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 (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%

Geography
Note: strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe geoad2

Population: 57,772,375 (July 1991), growth rate 0.2% (1991)

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 and Greek-Italians in the south; Sicilians; Sardinians

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: nominally Roman Catholic almost 100%

Birth rate: 11 births/1000 population (1991)

Death rate: 10 deaths/1000 population (1991)

Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1000 population (1991)

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

Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth: 75 years male, 82 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1991)

Literacy: 97% (male 98%, female 96%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

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; appeals treated as trials de novo; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: universal at 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 seventh time; Deputy Prime Minister Claudio MARTELLI (since 23 July 1989)

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale)

International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, EIB, ESA, FAO, G-7, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IEA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NATO, NEA, OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIIMOG, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

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 Peter F. SECCHIA; Embassy at Via Veneto 119/A, 00187-Rome (mailing address is APO New York 9,794; telephone [39] (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 Italy ItalyItaly

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.

Agriculture products: 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

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

Industrial production growth rate: - 0.1% (1990; accounts for almost 35% of GDP

Labor force: 23,988,000; services 58%, industry 32.2%, agriculture 9.8% (1988)

Unemployment rate: 11.0% (1990 est.)

Budget: revenues $355 billion; expenditures $448 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $170.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990)
Commodities: textiles, wearing apparel, metals, transportation equipment, chemicals
Partners: EC 57%, US 8%, OPEC 4%

Imports: $182.0 billion (c.i.f., 1990)
Commodities: petroleum, industrial machinery, chemicals, metals, food, agricultural products
Partners: EC 58%, OPEC 6%, US 5%

Debt external: NA

Exchange rates: Italian lire (Lit) per US$1--1,134.4 (January 1991), 1,198.1 (1990), 1,372.1 (1989), 1,301.6 (1988), 1,296.1 (1987), 1,490.8 (1986), 1,909.4 (1985)

Electricity
Capacity: 56,800,000 kW capacity; 225,000 million kWh produced, 3,900 kWh per capita (1990)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: $19.2 billion, 2.2% of GDP (1990)

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

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

Waterways: 2,400 km for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value

Merchant marine: 575 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,462,744 GRT/11,593,730 DWT; includes 11 passenger, 44 short-sea passenger, 103 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo, 23 container, 67 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 7 vehicle carrier, 1 multifunction large-load carrier, 2 livestock carrier, 151 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 37 chemical tanker, 38 liquefied gas, 10 specialized tanker, 14 combination ore/oil, 60 bulk, 2 combination bulk