, Naples, and Turin.
Italian, like French and Spanish, is a romance language one of several languages that came from Latin. Italian began to develop as a separate language about A.D. 1000. Italian language is the official languages of Switzerland.
Many words in other languages come from Italian. For example, English borrowed the words balcony, cantata, carnival, cash, costume, granite, laundry, malaria, opera, and infantry, came from French, but their roots were originally Italian.
Pasta (food made chiefly from flour and water) is the basic food throughout Italy. Pasta includes spaghetti, macaroni, ravioli, lasagne, and vermicelli.
Italy has a spaghetti historical museum in Pontedassio, near imperia, with exhibits that show the history of the food. Pizza is another popular dish. Almost every region of the country has its own food specialty.
Italy has a rich tradition of painting and sculpture. Italian artists played important roles in early Christian art and in the styles of the middle ages. Italian painting developed new forms with the work of Giotto, an artist of the early Renaissance. These forms were marked by a wide range of subject matter, and by showing the human body with a three dimensional effect. Renaissance painters also make their work realistic and introduced changes in the use of color. These developments reached a high point in the art of the 1400's and 1500's.
Michelangelo's painting and sculpture make him the most famous artist of the Renaissance. Other painters, including Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Rapheal, and Titian, also produced world-famous works.
Important Renaissance sculptors also include Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Andrea del Verrocchio.
Among the best known modern Italian artists are the painters Giogio de Chirico and Amedeo Modigliani, and the sculptors Giacomo Manzu and Marino Marini.
The main resource of Italy was agriculture, which I had sustained the many feudal states for many centuries.
In New Haven, we have a large population of people who emigrated from Amalfi, a small town on the Tyrrhenian coast. Amalfi is our "sister City," the feast of St. Andrew; Amalfi is the one more frequently mentioned, because so many Amalfitani or their descendants reside here.
In today's society. Italian Americans occupy places and jobs of importance in all fields.
PUERTO RICO
, or Borinquen as the Taino Indians, the native people, called the island before Christopher Columbus landed in November 19, 1493, is part of the Antilles Island chain in the Caribbean, It is 111 miles long from east to west, and 36 miles wide, north to south. The soil is fertile and three quarters of the land is mountainous. The climate is warm and tropical, cool sea breezes moderate the summer heat.
Because of its location, Puerto Rico is a strategic stepping stone for U.S. imperialism into Latin America and affords the U.S. control of the sea lanes to Africa and the Middle East.
Despite a dramatic social and economic revolution that has placed Puerto Rico ahead of many nations in Latin America and the Caribbean region in education, health and overall quality of life, high unemployment is still a serious problem. This fact, combined with easy air transportation between Puerto Rico and the United States., has prompted many Puerto Ricans to migrate because Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and therefore able to travel freely between the island and the United States, there is a constant human stream traveling in both directions U.S. Census figures show that in recent years nearly two million persons of Puerto Rican birth or parentage have been living at any given time in the United States.
More than two million Puerto Ricans are living in the U.S. with about half in New York City: (1,125,000). There is a large concentration in the Midwest.
The majority of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. hold low-paying jobs as dish washers, sewing machine operators, pushcart vendors, or agricultural workers. Nationally, 29% of Puerto Ricans are categorized as “operators, including transport, factory and truck drivers” while 19% are clerical; 18.6% professional and technical. The median income of Puerto Rican workers in the U.S. is $9,855 while the median for all U.S. workers is reported to be $19,661.
Four Centuries of Spanish presence in Puerto Rico have left an indelible imprint on the island with the Spanish language as a constant reminder, but Puerto Rico has been a true ethnic melting pot. The early blend of the Spaniards with Taino Indians and Africans, and the later addition of Corsicans, French, English, Danes and other Europeans, as well as people from the New World, produced a distinct Puerto Rican profile in which color lines are blurred and racial tension lessened.
The abundant literature of Puerto Rico—novels, short stories, drama, poetry, essays—is written overwhelmingly in Spanish and there are legends inspired by Indian themes of mystery and marvel—once again a vivid reminder of an ethnic strain.
Jose Campeche (1752-1808) produced some magnificent portraits and paintings of historical and religious themes. Franciso Oller (1833-1917) became acquainted with and was influenced by the great figures of French impressionism. Two of his paintings hang in Louvre museum in Paris and in 1984, a respective exhibition of his works toured the United States. During the last 40 years a vigorous art movement has taken place—especially in the graphic and plastic arts.
Although Puerto Rico appears as only a dot on most world maps, its varied topography, unique ethnic blend, complex history and rich culture make it a very special place in which to live and visit.
The Puerto Ricans who have left the island for the United States still maintain a strong identity with Puerto Rico.
Not withstanding the U.S. presence, by the end of the Century, Puerto Rico was an island with a distinct Antillean profile and strong Spanish roots.
