|
|
Background: |
Italy became a nation-state in
1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and
Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary
government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI
established a Fascist dictatorship. His alliance with Nazi Germany led to
Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the
monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member
of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the
forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the
Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal
immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish
economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern
Italy compared with the prosperous north. |
|
Location: |
Southern Europe, a peninsula
extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia |
|
Geographic coordinates: |
42 50 N, 12 50 E |
|
Map references: |
Europe |
|
Area: |
total: 301,230 sq km
land: 294,020 sq km
water: 7,210 sq km
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily |
|
Area - comparative: |
slightly larger than Arizona
|
|
Land boundaries: |
total: 1,932.2 km
border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See
(Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740
km |
|
Coastline: |
7,600 km |
|
Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
|
|
Climate: |
predominantly Mediterranean;
Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south |
|
Terrain: |
mostly rugged and mountainous;
some plains, coastal lowlands |
|
Elevation extremes: |
lowest point:
Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco)
de Courmayeur 4,748 m (a secondary peak of Mont Blanc) |
|
Natural resources: |
coal, mercury, zinc, potash,
marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorspar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur),
natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land |
|
Land use: |
arable land: 26.41%
permanent crops: 9.09%
other: 64.5% (2005) |
|
Irrigated land: |
27,500 sq km (2003) |
|
Total renewable water resources: |
175 cu km (2005) |
|
Freshwater withdrawal
(domestic/industrial/agricultural): |
Total: 41.98 cu km/yr
(18%/37%/45%)
Per capita: 723 cu m/yr (1998) |
|
Natural hazards: |
regional risks include
landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,
flooding; land subsidence in Venice |
|
Environment - current issues: |
air pollution from industrial
emissions such as sulfur dioxide; coastal and inland rivers polluted from
industrial and agricultural effluents; acid rain damaging lakes;
inadequate industrial waste treatment and disposal facilities |
|
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
|
|
Geography - note: |
strategic location dominating
central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to
Western Europe |
|
Population: |
58,147,733 (July 2007 est.)
|
|
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 13.8% (male
4,121,246/female 3,874,971)
15-64 years: 66.4% (male
19,527,203/female 19,059,897)
65 years and over: 19.9% (male
4,823,244/female 6,741,172) (2007 est.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 42.5 years
male: 41.1 years
female: 44.1 years (2007 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate: |
0.01% (2007 est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
8.54 births/1,000 population
(2007 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
10.5 deaths/1,000 population
(2007 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
2.06 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2007 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.07
male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.064 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.025 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.715 male(s)/female
total population: 0.959 male(s)/female
(2007 est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 5.72 deaths/1,000
live births
male: 6.3 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 79.94
years
male: 77.01 years
female: 83.07 years (2007
est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
1.29 children born/woman (2007
est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
0.5% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
140,000 (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
less than 1,000 (2003 est.)
|
|
Nationality: |
noun: Italian(s)
adjective: Italian |
|
Ethnic groups: |
Italian (includes small
clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and
Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south) |
|
Religions: |
Roman Catholic 90%
(approximately; about one-third regularly attend services), other 10%
(includes mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim
immigrant community) |
|
Languages: |
Italian (official), German
(parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking),
French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene
(Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area) |
|
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write
total population: 98.4%
male: 98.8%
female: 98% (2001 census)
|
|
Country name: |
conventional long form:
Italian Republic
conventional short form: Italy
local
long form: Repubblica Italiana
local short form: Italia
former: Kingdom of Italy |
|
Government type: |
republic |
|
Capital: |
name: Rome
geographic coordinates: 41 54 N, 12 29 E
time
difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March;
ends last Sunday in October |
|
Administrative divisions: |
15 regions (regioni, singular -
regione) and 5 autonomous regions* (regioni autonome, singular - regione
autonoma); Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna,
