Florence, in Italian Firenze, is the capital city of the region of Tuscany. The city lies on the Arno River and has a population of around 400,000 people, plus a suburban population in excess of 200,000 persons.
A center of medieval European trade and finance, the city is often considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and was long ruled by the Medici family. Florence is also famous for its fine art and architecture and it is said that, of the 1000 most important European artists of the second millennium, 350 lived or worked in Florence.
