Introduction

Background: Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-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 disastrous 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.

Geography

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, fluorospar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land

Land use: arable land: 27.79%; permanent crops: 9.53%; other: 62.68% (2001)

Irrigated land: 26,980 sq km (1998 est.)

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-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: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants

Geography - note: strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe

People

Population: 58,103,033 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 13.9% (male 4,166,213/female 3,919,288); 15-64 years: 66.7% (male 19,554,416/female 19,174,629); 65 years and over: 19.4% (male 4,698,441/female 6,590,046) (2005 est.)

Median age: total: 41.77 years; male: 40.24 years; female: 43.35 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.07% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 8.89 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 10.3 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female; total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 5.94 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 6.55 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 5.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.68 years; male: 76.75 years; female: 82.81 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.28 children born/woman (2005 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: predominately Roman Catholic with 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: 98.6%; male: 99%; female: 98.3% (2003 est.)

Government

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: Rome

Administrative divisions: 16 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 4 autonomous regions* (regioni autonome, singular - regione autonoma); Abruzzo, 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

Independence17 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 Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI (since 13 May 1999)

Head of government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the president of the Council of Ministers) Silvio BERLUSCONI (since 10 June 2001); 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; election last held 13 May 1999 (next to be held May 2006); prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by parliament; election results: Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI elected president; percent of electoral college vote - 70%

note: a four-party government coalition includes Forza Italia, National Alliance, Northern League, and Union of Christian Democrats and Center Democrats

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica (315 seats elected by popular vote of which 232 are directly elected and 83 are elected by regional proportional representation; in addition, there are a small number of senators-for-life including former presidents of the republic; members serve five-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; 475 are directly elected, 155 by regional proportional representation; members serve five-year terms); elections: Senate - last held 13 May 2001 (next to be held 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 13 May 2001 (next to be held May 2006); election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - House of Liberties 172 (Forza Italia 77, National Alliance 47, UDC 31, Lega Padana 17), Olive Tree 108 (Democrats of the Left 63, Daisy Alliance 35, Greens 10), Per le Autonomie 10, other 25; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - House of Liberties 337 (Forza Italia 176, National Alliance 97, UDC 36, Northern League 28), Olive Tree 214 (Democrats of the Left 135, Daisy Alliance 79), Rifondazione Communista (Italian Communist Party) 11, other 68

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)

Economy

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: the budget has breached the 3% EU deficit ceiling.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.609 trillion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.3% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $27,700 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.3%; industry: 28.8%; services: 68.9% (2004 est.)

Labor force: 24.27 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 5%, industry 32%, services 63% (2001)

Unemployment rate: 8.6% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA

Household income or consumption by percentage share:lowest 10%: 2.1%; highest 10%: 26.6% (2000)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 27.3 (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed): 19.3% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget: revenues: $768.9 billion; expenditures: $820.1 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Public debt: 105.6% of GDP (2004 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: 0.7% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production: 261.6 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption: 293.9 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports: 900 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports: 51.5 billion kWh (2002)

Oil - production: 79,460 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption: 1.866 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports: 456,600 bbl/day (2001)

Oil - imports: 2.158 million bbl/day (2001)

Oil - proved reserves: 586.6 million bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production: 15.49 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 71.18 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 61 million cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 54.78 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 209.7 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance: $-21.1 billion (2004 est.)

Exports: $336.4 billion f.o.b. (2004 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 13.7%, France 12.1%, US 8%, Spain 7.3%, UK 6.9%, Switzerland 4.1% (2004)

Imports: $329.3 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities: engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages and tobacco

Imports - partners: Germany 18.1%, France 10.7%, Netherlands 5.8%, Spain 4.7%, Belgium 4.4%, UK 4.3%, China 4.1% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $61.5 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external: $913.9 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - donor: ODA, $1 billion (2002 est.)

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

Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)