Friuli-Venezia Giulia*, Lazio (Latium), Liguria, Lombardia, Marche,
Molise, Piemonte (Piedmont), Puglia (Apulia), Sardegna* (Sardinia),
Sicilia*, Toscana (Tuscany), Trentino-Alto Adige* (Trentino-South Tyrol),
Umbria, Valle d'Aosta* (Aosta Valley), Veneto |
|
Independence: |
17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy
proclaimed; Italy was not finally unified until 1870) |
|
National holiday: |
Republic Day, 2 June (1946)
|
|
Constitution: |
passed 11 December 1947,
effective 1 January 1948; amended many times |
|
Legal system: |
based on civil law system;
appeals treated as new trials; judicial review under certain conditions in
Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
|
Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal
(except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25) |
|
Executive branch: |
chief of state:
President Giorgio NAPOLITANO (since 15 May 2006)
head of
government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the president of
the Council of Ministers) Romano PRODI (since 17 May 2006) note - PRODI
resigns after no confidence vote in the Senate on 24 January 2008, but
retains his office until new prime minister is named
cabinet:
Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and approved by the
president
elections: president elected by an electoral college
consisting of both houses of parliament and 58 regional representatives
for a seven-year term (no term limits); election last held 10 May 2006
(next to be held in May 2013); prime minister appointed by the president
and confirmed by parliament
election results: Giorgio
NAPOLITANO elected president on the fourth round of voting; electoral
college vote - 543 |
|
Legislative branch: |
bicameral Parliament or
Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica (315 seats;
members elected by proportional vote with the winning coalition in each
region receiving 55% of seats from that region; to serve five-year terms)
and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; members
elected by popular vote with the winning national coalition receiving 54%
of chamber seats; to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate -
last held 9-10 April 2006 (next to be held in 2011); Chamber of Deputies -
last held 9-10 April 2006 (next to be held in May 2011)
election
results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - The
Union 159 (DS 62, DL 39, RC 27, Together with the Union 11, other 20),
House of Freedoms 156 (FI 79, AN 41, UDC 21, LEGA 13, other 2); Chamber of
Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - The Union 349
(DS and DL 218, RC 41, Rose in the Fist 18, Italy of Values 20, PdCI 16,
Greens Federation 16, UDEUR 14, other 6), House of Freedoms 281 (FI 134,
AN 72, Union of Christian and Center Democrats 39, LEGA 23, other 13)
|
|
Judicial branch: |
Constitutional Court or Corte
Costituzionale (composed of 15 judges: one-third appointed by the
president, one-third elected by parliament, one-third elected by the
ordinary and administrative Supreme Courts) |
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Center-Left Union Coalition
[Romano PRODI]: Ulivo Alliance (including Democrats of the Left or DS
[Piero FASSINO] (along with the DL merged into the Democratic Party or
PD); Daisy-Democracy is Freedom or DL [Francesco RUTELLI] (along with the
DS merged into the Democratic Party or PD)); Rose in the Fist (including
Italian Social Democrats or SDI [Enrico BOSELLI]; Italian Radical Party
[Emma BONINO]); Together with the Union (including Italian Communist Party
or PdCI [Oliviero DILIBERTO]; Green Federation [Alfonso PECORARO SCANIO];
United Consumers); Communist Renewal or RC [Fausto BERTINOTTI]; Italy of
Values or IdV [Antonio DI PIETRO]; Union of Democrats for Europe or UDEUR
[Clemente MASTELLA]; Republican European Movement or MRE [Luciana
SBARBATI]
Center-Right Freedom House Coalition [Silvio
BERLUSCONI]: Forza Italia or FI [Silvio BERLUSCONI]; National Alliance
or AN [Gianfranco FINI]; Union of Christian Democrats and Centrist
Democrats or UDC [Pier Ferdinando CASINI]; Northern League or LEGA
[Umberto BOSSI]; Christian Democracy (Per la Autonomie) [Gianfranco
ROTONDI]
other non-allied parties: New Italian Socialist Party
or New PSI [Gianni DE MICHELIS]; Italian Republican Party or PRI [Giorgio
LA MALFA]; Social Alternative [Alessandra MUSSOLINI]; Social
Movement-Tricolor Flame or MSI-Fiamma [Luca ROMAGNOLI]; Social Idea
Movement with Rauti or MIS [Pino RAUTI]; South Tyrol People's Party or SVP
(German speakers) [Elmar Pichler ROLLE]; Union of Valley Aosta Region or
UV [Guido CESAL] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
Italian manufacturers and
merchants associations (Confindustria, Confcommercio); organized farm
groups (Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura); Roman Catholic Church; three
major trade union confederations (Confederazione Generale Italiana del
Lavoro or CGIL [Guglielmo EPIFANI] which is left wing, Confederazione
Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL [Raffaele BONANNO], which is
Roman Catholic centrist, and Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL [Luigi
ANGELETTI] which is lay centrist) |
|
International organization participation: |
ADB (nonregional members),
AfDB, Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer),
CBSS (observer), CDB, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO,
G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO,
ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG,
OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention,
SECI (observer), UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMOGIP, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU,
