FAX: (3) 517-3227

consulate(s) general: Jerusalem; note - an independent US mission, established in 1928, whose members are not accredited to a foreign government

Flag description: white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star) known as the Magen David (Shield of David) centered between two equal horizontal blue bands near the top and bottom edges of the flag

Israel Economy

Economy - overview: Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel is largely self-sufficient in food production except for grains. Cuts diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable current account deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the US, which is its major source of economic and military aid. The influx of Jewish immigrants from the former USSR topped 750,000 during the period 1989-99, bringing the population of Israel from the former Soviet Union to 1 million, one-sixth of the total population, and adding scientific and professional expertise of substantial value for the economy's future. The influx, coupled with the opening of new markets at the end of the Cold War, energized Israel's economy, which grew rapidly in the early 1990s. But growth began moderating in 1996 when the government imposed tighter fiscal and monetary policies and the immigration bonus petered out. Growth was a strong 5.9% in 2000. But the outbreak of Palestinian unrest in late September and the collapse of the BARAK Government - coupled with a cooling off in the high-technology and tourist sectors - undercut the boom and foreshadows a slowdown to 2%-3% in 2001.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $110.2 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5.9% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $18,900 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4%

industry: 37%

services: 59% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8%

highest 10%: 26.9% (1992)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0.1% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 2.4 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: public services 31.2%, manufacturing 20.2%, finance and business 13.1%, commerce 12.8%, construction 7.5%, personal and other services 6.4%, transport, storage, and communications 6.2%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 2.6% (1996)

Unemployment rate: 9% (2000 est.)

Budget: revenues: $40 billion

expenditures: $42.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Industries: high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, diamond cutting

Industrial production growth rate: 7% (2000)

Electricity - production: 35.437 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 99.89%

hydro: 0.11%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 31.899 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 1.061 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 4 million kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products

Exports: $31.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel

Exports - partners: US 36%, UK 6%, Benelux 5%, Hong Kong 4%,
Netherlands 4% (1999)

Imports: $35.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports - commodities: raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, consumer goods

Imports - partners: US 20%, Benelux 11%, Germany 8%, UK 8%,
Switzerland 6%, Italy 5% (1999)

Debt - external: $38 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $1.1 billion from the US (1999)

Currency: new Israeli shekel (ILS)

Currency code: ILS

Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.0810 (December 2000), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Israel Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 2.8 million (1999)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.5 million (1999)

Telephone system: general assessment: most highly developed system in the Middle East although not the largest

domestic: good system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay; all systems are digital

international: 3 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios: 3.07 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 17 (plus 36 low-power repeaters) (1995)

Televisions: 1.69 million (1997)

Internet country code: .il

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 21 (2000)

Internet users: 1 million (2000)

Israel Transportation

Railways: total: 610 km

standard gauge: 610 km 1.435-m gauge (1996)

Highways: total: 15,965 km

paved: 15,965 km (including 56 km of expressways)

unpaved: 0 km (1998 est.)

Waterways: none

Pipelines: crude oil 708 km; petroleum products 290 km; natural gas 89 km

Ports and harbors: Ashdod, Ashqelon, Elat (Eilat), Hadera, Haifa,
Tel Aviv-Yafo

Merchant marine: total: 17 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 631,582 GRT/745,011 DWT

ships by type: container 16, roll on/roll off 1 (2000 est.)

Airports: 55 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 30

over 3,047 m: 2

2,438 to 3,047 m: 4

1,524 to 2,437 m: 7

914 to 1,523 m: 10

under 914 m: 7 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 25

1,524 to 2,437 m: 1

914 to 1,523 m: 4

under 914 m: 20 (2000 est.)

Heliports: 2 (2000 est.)

Israel Military

Military branches: Israel Defense Forces (includes ground, naval,
and air components), Pioneer Fighting Youth (Nahal), Frontier Guard,
Chen (women); note - historically there have been no separate
Israeli military services

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,522,003

females age 15-49: 1,482,027 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 1,245,757

females age 15-49: 1,208,973 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 49,206

females: 53,379 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $8.7 billion (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 9.4% (FY99)

Israel Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: West Bank and Gaza Strip are
Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the
Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be
determined through further negotiation; Golan Heights is
Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan
Heights)

Illicit drugs: increasingly concerned about cocaine and heroin abuse; drugs arrive in country from Lebanon and increasingly Jordan

@Italy

Italy Introduction

Background: Italy became a nation-state belatedly - in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL. 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 European Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, the ravages of organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the more prosperous north.

