CIA - The World Factbook

Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional 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 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.

Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia

slightly larger than Arizona

predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south

mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands

coal, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorspar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land

regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice

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

strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe

58,126,212 (July 2009 est.)

8.18 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

10.72 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

2.06 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

1.31 children born/woman (2009 est.)

Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)

Roman Catholic 90% (approximately; about one-third practicing), other 10% (includes mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community)

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)

15 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 5 autonomous regions (regioni autonome, singular - regione autonoma)

17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally unified until 1870)

Republic Day, 2 June (1946)

passed 11 December 1947, effective 1 January 1948; amended many times

based on civil law system; appeals treated as new trials; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25)

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)

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)

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)

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CDB, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-20, 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), SICA (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMOGIP, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

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

Italy has a diversified industrial economy, which is divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, welfare-dependent, agricultural south, with high unemployment. The Italian economy is driven in large part by the manufacture of high-quality consumer goods produced by small and medium-sized enterprises. Italy also has a sizable underground economy, which by some estimates accounts for as much as 15% of GDP. These activities are most common within the agriculture, construction, and service sectors. Italy has moved slowly on implementing needed structural reforms, such as lightening the high tax burden and overhauling Italy's rigid labor market and over-generous pension system and these conditions will be exacerbated by the recent global financial crisis. The Italian government is seeking to rein in government spending, but the leadership faces a severe economic constraint: Italy's official debt remains above 100% of GDP, and the fiscal deficit - 1.5% of GDP in 2007 - could approach 3% in 2009 as political pressure to stimulate the economy and the costs of servicing Italy's debt rise. The economy will continue to contract through 2009 as the global demand for exports drop.

$1.821 trillion (2008 est.)

$1.834 trillion (2007)

$1.809 trillion (2006)

$2.399 trillion (2008 est.)

25.09 million (2008 est.)

20.5% of GDP (2008 est.)

103.7% of GDP (2008 est.)

3% (31 December 2008)

5% (31 December 2007)

NA% (31 December 2008)

10.93% (31 December 2007)

$2.897 trillion (31 December 2008)

$2.932 trillion (31 December 2007)

$1.073 trillion (31 December 2007)

fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish

tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics

292.1 billion kWh (2007 est.)

316.3 billion kWh (2006 est.)

1.916 billion kWh (2007 est.)

34.56 billion kWh (2007 est.)

166,600 bbl/day (2007 est.)

1.702 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

616,700 bbl/day (2005)

2.223 million bbl/day (2005)

406.5 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

9.706 billion cu m (2007 est.)

84.89 billion cu m (2007 est.)

68 million cu m (2007 est.)

73.95 billion cu m (2007 est.)

94.15 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

$-68.82 billion (2008 est.)

$566.1 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals, and nonferrous metals

Germany 12.9%, France 11.4%, Spain 7.4%, US 6.8%, UK 5.8% (2007)

$566.8 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

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

Germany 16.9%, France 9%, China 5.9%, Netherlands 5.5%, Belgium 4.3%, Spain 4.2% (2007)

$104 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$1.06 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)

$374.8 billion (2008 est.)

$547.7 billion (2008 est.)

euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6827 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)

26.89 million (2006)

78.571 million (2006)

AM about 100, FM about 4,600, shortwave 9 (1998)

358 (plus 4,728 repeaters) (1995)

17.702 million (2008)

gas 17,544 km; oil 1,241 km (2008)

Augusta, Genoa, Livorno, Ravenna, Sarroch, Taranto, Trieste, Venice

Italian Army (Esercito Italiano, EI), Italian Navy (Marina Militare Italiana, MMI), Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana, AMI), Carabinieri Corps (Arma dei Carabinieri, CC) (2009)

18-27 year of age for voluntary military service; conscription abolished January 2005; women may serve in any military branch; 10-month service obligation, with a reserve obligation to age 45 (Army and Air Force) or 39 (Navy) (2006)

1.8% of GDP (2005 est.)

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

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