Background: Italy failed to secure political unification until the 1860s, thus lacking the military and imperial power of Spain, Britain, and France. The fascist dictatorship of MUSSOLINI after World War I, led to the disastrous alliance with HITLER's Germany and defeat in World War II. Italy was a founding member of the European Economic Community (EEC) and joined in the growing political and economic unification of Western Europe. On-going problems include illegal immigration, the ravages of organized crime, high unemployment, and the low incomes and technical standards of Southern Italy compared with the North.

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 4,996 km

Maritime claims: Continental shelf:200 m 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: 32% arable land; 10% permanent crops; 17% meadows and pastures; 22% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes 10% irrigated

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

Population: 57,557,767 (July 1989), growth rate 0.2% (1989)

Nationality: noun - Italian(s; adjective - Italian

Ethnic groups: primarily Italian but population includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians in the south; Sicilians

Languages: 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

Religions: almost 100% nominally Roman Catholic

Birth rate: 11 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 10 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1000 population (1989)

Environment
Current issues: regional risks include landslides, mudflows, snowslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, pollution; land sinkage in Venice

Infant mortality rate: 8 deaths/1000 live births (July 1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 80 years female (July 1989)

Total fertility rate: 1.5 children born/woman (1989)

Literacy: 93%

Country name: conventional long form: Italian Republic

Government 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

National holiday: Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946)

Constitution: 1 January 1948

Legal system: based on civil law system, with ecclesiastical law influence; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: universal over age 18 (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25)

Executive branch: 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 sixth time; Deputy Prime Minister Claudio MARTELLI (since 23 July 1989)

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air Force

International organization participation: ADB, ASSIMER, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ECOWAS, EIB, EMS, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB - Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IEA, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Rinaldo PETRIGNANI; Chancery at 1601 Fuller Street NW, Washington DC 20,009; telephone (202) 328-5,500; 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 Maxwell M. RABB; Embassy at Via Veneto 119/A, 00187-Rome (mailing address is APO New York 9,794; telephone Õ39å (6) 46,741; there are US Consulates General in Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, and Palermo (Sicily)

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 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 the West's sixth-largest industrial economy. The country is still divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by large private companies and state enterprises and an undeveloped agricultural south. Services account for 59% of GDP, industry 36%, and agriculture 4%. Most raw materials needed by industry and over 80% of energy requirements must be imported. The economic recovery that began in mid-1983 has continued through 1988. During the period 1984-88, the economy grew at an annual average rate of 3% - higher than that of France or the FRG.

Agriculture products: fruits, wine, vegetables, cereals, potatoes, olives; 95% self-sufficient; food shortages - fats, meat, fish, eggs

Industries: machinery and transportation equipment, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles

Industrial production growth rate: 5.5% (1988)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: 12% (1988)

Budget: revenues $218 billion; expenditures $311 billion, including capital expenditures of $54 billion (1987)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $128.6 billion (f.o.b., 1988)
Commodities: textiles, wearing apparel, metals, transportation equipment, chemicals
Partners: EC 56%, US 10%, OPEC 5%

Imports: $138.5 billion (c.i.f., 1988)
Commodities: petroleum, industrial machinery, chemicals, metals, food, agricultural products
Partners: EC 56%, OPEC 8%, US 5%

Debt external: NA

Exchange rates: Italian lire (Lit) per US$1 - 1,344.2 (January 1989), 1,301.6 (1988), 1,296.1 (1987), 1,490.8 (1986), 1,909.4 (1985)

Electricity
Capacity: 54,000,000 kW capacity; 197,450 million kWh produced, 3,440 kWh per capita (1988)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $19.2 billion, 4.5% of central government budget (1988 est.)

Airports: 143 total, 138 usable; 87 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 35 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 35 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Pipelines: crude oil, 1,703 km; refined products, 2,148 km; natural gas, 19,400 km

Waterways: 1,600 km for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value

Merchant marine: 545 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,680,116 GRT/10,626,403 DWT; includes 6 passenger, 41 short-sea passenger, 108 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo, 18 container, 63 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 5 vehicle carrier, 2 heavy-lift unit carrier, 2 livestock carrier, 144 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 42 chemical tanker, 29 liquefied gas, 5 specialized tanker, 17 combination ore/oil, 54 bulk, 4 combination bulk

Disputes international: South Tyrol question with Austria; Trieste question with Yugoslavia