ITALY
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 301,230 km2; land area: 294,020 km2; includes Sardinia
and Sicily
Comparative area: slightly larger than Arizona
Land boundaries: 1,902.2 km total; Austria 430 km, France 488 km,
San Marino 39 km, Switzerland 740 km, Vatican City 3.2 km, Yugoslavia
202 km
Coastline: 4,996 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to 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
Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling
natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal
Land use: arable land 32%; permanent crops 10%; meadows and
pastures 17%; forest and woodland 22%; other 19%; includes irrigated 10%
Environment: regional risks include landslides, mudflows,
snowslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, pollution; land
sinkage in Venice
Note: strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as
well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
PEOPLE
Population: 57,772,375 (July 1991), growth rate 0.2% (1991)
Birth rate: 11 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 75 years male, 82 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Italian(s); adjective--Italian
Ethnic divisions: primarily Italian but population includes small
clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and
Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south; Sicilians; Sardinians
Religion: nominally Roman Catholic almost 100%
Language: Italian; parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are
predominantly German speaking; significant French-speaking minority in
Valle d'Aosta region; Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia
area
Literacy: 97% (male 98%, female 96%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 23,988,000; services 58%, industry 32.2%,
agriculture 9.8% (1988)
Organized labor: 40-45% of labor force (est.)
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Italian Republic
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
Constitution: 1 January 1948
Legal system: based on civil law system, with ecclesiastical law
influence; appeals treated as trials de novo; judicial review under
certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946)
Executive branch: president, prime minister (president of the
Council of Ministers)
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Parlamento) consists of
an upper chamber or Senate of the Republic (Senato della Repubblica)
and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati)
Chief of State--President Francesco COSSIGA (since 3 July 1985);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Giulio ANDREOTTI (since 22 July
1989, heads the government for the seventh time); Deputy Prime Minister
Claudio MARTELLI (since 23 July 1989)
Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic Party (DC), Arnaldo FORLANI (general secretary),
Ciriaco De MITA (president);
Socialist Party (PSI), Bettino CRAXI (party secretary);
Social Democratic Party (PSDI), Antonio CARIGLIA (party secretary);
Liberal Party (PLI), Renato ALTISSIMO (secretary general);
Democratic Party of the Left (PDS--was Communist Party, or PCI, until
January 1991), Achille OCCHETTO (secretary general);
Italian Social Movement (MSI), Giuseppe (Pino) RAUTI (national
secretary);
Republican Party (PRI), Giorgio La MALFA (political secretary);
Lega Nord, Umberto BOSSI, president;
Italy's 50th postwar government was formed on 13 April 1991,
with Prime Minister ANDREOTTI, a Christian Democrat, presiding over a
four-party coalition consisting of the Christian Democrats, Socialists,
Social Democrats, and Liberals
Suffrage: universal at age 18 (except in senatorial elections,
where minimum age is 25)
Elections:
Senate--last held 14-15 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992);
results--DC 33.9%, PCI 28.3%, PSI 10.7%, other 27.1%;
seats--(320 total, 315 elected) DC 125, PCI 100, PSI 36, other 54;
Chamber of Deputies--last held 14-15 June 1987 (next to be held by
June 1992);
results--DC 34.3%, PCI 26.6%, PSI 14.3%, MSI 5.9%, PRI 3.7%, PSDI 3.0%,
Radicals 2.6%, Greens 2.5%, PLI 2.1%, Proletarian Democrats 1.7%,
other 3.3%;
seats--(630 total) DC 234, PCI 177, PSI 94, MSI 35, PRI 21, PSDI 17,
Radicals 13, Greens 13, PLI 11, Proletarian Democrats 8, other 7
Communists: 1.3 million (1990)
Other political or pressure groups: the Roman Catholic Church;
three major trade union confederations (CGIL--Communist dominated,
CISL--Christian Democratic, and UIL--Social Democratic, Socialist, and
Republican); Italian manufacturers association (Confindustria);
organized farm groups (Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura)
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Rinaldo PETRIGNANI; Chancery
at 1601 Fuller Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 328-5500;
there are Italian Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Houston, New
Orleans, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Consulates in
Detroit and Newark (New Jersey);
US--Ambassador Peter F. SECCHIA; Embassy at Via Veneto 119/A,
00187-Rome (mailing address is APO New York 09794); telephone 39 (6)
46741; there are US Consulates General in Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples,
and Palermo (Sicily)
Flag: 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 Ivory Coast
which has the colors reversed--orange (hoist side), white, and green
ECONOMY
Overview: Since World War II the economy has changed from one based
on agriculture into a ranking industrial economy, with approximately the
same total and per capita output as France and the UK. The country is
still divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by small
private companies, and an undeveloped agricultural south, dominated by
large public enterprises. Services account for 48% of GDP, industry 34%,
agriculture 4%, and public administration 13%. Most raw materials needed
by industry and over 75% of energy requirements must be imported. The
economic recovery that began in mid-1983 has continued through 1990, with
the economy growing at an annual average rate of 3%. For the 1990s, Italy
faces the problems of refurbishing a tottering communications system,
curbing pollution in major industrial centers, and adjusting to the new
competitive forces accompanying the ongoing economic integration of the
European Community.
GDP: $844.7 billion, per capita $14,600; real growth rate 2.0%
(1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 11.0% (1990 est.)
Budget: revenues $355 billion; expenditures $448 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate - 0.1% (1990); accounts for
almost 35% of GDP
Electricity: 56,800,000 kW capacity; 225,000 million kWh produced,
3,900 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing,
textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics
Agriculture: accounts for about 4% of GDP and 10% of the
work force; self-sufficient in foods other than meat and dairy products;
principal crops--fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets,
soybeans, grain, olives; fish catch of 388,200 metric tons in 1988
Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $25.9
billion
Currency: Italian lira (plural--lire); 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100
centesimi
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 20,011 km total; 16,066 km 1.435-meter government-owned
standard gauge (8,999 km electrified); 3,945 km privately owned--2,100 km
1.435-meter standard gauge (1,155 km electrified) and 1,845 km
0.950-meter narrow gauge (380 km electrified)
Highways: 294,410 km total; autostrada 5,900 km, state highways
45,170 km, provincial highways 101,680 km, communal highways 141,660 km;
260,500 km concrete, bituminous, or stone block, 26,900 km gravel and
crushed stone,7,010 km earth
Inland waterways: 2,400 km for various types of commercial
traffic, although of limited overall value
Airports: 138 total, 135 usable; 90 with permanent-surface runways;
2 with runways over 3,659 m; 36 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 38 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: well engineered, constructed, and operated;
28,000,000 telephones; stations--144 AM, 54 (over 1,800 repeaters) FM,
450 (over 1,300 repeaters) TV; 22 submarine cables; communication
satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT 3 Atlantic Ocean and 2
Indian Ocean, INMARSAT, and EUTELSAT systems
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 14,747,224; 12,877,803 fit for
military service; 418,043 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $19.2 billion, 2.2% of GDP (1990)
