Italy is the European country with Rome as its capital that uses the euro as its currency.
Rome has been Italy’s capital since 1871, following the unification of the Italian states. The city is also home to Vatican City, an independent country surrounded by Rome. Italy’s location gives it a distinctive shape extending into the Mediterranean Sea, with Sicily and Sardinia as its largest islands.
Italy adopted the euro in 1999 for electronic transactions and introduced euro banknotes and coins in 2002, replacing the Italian lira. A common mix-up is confusing Italy with San Marino or Vatican City, which also use the euro but are separate states and do not have Rome as their capital. Italy is one of the founding members of the European Union and remains one of the euro area’s largest economies.