Rome ( ; , ) is a city and special
comune (named
Roma Capitale) in Italy. Rome is the capital of
Italy and of the
Lazio region. With 2.9 million residents in , it is also the country's largest and most populated
comune and
fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The
Metropolitan City of Rome has a population of 4.3 million residents. The city is located in the central-western portion of the
Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of
Tiber river. The
Vatican City is an independent country geographical located within the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city: for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states.