[n] A country of southern Europe comprising the peninsula of Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, and several smaller islands. It was settled by Ligurian peoples and later by Etruscans (before 800b.c. ), who were supplanted by the Latin Romans by 270 b.c. After the fall of the empire ( a.d. 476), Italy was ruled by various barbarian tribes, local families, and popes. The country was finally unified under Victor Emmanuel II in 1870. Rome is the capital and the largest city. Population, 56,243,935. [n] A peninsula of southern Europe projecting into the Mediterranean Sea between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas.