Country information - Italy
For more than 3,000 years Italy witnessed many migrations and invasions from Germanic, Celtic, Frankish, Byzantine Greek, Norman, and the French Angevin, and Lombard peoples. Italy was also home to many well-known and influential civilizations, including the Etruscans, Greeks and the Romans.
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 of the Savoy dynasty, which ruled over Sardinia and Pietmont. The architects of Italian unification were Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the Chief Minister of Victor Emmanuel, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and national hero.
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.
Geography Italy
Location Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
Area total 301,230 sq km
Land 294,020 sq km
Water 7,210 sq km
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
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
Natural hazards regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice
People Italy
Population 58,103,033
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)
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 Rome
Administrative divisions 16 regions (regioni, singular - regione); Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, , Toscana, , Umbria, Veneto and 5 autonomous regions; Giulia, Sardegna, Sicilia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Valle d'Aosta.
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 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
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)
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)
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
Economy Italy
Italy has a diversified industrial economy. This capitalistic economy remains divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed agricultural south (with 20% unemployment). Most raw materials needed by industry and more than 75% of energy requirements are imported. Italy joined the Euro from its conception in 1999. Italy's economic performance has at times lagged behind that of its EU partners, and the current government has enacted numerous short-term reforms aimed at improving competitiveness and long-term growth. The leadership faces a severe economic constraint: the budget deficit has breached the 3% EU ceiling. The economy experienced no growth in 2005, and unemployment remained at a high level.
Labor force 24.49 million
Labor force - by occupation agriculture 5%, industry 32%, services 63%
Unemployment rate 7.9%
Population below poverty line NA
Household income by percentage share lowest 10%: 2.1%, highest 10%: 26.6%
Agriculture 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
Currency (code) euro (EUR)
Transportation Italy
Airports 134
Airports - with paved runways total: 98
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 37
Heliports 3
Pipelines gas 17,335 km; oil 1,136 km
Railways total: 19,319 km (11,613 km electrified)
Roadways total: 479,688 km
Paved 479,688 km (including 6,620 km of expressways)
Waterways 2,400 km
Ports and terminals Augusta, Genoa, Livorno, Melilli Oil Terminal, Ravenna, Taranto, Trieste, Venice
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