Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy, capital of the province of Rome and also the capital of the Lazio region. It is located on the lower Tiber river, near the Mediterranean Sea. Vatican City, a sovereign enclave within Rome area, is the center of the Roman Catholic Church with the Pope a leader.

As the largest city in Italy, Rome has a population of 2,823,807 inhabitants (2004) with nearly 4 million in the metropolitan area.

The city's history is very long, almost 2,800 years. During that time, the city was once the center of the Roman Empire, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, and later the Papal States, Kingdom of Italy, and is now the Republic of Italy.