Italy
Italian RepublicRepubblica Italiana
republicIndependence 17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed)
Italy as the 1999 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 109 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
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, including the introduction of the euro in January 1999. 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.
Geography
Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central | Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
18 fieldsLand useshare of 301,230 sq km
Location
Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
Natural resources
mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal
Natural hazards
regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice
Environment--current issues
- 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
Environment--international agreements
- party to:
- Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
- signed, but not ratified:
- Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography--note
strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
People
15 fieldsPer 1,000 population(1999 est.)
Male · female
Age structure
- 0-14 years:
- 14% (male 4,161,841; female 3,925,413)
- 15-64 years:
- 68% (male 19,205,293; female 19,285,848)
- 65 years and over:
- 18% (male 4,169,098; female 5,987,637) (1999 est.)
Sex ratio
- at birth:
- 1.06 male(s)/female
- under 15 years:
- 1.06 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years:
- 1 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over:
- 0.7 male(s)/female
- total population:
- 0.94 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Ethnic groups
Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)
Languages
Italian, 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)
Government
Republic; President Oscar Luigi SCALFARO (since 28 May 1992); Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the president of the Council of Ministers) Massimo D'ALEMA (since 27 October 1998)
19 fieldsLegislature, 630 seatsseats by party
Country name
- conventional long form:
- Italian Republic
- conventional short form:
- Italy
- local long form:
- Repubblica Italiana
- local short form:
- Italia
- former:
- Kingdom of Italy
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
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
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- President Oscar Luigi SCALFARO (since 28 May 1992)
- head of government:
- Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the president of the Council of Ministers) Massimo D'ALEMA (since 27 October 1998)
- cabinet:
- Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and approved by the president
- elections:
- president elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives for a seven-year term;
- election last held 25 May 1992 (next to be held NA June 1999);
- prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by parliament
- election results:
- Oscar Luigi SCALFARO elected president; percent of electoral college vote--NA
Legislative branch
bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica (326 seats--315 elected by popular vote of which 232 are directly elected and 83 are elected by regional proportional representation, 11 are appointed senators-for-life; members serve five-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; 475 are directly elected, 155 by regional proportional representation; members serve five-year terms)
- elections:
- Senate--last held 21 April 1996 (next to be held by NA April 2001); Chamber of Deputies--last held 21 April 1996 (next to be held by NA April 2001)
- election results:
- Senate--percent of vote by party--NA;
- seats by party--Olive Tree 157, Freedom Alliance 116, Northern League 27, Refounded Communists 10, regional lists 3, Social Movement-Tricolor Flames 1, Panella Reformers 1;
- Chamber of Deputies--percent of vote by party--NA;
- seats by party--Olive Tree 284, Freedom Alliance 246, Northern League 59, Refounded Communists 35, Southern Tyrol List 3, Autonomous List 2, other 1
Judicial branch
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)
Political pressure groups and leaders
- the Roman Catholic Church;
- three major trade union confederations (Confederazione Generale D'ANTONI] which is Catholic centrist, and Unione Italiana del Lavoro manufacturers and merchants associations (Confindustria, Confcommercio);
- organized farm groups (Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura)
International organization participation
AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MTCR, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Ferdinando SALLEO
- chancery:
- 1601 Fuller Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 and 2700 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
- consulate(s) general:
- Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco
- consulate(s):
- Detroit
Diplomatic representation from the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Thomas M. FOGLIETTA
- embassy:
- Via Veneto 119/A, 00187-Rome
- mailing address:
- PSC 59, Box 100, APO AE 09624
- consulate(s) general:
- Florence, Milan, Naples
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 Cote d'Ivoire, which has the colors reversed--orange (hoist side), white, and green
Economy
31 fieldsGDP--composition by sector(1994)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
Electricity
Economy--overview
Since World War II, the Italian 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. This basically capitalistic economy is still divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed agricultural south, with large public enterprises and more than 20% unemployment.
Most raw materials needed by industry and over 75% of energy requirements must be imported. In the second half of 1992, Rome became unsettled by the prospect of not qualifying to participate in EU plans for economic and monetary union later in the decade; thus, it finally began to address its huge fiscal imbalances.
Subsequently, the government has adopted fairly stringent budgets, abandoned its inflationary wage indexation system, and started to scale back its generous social welfare programs, including pension and health care benefits. In December 1998, Italy adopted a budget compliant with the requirements of the European Monetary Union (EMU);
representatives of government, labor, and employers agreed to an update of the 1993 "social pact," which has been widely credited with having brought Italy's inflation into conformity with EMU requirements. In 1999, Italy must adjust to the loss of an independent monetary policy, which it has used quite liberally in the past to help cope with external shocks. Italy also must work to stimulate employment, promote wage flexibility, and tackle the informal economy.
Industries
tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics
Agriculture--products
- fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives;
- beef, dairy products;
- fish
Exports--commodities
- engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals;
- food, beverages and tobacco;
- minerals and nonferrous metals
Imports--commodities
engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages and tobacco
Exchange rates
Italian lire (Lit) per US$1--1,688.7 (January 1999), 1,736.2 (1998), 1,703.1 (1997), 1,542.9 (1996), 1,628.9 (1995), 1,612.4 (1994)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Union introduced a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in some member countries at the rate of 0.8597 euros per US$ and a fixed rate of 1,936.27 lire per euro;
the euro will replace the local currency in consenting countries for all transactions in 2002
Communications
6 fieldsTelephone system
modern, well-developed, fast; fully automated telephone, telex, and data services
- domestic:
- high-capacity cable and microwave radio relay trunks
- international:
- satellite earth stations--3 Intelsat (with a total of 5 antennas--3 for Atlantic Ocean and 2 for Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and NA Eutelsat; 21 submarine cables
Television broadcast stations
6,317 (consisting of 117 public stations with two kW of power or more, about 5,300 low-power public stations, and about 900 low-power private stations, mostly in local service) (1997)
Transportation
10 fieldsMerchant marine, 393 ships by type(1998 est.)
Airports by runway lengthpaved only
Networkskm
Railways
- total:
- 19,272 km
- standard gauge:
- 17,983 km 1.435-m gauge; Italian Railways (FS) operates 15,942 km of the total standard gauge routes (10,889 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 112 km 1.000-m gauge (112 km electrified); 1,177 km 0.950-m gauge (19 km electrified) (1996)
Highways
- total:
- 317,000 km
- paved:
- 317,000 km (including 9,500 km of expressways)
- unpaved:
- 0 km (1996 est.)
Ports and harbors
Augusta (Sicily), Bagnoli, Bari, Brindisi, Gela, Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Milazzo, Naples, Porto Foxi, Porto Torres (Sardinia), Salerno, Savona, Taranto, Trieste, Venice
Military
Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri
7 fieldsTransnational Issues
2 fieldsDisputes--international
- Italy and Slovenia made progress in resolving bilateral issues;
- Croatia and Italy made progress toward resolving a bilateral issue dating from World War II over property and ethnic minority rights
Illicit drugs
important gateway for and consumer of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Italy.” The World Factbook 1999. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/italy/1999.