Capital and largest city of Italy
Native name	Roma (Italian)
Country	Italy
Region	Lazio
Founded	753 BC (traditional)
Founder	Romulus (legendary)
Population	~2.7 million (city) ~4.2 million (metro)
Area	1,287.36 km²
Elevation	21 m (69 ft)
River	Tiber
Nicknames	The Eternal City Caput Mundi (Capital of the World)
Website	comune.roma.it

Rome (Roma(/ˈroːma/)) is the capital and largest city of Italy. Located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula along the Tiber river, the city has a population of about 2.7 million within its city limits and 4.2 million in its metropolitan area, making it the third most populous city in the European Union.

Rome's history spans more than 2,500 years. The city served as the capital of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire, and in 133 BC it became the first city in the world to reach a population of one million people. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Rome became the seat of the Roman Catholic Church and the capital of the Papal States. In 1870, it became the capital of the unified Kingdom of Italy, and later the Italian Republic.

The city's historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rome is home to some of the world's most famous landmarks, including the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, and the Trevi Fountain. Vatican City, the world's smallest independent state and the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, is located entirely within Rome's city limits — making Rome the only city in the world to contain an entire country.

Rome sits on the Tiber river about 24 kilometers inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city was originally built on the famous seven hills of Rome: the Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminal hills. Modern Rome extends well beyond these historic hills and also straddles a second river, the Aniene, which joins the Tiber north of the historic center.

The city covers an area of 1,287 square kilometers, making it the largest comune (municipality) in Italy by land area. Rome has a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters.

Rome's history spans 28 centuries, from prehistoric settlements on the Palatine Hill to its role as a modern European capital.

According to tradition, Rome was founded on 21 April 753 BC by Romulus. Archaeological evidence shows settlement in the area dating back to around 1000 BC, with small villages gradually merging into a single community. During the period of the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), Rome was ruled by seven kings before the monarchy was overthrown and replaced by the Roman Republic.

Under the Republic (509–27 BC), Rome grew from a regional Italian city-state into the dominant power of the Mediterranean world. The city's population swelled as conquered peoples, freed slaves, and rural Italians migrated to the capital. By the late Republic, Rome was a bustling metropolis with grand public buildings, temples, and the earliest versions of its famous aqueduct system.

The Roman Empire (27 BC – 476 AD) saw Rome reach its peak as a world city. Under emperors like Augustus and Trajan, the city gained its most iconic monuments — the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the imperial fora. At its height in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, Rome's population reached an estimated one million, making it the largest city in the world at the time. No European city would match that figure again until the 19th century.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, Rome's population declined sharply, dropping below 20,000 during parts of the medieval period. The city's political importance was largely replaced by its religious significance as the seat of the Pope and the center of Western Christianity.

During the Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Papacy invested heavily in rebuilding Rome, commissioning artists like Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bernini to create masterpieces that still define the city's appearance. St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the redesign of St. Peter's Square all date from this period.

In 1870, Italian troops entered Rome and made it the capital of the newly unified Kingdom of Italy, ending over a thousand years of Papal rule. The relationship between Italy and the Papacy remained contentious until the Lateran Treaty of 1929, when Vatican City was established as an independent state within Rome.

During World War II, Rome was declared an open city in 1943 to avoid destruction, and it was liberated by Allied forces in June 1944. After the war, Rome became the capital of the Italian Republic and experienced rapid population growth through the mid-1980s.

Rome contains an extraordinary concentration of historic sites and monuments. The Colosseum, completed in 80 AD, is the largest amphitheater ever built and once held up to 50,000 spectators for gladiatorial combat. The Pantheon, originally built by Marcus Agrippa and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian around 125 AD, features the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The Roman Forum was the political, religious, and commercial center of Ancient Rome for centuries.

Vatican City, within Rome's borders, contains St. Peter's Basilica (the largest church in the world), the Sistine Chapel with its ceiling painted by Michelangelo, and the Vatican Museums. Other notable landmarks include the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, Castel Sant'Angelo, and the Baths of Caracalla.

Rome is Italy's political capital and a major center for tourism, with approximately 8.6 million international visitors annually. The city hosts the headquarters of several United Nations agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome is also a center of Italian fashion and film — the Cinecittà Studios on the city's outskirts have been used for productions ranging from Ben-Hur to La Dolce Vita.

The Sapienza University of Rome, founded in 1303, is the largest university in Europe by enrollment, with over 115,000 students.