Italy

republicIndependence 17 March 1861, Kingdom of Italy proclaimed

Italy as the 1990 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 73 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalRome
Area301,230 km2
1990

Every edition of Italy

Populationas each edition published it
57.66 million July 1990 · 60.92m in 2025
Population growth% a year
Not in this edition 0.2% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 41 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 77.43 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.4 children per woman 1990 · 1.27 in 2025
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
6 deaths per 1,000 live births 1990 · 3 in 2025
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
Not in this edition $17,500 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
Not in this edition 0.9% in 1993

Geography

13 fields

Land useshare of 301,230 km2

arable land 32%permanent crops 10%meadows and pastures 17%forest and woodland 22%other 19%includes 10% irrigated
Total area
301,230km2
land area: 294,020 km2; includes Sardinia and SicilyComparative area: slightly larger than Arizona
Coastline
4,996km
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Land boundaries
1,902.2km total
Austria 430 km, France 488 km, San Marino 39 km, Switzerland 740 km, Vatican City 3.2 km, Yugoslavia 202 km

Continental shelf

200 m or to depth of exploitation;

Disputes

South Tyrol question with Austria

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

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

14 fields
Population
57,664,405
(July 1990), growth rate 0.2% (1990)

Per 1,000 population(1990)

Birth
10Death
9Net migration
1

Infant mortality rate

6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth

74 years male, 81 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate

1.4 children born/woman (1990)

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 in the south;
  • Sicilians;
  • Sardinians

Religion

almost 100% nominally Roman Catholic

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

Labor force

23,670,000; 56.7% services, 37.9% industry, 5.4% agriculture (1987)

Organized labor

40-45% of labor force (est.)

Government

Republic

18 fields

Senate, 315 seats, elected 14-15 June 1987seats by party

(320 total, 315 elected) DC 125PCI 100PSI 36others 54

Percent of vote

DC 33.9%PCI 28.3%PSI 10.7%others 27.1%

Long-form name

Italian Republic

Type

republic

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

National holiday

Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946)

Executive branch

president, prime minister,

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament (Parlamento) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senato) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati)

Judicial branch

  • Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale) 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)

Political parties and leaders

  • Christian Democratic Party (DC), Arnaldo Forlani (general secretary), Ciriaco De Mita (president);
  • Communist Party (PCI), Achille Occhetto (secretary general);
  • Socialist Party (PSI), Bettino Craxi (party secretary);
  • Social Democratic Party (PSDI), Antonio Cariglia (party secretary);
  • Liberal Party (PLI), Renato Altissimo (secretary general);
  • Italian Social Movement (MSI), Giuseppe (Pino) Rauti (national secretary);
  • Republican Party (PRI), Giorgio La Malfa (political secretary);
  • Italy's 49th postwar government was formed on 23 July 1989, with Prime Minister Andreotti, a Christian Democrat, presiding over a five-party coalition consisting of the Christian Democrats, Socialists, Social Democrats, Republicans, and Liberals

Suffrage

  • universal at age 18 (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25) Senate--last held 14-15 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992);
  • results--DC 33.9%, PCI 28.3%, PSI 10.7%, others 27.1%;
  • seats--(320 total, 315 elected) DC 125, PCI 100, PSI 36, others 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%, others 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, others 7

Communists

1,673,751 members (1983)

Other political or pressure groups

  • Vatican City;
  • 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)

Member of

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

  • 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

16 fields
GDP, purchasing power parity
$803.3billion
per capita $14,000; real growth rate 3.3% (1989 est.)

Budget

Revenues
$355 billionExpenditures
$448 billion
expenditures, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)

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 large private companies and state enterprises and an undeveloped agricultural south.

Services account for 58% of GDP, industry 37%, and agriculture 5%. 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 1989, 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 the increasing pollution in major industrial centers, and adjusting to the new competitive forces accompanying the ongoing economic integration of the European Community.

Exports

  • $141.6 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
  • commodities--textiles, wearing apparel, metals, transportation equipment, chemicals;
  • partners--EC 57%, US 9%, OPEC 4%

Imports

  • $143.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
  • commodities--petroleum, industrial machinery, chemicals, metals, food, agricultural products;
  • partners--EC 57%, OPEC 6%, US 6%

Industrial production

growth rate 2.9% (1989)

Electricity

56,022,000 kW capacity; 201,400 million kWh produced, 3,500 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries

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

Agriculture

  • accounts for about 5% of GNP and 5% 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 554,000 metric tons in 1987

Aid

donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $18.7 billion

Currency

Italian lira (plural--lire); 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi

Exchange rates

Italian lire (Lit) per US$1--1,262.5 (January 1990), 1,372.1 (1989), 1,301.6 (1988), 1,296.1 (1987), 1,490.8 (1986), 1,909.4 (1985)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Merchant marine, 547 ships by type

passenger 6short-sea passenger 41cargo 100refrigerated cargo 5container 22roll-on/roll-off cargo 72vehicle carrier 4multifunction large-load carrier 1livestock carrier 2petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 147chemical tanker 37liquefied gas 29specialized tanker 8combination ore/oil 16bulk 55combination bulk 2547 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,871,505 GRT/10,805,368 DWT

Airports, 143 total, 138 usable

permanent-surface runways
88runways over 3,659 m
2runways 2,440-3,659 m
35runways 1,220-2,439 m
42

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

Pipelines

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

Ports

Cagliari (Sardinia), Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Naples, Palermo (Sicily), Taranto, Trieste, Venice

Civil air

132 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

  • well engineered, constructed, and operated;
  • 28,000,000 telephones;
  • stations--144 AM, 54 (over 1,800 repeaters) FM, 135 (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

Army, Navy, Air Force

3 fields

Military manpower

males 15-49
14,721,704fit for military service
12,855,022reach military age (18) annually
430,782
Defense expenditures
2.4%of GDP
or $19 billion (1989 est.)

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force

Central Intelligence Agency. “Italy.” The World Factbook 1990. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/italy/1990.

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