FLORENCE

Florence  is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 382,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1,520,000 in the metropolitan area. Florence is famous for its history: a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, it is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages".  A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medicifamily, and numerous religious and republican revolutions.  From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year, and Euromonitor International ranked the city as the world's 89th most visited in 2012, with 1.8 million visitors.  It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architectureand monuments.  The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics.  Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  Florence is an important city in Italian fashion, being ranked in the top 51 fashion capitals of the world;  furthermore, it is a major national economic centre,  as well as a tourist and industrial hub. In 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy.