![[Country map of Italy]](it.gif)
Location: Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
Map references: Europe
Area:
total area: 301,230 sq km
land area: 294,020 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Arizona
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily
Land boundaries: total 1,899.2 km, Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 199 km, Switzerland 740 km
Coastline: 4,996 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: none
Climate: predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south
Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands
Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal
Land use:
arable land: 32%
permanent crops: 10%
meadows and pastures: 17%
forest and woodland: 22%
other: 19%
Irrigated land: 31,000 sq km (1989 est.)
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
natural hazards: regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur
85, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands;
signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile
Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Desertification
Note: strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
Population: 58,261,971 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 15% (female 4,352,325; male 4,603,083)
15-64 years: 68% (female 19,969,086; male 19,874,528)
65 years and over: 17% (female 5,630,747; male 3,832,202) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.21% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 10.89 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 9.78 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 7.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.85 years
male: 74.67 years
female: 81.23 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.41 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Italian(s)
adjective: Italian
Ethnic divisions: Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south), Sicilians, Sardinians
Religions: Roman Catholic 98%, other 2%
Languages: Italian, 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: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 97%
male: 98%
female: 96%
Labor force: 23.988 million
by occupation: services 58%, industry 32.2%, agriculture 9.8% (1988)
Names:
conventional long form: Italian Republic
conventional short form: Italy
local long form: Repubblica Italiana
local short form: Italia
former: Kingdom of Italy
Digraph: IT
Type: republic
Capital: Rome
Administrative divisions: 20 regions (regioni, singular - regione); Abruzzi, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Valle d'Aosta, Veneto
Independence: 17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed)
National holiday: Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946)
Constitution: 1 January 1948
Legal system: based on civil law system, with ecclesiastical law influence; appeals treated as trials de novo; 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 Oscar Luigi SCALFARO (since 28 May 1992)
head of government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the President of the Council
of Ministers) Lamberto DINI (since 1 February 1995)
cabinet: Council of Ministers; nominated by the President of the Council (i.e.,
Prime Minister) and approved by the President of the Republic
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Parlamento)
Senate (Senato della Repubblica): elections last held 27-28 March 1994 (next must be held by spring 1999,
but may be held by end of 1995); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats
- (326 total, 315 elected, 11 appointed senators-for-life) PDS 61, Northern
League 60, National Alliance 48, Forza Italia 36, Italian Popular Party 31,
Communist Refoundation 18, Greens and The Network 13, Italian Socialists
13, Christian Democratic Center 12, Democratic Alliance 8, Christian Socialists
5, Pact for Italy 4, Radical Party (Pannella List) 1, others 5
Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati): elections last held 27-28 March 1994 (next must be held by spring 1999,
but may be held by end of 1995); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats
- (630 total) Northern League 117, PDS 114, Forza Italia 113, National Alliance
109, Communist Refoundation 39, Christian Democratic Center 33, Italian Popular
Party 33, Greens and The Network 20, Democratic Alliance 18, Italian Socialists
16, Pact for Italy 13, Christian Socialists 5
Judicial branch: Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale)
Political parties and leaders: Forza Italia (FI), Silvio BERLUSCONI; National Alliance, Gianfranco FINI, party secretary; Northern League - Federal Italy (NL), Umberto BOSSI, president; Italian Social Movement, Pino RAUTI; Democratic Party of the Left (PDS, Massimo D'ALEMA, secretary; Communist Refoundation (RC), Fausto BERTINOTTI; Greens, Gianni MATTIOLI; Italian Socialists, Ottaviano DELTURCO; Rete (The Network), Leoluca ORLANDO; Christian Socialists, Ermanno GORRIERI; Pact for Italy, Mario SEGNI; Italian Popular Party (PPI), Rocco BUTTIGLIONE, Gerardo BIANCO; Christian Democratic Center (CCD), Pier Ferdinando CASINI; Union of the Democratic Center (UDC), Raffaele COSTA; Pannella List, Marco PANNELLA
Other political or pressure groups: the Roman Catholic Church; three major trade union confederations (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro or CGIL which is PDS-dominated, Confederazione Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL which is centerist, and Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL which is center-left); Italian manufacturers and merchants associations (Confindustria, Confcommercio); organized farm groups (Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura)
Member of: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CEI, CERN, EBRD, EC, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, FAO, G- 7, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUSAL, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMOGIP, UNOMOZ, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Boris BIANCHERI-CHIAPPORI
chancery: 1601 Fuller Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 328-5500
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia,
San Francisco
consulate(s): Detroit and New Orleans
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Reginald BARTHOLOMEW
embassy: Via Veneto 119/A, 00187-Rome
mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100, Rome; APO AE 09624
telephone: [39] (6) 46741
FAX: [39] (6) 4882672
consulate(s) general: Florence, Milan, Naples
Flag: 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
Overview: Since World War II the Italian economy has changed from one based on agriculture into a ranking industrial economy, with approximately the same total and per capita output as France and the UK. The country is still divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and an undeveloped agricultural south, dominated by large public enterprises. Services account for 48% of GDP, industry 35%, agriculture 4%, and public administration 13%. Most raw materials needed by industry and over 75% of energy requirements must be imported. After growing at an average annual rate of 3% in 1983-90, growth slowed to about 1% in 1991 and 1992, fell by 0.7% in 1993, and recovered to 2% in 1994. In the second half of 1992, Rome became unsettled by the prospect of not qualifying to participate in EU plans for economic and monetary union later in the decade; thus it finally began to address its huge fiscal imbalances. Subsequently, the government has adopted fairly stringent budgets, abandoned its highly inflationary wage indexation system, and started to scale back its extremely generous social welfare programs, including pension and health care benefits. Monetary officials were forced to withdraw the lira from the European monetary system in September 1992 when it came under extreme pressure in currency markets. For the 1990s, Italy faces the problems of pushing ahead with fiscal reform, refurbishing a tottering communications system, curbing pollution in major industrial centers, and adjusting to the new competitive forces accompanying the ongoing expansion and economic integration of the European Union.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $998.9 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate: 2.2% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $17,180 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.9% (1994)
Unemployment rate: 12.2% (January 1995)
Budget:
revenues: $339 billion
expenditures: $431 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1994 est.)
Exports: $190.8 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities: metals, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles,
transportation equipment, chemicals, other
partners: EU 53.4%, US 7.8%, OPEC 3.8% (1994)
Imports: $168.7 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
commodities: industrial machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, petroleum, metals,
food, agricultural products
partners: EU 56.3%, OPEC 5.3%, US 4.6% (1994)
External debt: $67 billion (1993 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.3% (1994 est.); accounts for 35% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity: 61,630,000 kW
production: 209 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 4,033 kWh (1993)
Industries: machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics
Agriculture: accounts for about 4% of GDP; self-sufficient in foods other than meat, dairy products, and cereals; principal crops - fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; fish catch of 525,000 metric tons in 1990
Illicit drugs: important gateway country for Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market
Economic aid:
donor: ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $25.9 billion
Currency: 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi
Exchange rates: Italian lire (Lit) per US$1 - 1,609.5 (January 1995), 1,612.4 (1994), 1,573.7 (1993), 1,232.4 (1992), 1,240.6 (1991), 1,198.1 (1990)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Railroads:
total: 19,503 km
standard gauge: 18,230 km 1.435-m gauge (10,499 km electrified; 2,112 km privately
owned)
narrow gauge: 1,273 km 0.950-m to 1.000-m gauge (224 km electrified; 1,273 km privately
owned)
Highways:
total: 305,388 km
paved: 277,388 km (6,940 km of expressways)
unpaved: gravel, crushed stone 23,000 km; earth 5,000 km (1992)
Inland waterways: 2,400 km for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value
Pipelines: crude oil 1,703 km; petroleum products 2,148 km; natural gas 19,400 km
Ports: Ancona, Augusta, Bari, Cagliari (Sardinia), Catania, Gaeta, Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Naples, Oristano (Sardinia), Palermo (Sicily), Piombino, Porto Torres (Sardinia), Ravenna, Savona, Trieste, Venice
Merchant marine:
total: 441 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,767,969 GRT/8,547,221 DWT
ships by type: bulk 40, cargo 62, chemical tanker 34, combination ore/oil 3, container
18, liquefied gas tanker 37, multifunction large-load carrier 1, oil tanker
136, passenger 7, roll-on/roll-off cargo 54, short-sea passenger 30, specialized
tanker 11, vehicle carrier 8
Airports:
total: 138
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 5
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 34
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 26
with paved runways under 914 m: 34
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 2
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 22
Telephone system: 25,600,000 telephones; modern, well-developed, fast; fully automated
telephone, telex, and data services
local: NA
intercity: high-capacity cable and microwave radio relay trunks
international: international service by 21 submarine cables, 3 satellite earth stations
operating in INTELSAT with 3 Atlantic Ocean antennas and 2 Indian Ocean
antennas; also participates in INMARSAT and EUTELSAT systems
Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 135, FM 28 (repeaters 1,840), shortwave 0
radios: 16 million
Television:
broadcast stations: 83 (repeaters 1,000)
televisions: 18 million
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 14,934,657; males fit for military service 12,962,594; males reach military age (18) annually 382,142 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $21.5 billion, 2% of GDP (1994)