ITALY GEOGRAPHY Total area: 301,230 km2; land area: 294,020 km2; includes Sardinia and Sicily Comparative area: slightly larger than Arizona Land boundaries: 1,902.2 km total; Austria 430 km, France 488 km, San Marino 39 km, Switzerland 740 km, Vatican City 3.2 km, Yugoslavia 202 km 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% 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 Population: 57,772,375 (July 1991), growth rate 0.2% (1991) Birth rate: 11 births/1,000 population (1991) Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1991) Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1991) Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1991) Life expectancy at birth: 75 years male, 82 years female (1991) Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1991) 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 and Greek-Italians in the south; Sicilians; Sardinians Religion: nominally Roman Catholic almost 100% 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 Literacy: 97% (male 98%, female 96%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) Labor force: 23,988,000; services 58%, industry 32.2%, agriculture 9.8% (1988) Organized labor: 40-45% of labor force (est.) GOVERNMENT Long-form name: Italian Republic 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 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 National holiday: Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946) Executive branch: president, prime minister (president of the Council of Ministers) Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Parlamento) consists of an upper chamber or Senate of the Republic (Senato della Repubblica) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) Judicial branch: Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale) Leaders: 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) Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Party (DC), Arnaldo FORLANI (general secretary), Ciriaco De MITA (president); Socialist Party (PSI), Bettino CRAXI (party secretary); Social Democratic Party (PSDI), Antonio CARIGLIA (party secretary); Liberal Party (PLI), Renato ALTISSIMO (secretary general); Democratic Party of the Left (PDS--was Communist Party, or PCI, until January 1991), Achille OCCHETTO (secretary general); Italian Social Movement (MSI), Giuseppe (Pino) RAUTI (national secretary); Republican Party (PRI), Giorgio La MALFA (political secretary); Lega Nord, Umberto BOSSI, president; Italy's 50th postwar government was formed on 13 April 1991, with Prime Minister ANDREOTTI, a Christian Democrat, presiding over a four-party coalition consisting of the Christian Democrats, Socialists, Social Democrats, and Liberals Suffrage: universal at age 18 (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25) Elections: Senate--last held 14-15 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992); results--DC 33.9%, PCI 28.3%, PSI 10.7%, other 27.1%; seats--(320 total, 315 elected) DC 125, PCI 100, PSI 36, other 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%, other 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, other 7 Communists: 1.3 million (1990) Other political or pressure groups: the Roman Catholic Church; 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: 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: 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 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. GDP: $844.7 billion, per capita $14,600; real growth rate 2.0% (1990) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (1990) Unemployment rate: 11.0% (1990 est.) Budget: revenues $355 billion; expenditures $448 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989) 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% External debt: NA Industrial production: growth rate - 0.1% (1990); accounts for almost 35% of GDP Electricity: 56,800,000 kW capacity; 225,000 million kWh produced, 3,900 kWh per capita (1990) Industries: machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics Agriculture: 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 Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $25.9 billion Currency: Italian lira (plural--lire); 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi 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) Fiscal year: calendar year COMMUNICATIONS 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 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 Civil air: 125 major transport aircraft 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 Telecommunications: well engineered, constructed, and operated; 28,000,000 telephones; stations--144 AM, 54 (over 1,800 repeaters) FM, 450 (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 Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri Manpower availability: males 15-49, 14,747,224; 12,877,803 fit for military service; 418,043 reach military age (18) annually Defense expenditures: $19.2 billion, 2.2% of GDP (1990)