Background: Italy became a nation-state belatedly - in 1861 when
the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were
united under King Victor EMMANUEL. An era of parliamentary government came
to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist
dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's
defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in
1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and
the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of
European economic and political unification, joining the European Monetary
Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, the
ravages of organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, and the low
incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the more
prosperous north.
Government
type: republic
Capital: Rome
Currency: Italian lira (ITL); euro (EUR)
Geography of Italy
Location: Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean
Sea, northeast of Tunisia
Geographic coordinates: 42 50 N, 12 50 E
Area:
total: 301,230 sq km
land: 294,020 sq km
water: 7,210 sq km
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily
Land boundaries:
total: 1,932.2 km
border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km,
San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740 km
Coastline: 7,600 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the 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
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) 4,807 m
Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural gas and
crude oil reserves, fish, coal, arable land
Land use:
arable land: 31%
permanent crops: 10%
permanent pastures: 15%
forests and woodland: 23%
other: 21% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 27,100 sq km (1993 est.)
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-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Seals, 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 of Italy
Italy is largely homogeneous linguistically and religiously but is
diverse culturally, economically, and politically. Italy has the
fifth-highest population density in Europe--about 200 persons per square
kilometer (490 per sq. mi.). Minority groups are small, the largest being
the German-speaking people of Bolzano Province and the Slovenes around
Trieste. Other groups comprise small communities of Albanian, Greek, Ladino,
and French origin. Immigration has increased in recent years, however, while
the Italian population is declining overall due to low birth rates. Although
Roman Catholicism is the majority religion--85% of native-born citizens are
nominally Catholic--all religious faiths are provided equal freedom before
the law by the constitution.
Population: 58,103,033 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 14.17%
15-64 years: 67.48%
65 years and over: 18.35%
Population growth rate: 0.07%
Birth rate: 9.05 births/1,000 population
Death rate: 10.07 deaths/1,000 population
Net migration rate: 1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Infant mortality rate: 5.84 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 79.14 years
male: 75.97 years
female: 82.52 years
Total fertility rate: 1.18 children born/woman
Nationality:
noun: Italian(s)
adjective: Italian
Ethnic groups: Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-,
and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians
in the south)
Religions: predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and
Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community
Languages: Italian (official), 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).
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% (1998)
SOURCES: The World Factbook, U.S. Department of State |