Italy

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

highest point:

Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) de Courmayeur (a secondary peak of Mont Blanc) 4,748 m

lowest point:

Mediterranean Sea 0 m

mean elevation:

538 m

noun:

Italian(s)

adjective:

Italian

total:

48.1 years (2023 est.)

male:

47 years

female:

49.1 years

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.78 male(s)/female

total population:

0.93 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

total:

3.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male:

3.3 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

2.9 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

82.8 years (2023 est.)

male:

80.5 years

female:

85.3 years

total:

7.65 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

1.99 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

4.83 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

0.83 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

23.1% (2020 est.)

male:

26.6% (2020 est.)

female:

19.5% (2020 est.)

• 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

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

urban population:

72% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

0.27% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

particulate matter emissions:

14.22 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

methane emissions:

41.3 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal solid waste generated annually:

29.524 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually:

7,646,716 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled:

25.9% (2015 est.)

municipal:

9.19 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

7.7 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

17 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

conventional long form:

Italian Republic

conventional short form:

Italy

local long form:

Repubblica Italiana

local short form:

Italia

former:

Kingdom of Italy

etymology:

derivation is unclear, but the Latin "Italia" may come from the Oscan "Viteliu" meaning "[Land] of Young Cattle" (the bull was a symbol of southern Italic tribes)

name:

Rome

geographic coordinates:

41 54 N, 12 29 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology:

by tradition, named after Romulus, one of the legendary founders of the city and its first king

history:

• previous 1848 (originally for the Kingdom of Sardinia and adopted by the Kingdom of Italy in 1861);
• latest enacted 22 December 1947, adopted 27 December 1947, entered into force 1 January 1948

amendments:

• proposed by both houses of Parliament;
• passage requires two successive debates and approval by absolute majority of each house on the second vote;
• a referendum is only required when requested by one fifth of the members of either house, by voter petition, or by 5 Regional Councils (elected legislative assemblies of the 15 first-level administrative regions and 5 autonomous regions of Italy);
• referendum not required if an amendment has been approved by a two-thirds majority in each house in the second vote;
• amended many times, last in 2020

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Italy

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

4 years for EU nationals, 5 years for refugees and specified exceptions, 10 years for all others

chief of state:

President Sergio MATTARELLA (since 3 February 2015)

head of government:

Prime Minister Giorgia MELONI (since 22 October 2022); the prime minister's official title is President of the Council of Ministers

cabinet:

• Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, known officially as the President of the Council of Ministers and locally as the Premier;
• nominated by the president;
• the current deputy prime ministers, known officially as vice presidents of the Council of Ministers, are Matteo SALVINI (L) and Antonio TAIANI (FI) (since 22 October 2022)

elections/appointments:

• president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives for a 7-year term (no term limits);
• election last held on 24-29 January 2022 (eight rounds) (next to be held in 2029);
• prime minister appointed by the president, confirmed by parliament

election results:

2022: Sergio MATTARELLA (independent) reelected president; electoral college vote count in eighth round - 759 out of 1,009 (505 vote threshold); 2015: Sergio MATTARELLA (independent) elected president; electoral college vote count in fourth round - 665 out of 995 (505 vote threshold)

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court of Cassation or Corte Suprema di Cassazione (consists of the first president (chief justice), deputy president, 54 justices presiding over 6 civil and 7 criminal divisions, and 288 judges; an additional 30 judges of lower courts serve as supporting judges; cases normally heard by 5-judge panels; more complex cases heard by 9-judge panels);
• Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (consists of the court president and 14 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges appointed by the High Council of the Judiciary, headed by the president of the republic;
• judges may serve for life;
• Constitutional Court judges - 5 appointed by the president, 5 elected by Parliament, 5 elected by select higher courts;
• judges serve up to 9 years

subordinate courts:

various lower civil and criminal courts (primary and secondary tribunals and courts of appeal)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jack Markell (since September 2023); note - also accredited to San Marino

embassy:

via Vittorio Veneto 121, 00187 Roma

mailing address:

9500 Rome Place, Washington DC 20521-9500

telephone:

[39] 06-46741

FAX:

[39] 06-4674-2244

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://it.usembassy.gov/

consulate(s) general:

Florence, Milan, Naples

name:

"Il Canto degli Italiani" (The Song of the Italians)

lyrics/music:

Goffredo MAMELI/Michele NOVARO

note: adopted 1946; the anthem, originally written in 1847, is also known as "L'Inno di Mameli" (Mameli's Hymn), and "Fratelli D'Italia" (Brothers of Italy)

total World Heritage Sites:

58 (53 cultural, 5 natural)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

• Historic Center of Rome (c);
• Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata (c);
• Venice and its Lagoon (c);
• Historic Center of Florence (c);
• Piazza del Duomo, Pisa (c);
• Historic Centre of Naples (c);
• Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (c);
• Villa d'Este, Tivoli (c);
• Mount Etna (n);
• Rock Drawings in Valcamonica (c);
• Historic Siena (c)

• core EU economy;
• strong services, manufacturing, and tourism sectors;
• hard hit by COVID-19 disruptions but starting to recover;
• large EU exporter but data skews due to inflated port entry valuation;
• corruption somewhat stymies foreign direct investment

Fitch rating:

BBB- (2020)

Moody's rating:

Baa3 (2018)

Standard & Poors rating: BBB (2017)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

total:

30.9% (2021 est.)

male:

29.1%

female:

33.8%

on food:

14.2% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco:

4.1% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.3%

highest 10%:

26.8% (2000)

Number of operational nuclear reactors:

0

Number of nuclear reactors under construction:

0

Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors:

0GW

Percent of total electricity production:

0%

Percent of total energy produced:

0%

Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down:

4

production:

1.456 million metric tons (2020 est.)

consumption:

9.335 million metric tons (2020 est.)

exports:

368,000 metric tons (2020 est.)

imports:

8.235 million metric tons (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

17 million metric tons (2019 est.)

total petroleum production:

107,700 bbl/day (2021 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

1,255,100 bbl/day (2019 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate exports:

10,100 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate imports:

1.253 million bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

497.9 million barrels (2021 est.)

production:

3,888,491,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)

consumption:

74,313,109,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)

exports:

314.656 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

imports:

70,908,014,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)

proven reserves:

45.76 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

general assessment:

• Italy’s large telecom market has one of the most progressive fiber sectors in Europe, with regulatory measures encouraging network sharing;
• regulatory measures have also been introduced to facilitate access to next generation networks (NGNs), and a number of deals have been brokered which enable the main telcoms to provide bundled services to large numbers of the population;
• Italy’s vibrant mobile market has one of the highest subscription rates in Europe, though the number of subscribers has fallen in recent years as customers respond to attractive off-net pricing which has reduced the financial benefit of having SIM cards from different providers;
• network companies were among the first in Europe to trial services based on 5G;
• the high cost also encouraged the regulator in early 2021 to consider extending the licenses by an additional six years (2021)

domestic:

34 per 100 for fixed-line and nearly 132 per 100 for mobile-cellular subscriptions (2021)

international:

• country code - 39;
• landing points for Italy-Monaco, Italy-Libya, Italy-Malta, Italy-Greece-1, Italy-Croatia, BlueMed, Janna, FEA, SeaMeWe-3 & 4 & 5, Trapani-Kelibia, Columbus-III, Didon, GO-1, HANNIBAL System, MENA, Bridge International, Malta-Italy Interconnector, Melita1, IMEWE, VMSCS, AAE-1, and OTEGLOBE, submarine cables that provide links to Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia and US;
• satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (with a total of 5 antennas - 3 for Atlantic Ocean and 2 for Indian Ocean) (2019)

• two Italian media giants dominate with 3 national terrestrial stations and privately owned companies with 3 national terrestrial stations;
• a large number of private stations, a satellite TV network;
• 3 AM/FM nationwide radio stations;
• about 1,300 commercial radio stations

number of registered air carriers:

9 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 180

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

27,630,435 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

1.418 billion (2018) mt-km

total:

487,700 km (2007)

paved:

487,700 km (2007) (includes 6,700 km of expressways)

major seaport(s):

Augusta, Cagliari, Genoa, Livorno, Taranto, Trieste, Venice

oil terminal(s):

Melilli (Santa Panagia) oil terminal, Sarroch oil terminal

container port(s) (TEUs):

Genoa (2,557,847), Gioia Tauro (3,146,553) (2021)

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Panigaglia (La Spezia), Adriatic (Porto Levante), Oristano (Sardinia), Ravenna, Toscana (Livorno)

• the military's inventory includes a mix of domestically manufactured, imported, and jointly produced weapons systems, mostly from Europe and the US;
• in recent years, the US has been the lead supplier of military hardware to Italy;
• the Italian defense industry is capable of producing equipment across all the military domains with particular strengths in aircraft, armored vehicles, and naval vessels;
• it also participates in joint development and production of advanced weapons systems with other European countries and the US (2023)

• 17-25 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women (some variations on age depending on the military branch);
• voluntary service is a minimum of 12 months with the option to extend in the Armed Forces or compete for positions in the Military Corps of the Italian Red Cross, the State Police, the Carabinieri, the Guardia di Finanza, the Penitentiary Police, or the National Fire Brigade;
• recruits can also volunteer for 4 years military service;
• conscription abolished 2004 (2023)

note: women may serve in any military branch; as of 2020, women made up about 6% of the military's full-time personnel