Italy 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: continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

territorial sea: 12 NM

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) 4,807 m

Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal, arable land

Land use: arable land: 31%

permanent crops: 10%

permanent pastures: 15%

forests and woodland: 23%

other: 21% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 27,100 sq km (1993 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-Sulphur 85, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources,
Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical
Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

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

Italy People

Population: 57,679,825 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 14.17% (male 4,209,102; female 3,964,765)

15-64 years: 67.48% (male 19,375,742; female 19,546,332)

65 years and over: 18.35% (male 4,368,264; female 6,215,620) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.07% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 9.05 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 10.07 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female

total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.14 years

male: 75.97 years

female: 82.52 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.18 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.35% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 95,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 1,000 (1999 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% (1998)

male: NA%

female: NA%

Italy 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: 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; Italy was not finally unified until 1870)

National holiday: Republic Day, 2 June (1946)

Constitution: 1 January 1948

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 NA 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 12-party government coalition; note - BERLUSCONI's coalition includes Forza Italian, National Alliance, Christian Democratic Center, Christian Northern League

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 plus, 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 NA 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 13 May 2001 (next to be held NA 2006)

election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - House of Liberties 177 (Forza Italia 82, National Alliance 46, CCD-CDU 29, Northern League 17, others 3), Olive Tree 128 (Democrats of the Left 62, Daisy Alliance 42, Sunflower Alliance 16, Italian Communist Party 3, independents 5), non-affiliated with either coalition 10, senators for life 9; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - House of Liberties 367 (Forza Italia 189, National Alliance 96, CCD-CDU 40, Northern League 30, others 12), Olive Tree 248 (Democrats of the Left 138, Daisy Alliance 76, Sunflower Alliance 18, Italian Communist Party 9, independents 7), non-affiliated with either coalition 15

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 Olive Tree Coalition
[Francesco RUTELLI] - Democrats of the Left, Daisy Alliance
(including Italian Popular Party, Italian Renewal, Union of
Democrats for Europe, The Democrats), Sunflower Alliance (including
Green Federation, Italian Democratic Socialists), Italian Communist
Party; Christian Democratic Center or CDC [Pier Ferdinando CASINI];
Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Rocco BUTTIGLIONE]; Communist
Renewal or RC [Fausto BERTINOTTI]; Forza Italia or FI [Silvio
BERLUSCONI]; Green Federation [Grazia FRANCESCATO]; House of
Liberties (formerly Freedom Alliance, a center-right coalition)
[leader Silvio BERLUSCONI] - Forza Italian, National Alliance,
Christian Democratic Center, Christian Democratic Union, Northern
League; Italian Communist Party or PdCI [Oliviero DILIBERTO];
Italian Democratic Socialists [Enrico BOSELLI]; Italian Popular
Party [Pierluigi CASTAGNETTI]; Italian Renewal [Lamberto DINI];
Italian Social Movement-Tricolored Flame or MSI-FI [Pino RAUTI];
National Alliance or AN [Gianfranco FINI]; Northern League or NL
[Umberto BOSSI]; Radical Party (formerly Panella Reformers and
Autonomous List) [Marco PANNELLA]; Southern Tyrols People's Party or
SVP (German speakers) [Siegfried BRUGGER]; Union of Democrats for
Europe [Clemente MASTELLA]; The Democrats [Arturo PARISI]

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 [Sergio COFFERATI] which is left wing, Confederazione Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL [Sergio D'ANTONI] which is Catholic centrist, and Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL [Pietro LARIZZA] which is lay centrist)

International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, Australia
Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CEI, CERN,
EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 7, G-10, IADB,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO,
ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU,
LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS
(observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO,
UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Ferdinando SALLEO

chancery: 3000 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone: (202) 612-4400