WCL, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Giovanni CASTELLANETA
chancery: 3000 Whitehaven
Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 612-4400
FAX: [1] (202) 518-2151
consulate(s) general:
Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San
Francisco
consulate(s): Detroit |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Ronald P. SPOGLI
embassy: Via Vittorio Veneto 121,
00187-Rome
mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100, APO AE 09624
telephone: [39] (06) 46741
FAX: [39] (06) 488-2672,
4674-2356
consulate(s) general: Florence, Milan, Naples |
|
Flag description: |
three equal vertical bands of
green (hoist side), white, and red; similar to the flag of Ireland, which
is longer and is green (hoist side), white, and orange; also similar to
the flag of the Cote d'Ivoire, which has the colors reversed - orange
(hoist side), white, and green; inspired by the French flag brought to
Italy by Napoleon in 1797 |
|
Economy - overview: |
Italy has a diversified
industrial economy with roughly the same total and per capita output as
France and the UK. This capitalistic economy remains divided into a
developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a
less-developed, welfare-dependent, agricultural south, with 20%
unemployment. Most raw materials needed by industry and more than 75% of
energy requirements are imported. Over the past decade, Italy has pursued
a tight fiscal policy in order to meet the requirements of the Economic
and Monetary Unions and has benefited from lower interest and inflation
rates. The current government has enacted numerous short-term reforms
aimed at improving competitiveness and long-term growth. Italy has moved
slowly, however, on implementing needed structural reforms, such as
lightening the high tax burden and overhauling Italy's rigid labor market
and over-generous pension system, because of the current economic slowdown
and opposition from labor unions. But the leadership faces a severe
economic constraint: Italy's official debt remains above 100% of GDP, and
the government has found it difficult to bring the budget deficit down to
a level that would allow a rapid decrease in that debt. The economy
continues to grow by less than the euro-zone average and growth is
expected to decelerate from 1.9% in 2006 and 2007 to under 1.5% in 2008 as
the euro-zone and world economies slow. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity): |
$1.8 trillion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP (official exchange rate): |
$1.862 trillion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
1.9% (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita (PPP): |
$31,000 (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 1.9%
industry: 28.8%
services: 69.3% (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
24.86 million (2007 est.)
|
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture: 5%
industry: 32%
services: 63% (2001) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
6.7% (2007 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
NA% |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 26.8% (2000) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
33 (2005) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
1.7% (2007 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
20.6% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $976 billion
expenditures: $1.029 trillion (2007 est.) |
|
Public debt: |
105.6% of GDP (2007 est.)
|
|
Agriculture - products: |
fruits, vegetables, grapes,
potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish
|
|
Industries: |
tourism, machinery, iron and
steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing,
footwear, ceramics |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
1.3% (2007 est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
278.5 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 78.6%
hydro: 18.4%
nuclear: 0%
other: 3% (2001)
|
|
Electricity - consumption: |
307.1 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
1.109 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
50.26 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Oil - production: |
164,800 bbl/day (2005 est.)
|
|
Oil - consumption: |
1.732 million bbl/day (2005
est.) |
|
Oil - exports: |
521,400 bbl/day (2004) |
|
Oil - imports: |
2.182 million bbl/day (2004)
|
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
621.7 million bbl (1 January
2006 est.) |
|
Natural gas - production: |
11.49 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
82.64 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
379.8 million cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - imports: |
70.45 billion cu m (2005)
|
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
217.3 billion cu m (1 January
2006 est.) |
|
Current account balance: |
-$57.94 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports: |
$474.8 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
engineering products, textiles
and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment,
chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals, and nonferrous metals
|
|
Exports - partners: |
Germany 13.2%, France 11.7%, US
7.6%, Spain 7.3%, UK 6.1% (2006) |
|
Imports: |
$483.6 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
engineering products,
chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous
metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages, and tobacco |
|
Imports - partners: |
Germany 16.7%, France 9.2%,
Netherlands 5.6%, China 5.2%, Belgium 4.2%, Spain 4.1% (2006) |
|
Economic aid - donor: |
ODA, $1 billion (2002 est.)
