GENERAL:

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

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 4,748m (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:	26.41%
	permanent crops:	9.09%
	other:	64.50%

Irrigated land:	26,980 sq km

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

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


PEOPLE:

Population:	58,133,509

Age structure:	0-14 years:	13.8% (male 4,147,149/female 3,899,980)
	15-64 years:	66.5% (male 19,530,512/female 19,105,841)
	65 years and over:	19.7% (male 4,771,858/female 6,678,169)

Median age:	total:	42.2 years
	male:	40.7 years
	female:	43.7 years

Population growth rate:	0.04%

Birth rate:	8.72 births/1,000 population

Death rate:	10.4 deaths/1,000 population

Net migration rate:	2.06 migrant(s)/1,000 population

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:	0.72 male(s)/female
	total population:	0.96 male(s)/female

Infant mortality rate:	total:	5.83 deaths/1,000 live births
	male:	6.42 deaths/1,000 live births
	female:	5.19 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:	total population:	79.81 years
	male:	76.88 years
	female:	82.94 years

Total fertility rate:	1.28 children born/woman

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:	98.60%
	male:	99%
	female:	98.30%


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:	15 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 5 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

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
election results:	Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI elected president; percent of electoral college vote - 70%
note:	note: a four-party government coalition includes Forza Italia, National Alliance, Northern League, and Union of Christian Democrats of the Center

Legislative branch:	bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica (315 seats; elected by proportional vote with the winning coalition in each region receiving 55% of seats from that region; members serve five-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; elected by popular vote with the winning national coalition receiving 54% of chamber seats; members serve five-year terms); note - electoral vote reform passed in December 2005
elections:	Senate - last held 13 May 2001 (next to be held in 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 - Center-Right House of Freedom Coalition 172 (Forza Italia 77, National Alliance 47, UDC 31, Northern League 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 - Center-Right House of Freedom Coalition 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)

Political parties and leaders:	Center -Left Union Coalition [Romano PRODI]: Ulivo Alliance (including Democrats of the Left or DS [Piero FASSINO]; Daisy-Democracy is Freedom or DL [Francesco RUTELLI]); Rose in the Fist (including Italian Social Democrats or SDI [Enrico BOSELLI]; Italian Radical Party [Emma BONINO]); Italian Communist Party or PdCI [Oliviero DILIBERTO]; Green Federation [Alfonso PECORARO SCANIO]; Communist Renewal or RC [Fausto BERTINOTTI]; Italy of Values or IdV [Antonio DI PIETRO]; Union of Democrats for Europe or UDEUR [Clemente MASTELLA]; Republican European Movement or MRE [Luciana SBARBATI]
	Center-Right Freedom House Coalition [Silvio BERLUSCONI]: Forza Italia or FI [Silvio BERLUSCONI]; National Alliance or AN [Gianfranco FINI]; Union of Christian Democrats of the Center or UDC [Pier Ferdinando CASINI]; Northern League or LEGA [Umberto BOSSI]
other non-allied parties:	New Italian Socialist Party or New PSI [Gianni DE MICHELIS]; Italian Republican Party or PRI [Giorgio LA MALFA]; Per la Autonomie [leader NA]; Social Alternative [Alessandra MUSSOLINI]; Social Movement-Tricolor Flame or MSI-Fiamma [Luca ROMAGNOLI]; Social Idea Movement with Rauti or MIS [Pino RAUTI]; South Tyrol People's Party or SVP (German speakers) [Elmar Pichler ROLLE]; Union of Valley Aosta Region or UV [Manuela ZUBLEMA]

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
	note: inspired by the French flag brought to Italy by Napoleon in 1797


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 deficit has breached the 3% EU ceiling. The economy experienced almost no growth in 2005, and unemployment remained at a high level.

GDP - real growth rate:	0.20%

GDP - per capita (PPP):	$28,400

GDP - composition by sector:	agriculture:	2.10%
	industry:	28.80%
	services:	69.10%

Labor force:	24.49 million

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

Unemployment rate:	7.90%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):	1.90%

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:	-1.50%

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 13.6%, France 12.3%, US 8%, Spain 7.2%, UK 6.9%, Switzerland 4.2%

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

Imports - partners:	Germany 18%, France 10.9%, Netherlands 5.9%, Spain 4.6%, Belgium 4.4%, UK 4.3%, China 4.2%

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

Fiscal year:	calendar year


TRANSNATIONAL ISSUES:

Disputes - international:	Italy's long coastline and developed economy entices tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from southeastern Europe and northern Africa

Illicit drugs:	important gateway for and consumer of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market; money laundering by organized crime and from smuggling