Italy owns the world's third-largest gold reserve, and is the third-largest net contributor to the budget of the European Union. Furthermore, the advanced country private wealth is one of the largest in the world. In terms of private wealth, Italy ranks second, after Hong Kong, in private wealth to GDP ratio.
With an untold wealth of Italian inventions, nonetheless, the following 10 stand out for their global impact: * Battery (by Alessandro Volta) * Eyeglasses. * Bank (by the Medici family) * Barometer (by Evangelista Torricelli) * Thermometer (by Galileo Galilei) * Newspaper. * Piano (by Bartolomeo Cristofori) * Moka Pot (by Alfonso Bialetti)
