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: 1,899.2 km border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 199 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

People
Italy

Population:

58,145,320 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 13.6% (male 4,086,951/female 3,842,765) 15-64 years: 66.3% (male 19,534,247/female 19,024,776) 65 years and over: 20% (male 4,864,189/female 6,792,393) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 42.9 years male: 41.4 years female: 44.4 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

-0.019% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

8.36 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

10.61 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

2.06 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 5.61 deaths/1,000 live births male: 6.19 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 80.07 years male: 77.13 years female: 83.2 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.3 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.5% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

140,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

fewer 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 practicing), 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)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 16 years male: 16 years female: 17 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

4.5% of GDP (2005)

Government
Italy

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 (Venetia)

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 Silvio BERLUSCONI (referred to in Italy as the president of the Council of Ministers) (since 8 May 2008) note - in Italy the prime minister is referred to as the president of the Council of Ministers 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 13-14 April 2008 (next to be held April 2010); Chamber of Deputies - last held 13-14 April 2008 (next to be held in April 2010) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - S. BERLUSCONI coalition 174 (PdL 147, LN 25, MpA 2), W. VELTRONI coalition 132 (PD 118, IdV 3), UdC 3, other 6; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - S. BERLUSCONI coalition 344 (PdL 276, LN 60, MpA 8), W. VELTRONI coalition 246 (PD 217, IdV 29), UdC 36, other 4

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:

Silvio BERLUSCONI coalition: People of Freedom or PdL [Silvio
BERLUSCONI]; Lega Nord or LN [Umberto BOSSI]; Movement for Autonomy
or MpA [Raffaele LOMBARDO]
Walter VELTRONI coalition: Democratic Party or PD [Walter VELTRONI];
Italy of Values or IdV [Antonio DI PIETRO]
other non-allied parties: Union of the Centre or UdC [Savino
PEZZOTTA]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

manufacturers and merchants associations - Confcommercio;
Confindustria; 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; Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL [Luigi
ANGELETTI] which is lay centrist)

International organization participation:

ADB (nonregional members), AfDB (nonregional members), 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, WFTU, 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: (202) 612-4400 FAX: (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: (06) 46741 FAX: (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
Italy

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):

$2.105 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

1.4% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$30,900 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 2% industry: 27% services: 70.9% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

24.74 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 5% industry: 32% services: 63% (2001)

Unemployment rate:

6.2% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line: