Claim: Italy is officially called the big meatball.
Evidence: Italy -LRB- Italia -LSB- iˈtaːlja -RSB- -RRB- , officially the Italian Republic -LRB- -LSB- Repubblica italiana , links = no -RSB- -RRB- , is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe.The Italian peninsula is geographically located in Southern Europe , while North Italy can be placed partly or totally in Central Europe.