|
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$69 billion (31 December 2007
est.) |
|
Debt - external: |
$2.345 trillion (30 June 2007)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: |
$294.8 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: |
$375.8 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Market value of publicly traded shares: |
$798.2 billion (2005) |
|
Currency (code): |
euro (EUR)
note: on
1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a
common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries;
on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday
transactions within the member countries |
|
Currency code: |
EUR |
|
Exchange rates: |
euros per US dollar - 0.7345
(2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003) |
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar year |
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
25.049 million (2005) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
71.5 million (2005) |
|
Telephone system: |
general assessment:
modern, well developed, fast; fully automated telephone, telex, and data
services
domestic: high-capacity cable and microwave radio
relay trunks
international: country code - 39; a series of
submarine cables provide links to Asia, Middle East, Europe, North Africa,
and US; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (with a total of 5 antennas
- 3 for Atlantic Ocean and 2 for Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean
region), and NA Eutelsat |
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM about 100, FM about 4,600,
shortwave 9 (1998) |
|
Radios: |
50.5 million (1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations: |
358 (plus 4,728 repeaters)
(1995) |
|
Televisions: |
30.3 million (1997) |
|
Internet country code: |
.it |
|
Internet hosts: |
4.117 million (2007) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
93 (Italy and Holy See) (2000)
|
|
Internet users: |
28.855 million (2006)
|
|
Airports: |
132 (2007) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 101
over
3,047 m: 7
2,438 to 3,047 m: 32
1,524 to 2,437
m: 15
914 to 1,523 m: 34
under 914 m: 13 (2007)
|
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 31
1,524
to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 19
(2007) |
|
Heliports: |
5 (2007) |
|
Pipelines: |
gas 18,863 km; oil 1,258 km
(2007) |
|
Railways: |
total: 19,460 km
standard gauge: 18,038 km 1.435-m gauge (11,354 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 123 km 1.000-m gauge (123 km electrified); 1,299
km 0.950-m gauge (161 km electrified) (2006) |
|
Roadways: |
total: 484,688 km
paved: 484,688 km (includes 6,621 km of expressways) (2004)
|
|
Waterways: |
2,400 km
note: used
for commercial traffic; of limited overall value compared to road and rail
(2006) |
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 604 ships (1000
GRT or over) 12,529,192 GRT/13,150,989 DWT
by type: bulk
carrier 53, cargo 46, carrier 1, chemical tanker 141, combination ore/oil
1, container 32, liquefied gas 33, livestock carrier 3, passenger 17,
passenger/cargo 156, petroleum tanker 40, refrigerated cargo 4, roll
on/roll off 35, specialized tanker 14, vehicle carrier 28
foreign-owned: 62 (Denmark 2, France 5, Germany 1, Greece 13,
Sweden 1, Switzerland 5, Taiwan 11, Turkey 1, UK 7, US 16)
registered in other countries: 169 (Bahamas 1, Belize 4,
Bolivia 1, Cayman Islands 10, Cyprus 5, France 2, Gibraltar 1, Greece 1,
Isle of Man 1, Liberia 31, Malta 45, Marshall Islands 3, Norway 4, Panama
10, Portugal 11, Singapore 4, Slovakia 1, Spain 1, St Vincent and The
Grenadines 19, Sweden 7, Turkey 3, UK 4) (2007) |
|
Ports and terminals: |
Augusta, Genoa, Livorno,
Ravenna, Sarroch, Taranto, Trieste, Venice |
|
Military branches: |
Army (Esercito Italiano, EI),
Navy (Marina Militare Italiana, MMI), Air Force (Aeronautica Militare
Italiana, AMI), Carabinieri Corps (Corpo dei Carabinieri, CC) (2005)
|
|
Military service age and obligation: |
18-27 year of age for voluntary
military service; conscription abolished January 2005; women may serve in
any military branch; 10-month service obligation, with a reserve
obligation to age 45 (Army and Air Force) or 39 (Navy) (2006) |
|
Manpower available for military service: |
males age 18-49:
13,491,260
females age 18-49: 12,886,033 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower fit for military service: |
males age 18-49:
10,963,513
females age 18-49: 10,452,189 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower reaching military service age annually: |
males age 18-49: 286,344
females age 18-49: 270,099 (2005 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.8% (2005 est.)
|
|
Disputes - international: |
Italy's long coastline and
developed economy entices tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from
southeastern Europe and northern Africa |
|
Illicit drugs: |
important gateway for and
consumer of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the
European market; money laundering by organized crime and from smuggling
|
This page was last updated on 12 February, 2008
|
