The city of Venice, built on 117 islands.

rease in the proportion of overweight and obese people, with 34.2% of Italians self reporting as overweight and 9.8% self reporting as obese.[207] The proportion of daily smokers was 22% in 2008.[208] Smoking in public places including bars, restaurants, night clubs and offices has been restricted to specially ventilated rooms since 2005.[209]
Culture

Main article: Culture of Italy

The city of Venice, built on 117 islands.

The Leaning Tower and the Duomo of Pisa.

The Royal Palace of Caserta.
For centuries divided by politics and geography until its eventual unification in 1861, Italy has developed a unique culture, shaped by a multitude of regional customs and local centres of power and patronage.[210] During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a number of magnificent courts competed for attracting the best architects, artistis and scholars, thus producing an immense legacy of monuments, paintings, music and literature.[211]
Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites (49) than any other country in the world, and has rich collections of art, culture and literature from many different periods. The country has had a broad cultural influence worldwide, also because numerous Italians emigrated to other places during the Italian diaspora. Furthermore, the nation has, overall, an estimated 100,000 monuments of any sort (museums, palaces, buildings, statues, churches, art galleries, villas, fountains, historic houses and archaeological remains).[212]
Architecture
Main article: Architecture of Italy
Italy has a very broad and diverse architectural style, which cannot be simply classified by period, but also by region, because of Italy's division into several regional states until 1861. This has created a highly diverse and eclectic range in architectural designs.
Italy is known for its considerable architectural achievements,[213] such as the construction of arches, domes and similar structures during ancient Rome, the founding of the Renaissance architectural movement in the late-14th to 16th century, and being the homeland of Palladianism, a style of construction which inspired moveme