Italy

• predominantly Mediterranean;
• Alpine in far north;
• hot, dry in south

• 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

0-14 years:

14% (male 4,181,946; female 3,935,565)

15-64 years:

66.9% (male 19,590,497; female 19,256,747)

65 years and over:

19.1% (male 4,608,479; female 6,484,243) (2004 est.)

at birth:

1.07 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.71 male(s)/female

total population:

0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

noun:

Italian(s)

adjective:

Italian

conventional long form:

Italian Republic

conventional short form:

Italy

local long form:

Repubblica Italiana

local short form:

Italia

former:

Kingdom of Italy

• 16 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 4 autonomous regions* (regioni autonome, singular - regione autonoma);
• Abruzzo, 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

• passed 11 December 1947;
• effective 1 January 1948;
• amended many times

• based on civil law system;
• appeals treated as new trials;
• judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court;
• has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

chief of state:

President Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI (since 13 May 1999)

head of government:

Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the president of the Council of Ministers) Silvio BERLUSCONI (since 10 June 2001)

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 13 May 1999 (next to be held NA May 2006);
• prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by Parliament

election results:

Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI elected president; percent of electoral college vote - 70%

note: a four-party government coalition includes Forza Italia, National Alliance, Northern League, and Union of Christian Democrats and Democrats of the Center

• Center-Left Olive Tree Coalition [Francesco RUTELLI] - Democrats of the Left, Daisy Alliance (including
  • Italian Popular Party,
  • Italian Renewal,
  • Union of Democrats for Europe,
  • The Democrats),
  • Sunflower Alliance (including Green Federation,
  • Italian Democratic Socialists),
  • Italian Communist Party
  ;
• Center-Right Freedom House Coalition [Silvio BERLUSCONI] (formerly House of Liberties and Freedom Alliance) - Forza Italia, National Alliance, The Whiteflower Alliance (includes
  • Christian Democratic Center,
  • United Christian Democrats),
  • Northern League
  ;
• Democrats of the Left or DS [Piero FASSINO];
• Forza Italia or FI [Silvio BERLUSCONI];
• Green Federation [Alfonso Pecoraro SCANIO];
• Italian Communist Party or PdCI [Armando COSSUTTA];
• Italian Renewal or RI [Lamberto DINI];
• merged with PPI and I Democratici to form La Margherita (or The Daisy Alliance);
• Italian Social Democrats or SDI [Enrico BOSELLI];
• Lega Padana [Roberto BERNARDELLI];
• National Alliance or AN [Gianfranco FINI];
• Northern League or NL [Umberto BOSSI];
• Socialist Movement-Tricolor Flame or MS-Fiamma [Luca ROMAGNOLI];
• South Tyrol People's Party or SVP (German speakers) [Elmar Pichler ROLLE];
• Sunflower Alliance (includes Green Federation, Italian Social Democrats);
• The Daisy Alliance (includes
  • Italian Popular Party,
  • Italian Renewal,
  • Union of Democrats for Europe,
  • The Democrats) [Francesco RUTELLI]
  ;
• The Democrats [Arturo PARISI];
• The Radicals (formerly Pannella Reformers and Autonomous List) [Marco PANNELLA];
• Union of Democrats for Europe or UDEUR [Clemente MASTELLA];
• Union of Christian and Center Democrats or UDC [Marco FOLLINI]

• Italian manufacturers and merchants associations (Confindustria, Confcommercio);
• organized farm groups (Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura);
• Roman Catholic Church;
• three major trade union confederations (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro or CGIL [Guglielmo EPIFANI] which is left wing, Confederazione Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL [Savino PEZZOTTA], which is Roman Catholic centrist, and Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL [Luigi ANGELETTI] which is lay centrist)

AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CDB, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC

chief of mission:

Ambassador Sergio VENTO

chancery:

3000 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 612-4400

FAX:

[1] (202) 518-2151

consulate(s) general:

Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco

consulate(s):

Detroit

chief of mission:

Ambassador Melvin F. SEMBLER

embassy:

Via Vittorio Veneto 119/A, 00187-Rome

mailing address:

PSC 59, Box 100, APO AE 09624

telephone:

[39] (06) 46741

FAX:

[39] (06) 488-2672, 4674-2356

consulate(s) general:

Florence, Milan, Naples

• 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

note: inspired by the French flag brought to Italy by Napoleon in 1797

lowest 10%:

2.1%

highest 10%:

26.6% (2000)

• fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives;
• beef, dairy products;
• fish

• engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals;
• food, beverages and tobacco;
• minerals and nonferrous metals

general assessment:

modern, well developed, fast; fully automated telephone, telex, and data services

domestic:

high-capacity cable and microwave radio relay trunks

international:

• country code - 39;
• 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

total:

19,507 km (11,651 km electrified)

standard gauge:

18,070 km 1.435-m gauge (11,375 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

123 km 1.000-m gauge (88 km electrified); 1,314 km 0.950-m gauge (188 km electrified) (2003)

total:

479,688 km

paved:

479,688 km (including 6,621 km of expressways)

unpaved:

0 km (1999)

• important gateway for and consumer of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market;
• money laundering by organized crime and from smuggling