in both cases on the total of births and deaths of both sexes.) The result is that, while in 1871 there was an excess of 143,370 males over females in the total population, in 1881 the excess was only 71,138, and in 1901 there were 169,684 more females than males. The death-rate (excluding still-born children) was, in 1872, 30.78 per 1000, and has since steadily decreased—less rapidly between 1886–1890 than during other years; in 1902 it was only 22.15 and in 1899 was as low as 21.89. The excess of births over deaths shows considerable variations—owing to a very low birth-rate, it was only 3.12 per 1000 in 1880, but has averaged 11.05 per 1000 from 1896 to 1900, reaching 11.98 in 1899 and 11.14 in 1902. For the four years 1899–1902 24.66% died under the age of one year, 9.41 between one and two years. The average expectation of life at birth for the same period was 52 years and 11 months, 62 years and 2 months at the age of three years, 52 years at the age of fifteen, 44 years at the age of twenty-four, 30 years at the age of forty; while the average period of life, which was 35 years 3 months per individual in 1882, was 43 years per individual in 1901. This shows a considerable improvement, largely, but not entirely, in the diminution of infant mortality; the expectation of life at birth in 1882, it is true, was only 33 years and 6 months, and at three years of age 56 years 1 month; but the increase, both in the expectation of life and in its average duration, goes all through the different ages.
Occupations.—In the census of 1901 the population over nine years of age (both male and female) was divided as follows as regards the main professions:—
| Total. | Males. | Females. | |
| Agricultural (including hunting and fishing) | 9,666,467 | 6,466,165 | 3,200,302 |
| Industrial | 4,505,736 | 3,017,393 | 1,488,343 |
| Commerce and transport (public and private services) | 1,003,888 | 885,070 | 118,818 |
| Domestic service, &c. | 574,855 | 171,875 | 402,980 |
| Professional classes, administration, &c. | 1,304,347 | 855,217 | 449,130 |
| Defence | 204,012 | 204,012 | . . |
| Religion | 129,893 | 89,329 | 40,564 |
Emigration.—The movement of emigration may be divided into two currents, temporary and permanent—the former going chiefly towards neighbouring European countries and to North Africa, and consisting of manual labourers, the latter towards trans-oceanic countries, principally Brazil, Argentina and the United States. These emigrants remain abroad for several years, even when they do not definitively establish themselves there. They are composed principally of peasants, unskilled workmen and other manual labourers. There was a tendency towards increased emigration during the last quarter of the 19th century. The principal causes are the growth of population, and the over-supply of and low rates of remuneration for manual labour in various Italian provinces. Emigration has, however, recently assumed such proportions as to lead to scarcity of labour and rise of wages in Italy itself. Italians form about half of the total emigrants to America.
| Year. | Temporary Emigration. | Permanent Emigration. | ||
| Total No. of Emigrants. | Per every 100,000 of Population. | Total No. of Emigrants. | Per every 100,000 of Population. | |
| 1881 | 94,225 | 333 | 41,607 | 147 |
| 1891 | 118,111 | 389 | 175,520 | 578 |
| 1901 | 281,668 | 865 | 251,577 | 772 |
The increased figures may, to a minor extent, be due to better registration, in consequence of the law of 1901.
From the next table will be seen the direction of emigration in the years specified:—
| 1900. | 1901. | 1902. | 1903. | 1904. | 1905. | |
| Europe | 181,047 | 244,298 | 236,066 | 215,943 | 209,942 | 266,982 |
| N. Africa | 5,417 | 9,499 | 11,771 | 9,452 | 14,709 | 11,910 |
| U.S. and Canada | 89,400 | 124,636 | 196,723 | 200,383 | 173,537 | 322,627 |
| Mexico (Central America) | 2,069 | 997 | 766 | 1,311 | 1,828 | 2,044 |
| South America | 74,168 | 152,543 | 85,097 | 78,699 | 74,209 | 111,943 |
| Asia and Oceania | 691 | 1,272 | 1,086 | 2,168 | 2,966 | 2,715 |
| Total | 352,792 | 533,245 | 531,509 | 507,956 | 477,191 | 718,221 |
The figures for 1905 show that the total of 718,221 emigrants was made up, as regards numbers, mainly by individuals from Venetia, Sicily, Campania, Piedmont, Calabria and the Abruzzi; while the percentage was highest in Calabria (4.44), the Abruzzi, Venetia, Basilicata, the Marches, Sicily (2.86), Campania, Piedmont (2.02). Tuscany gives 1.20, Latium 1.14%, Apulia only 1.02, while Sardinia with 0.34% occupies an exceptional position. The figure for Sicily, which was 106,000 in 1905, reached 127,000 in 1906 (3.5%), and of these about three-fourths would be adults; in the meantime, however, the population increases so fast that even in 1905 there was a net increase in Sicily of 20,000 souls; so that in three years 220,000 workers were replaced by 320,000 infants.
The phenomenon of emigration in Sicily cannot altogether be explained by low wages, which have risen, though prices have done the same. It has been defined as apparently “a kind of collective madness.”
Agriculture.—Accurate statistics with regard to the area occupied in different forms of cultivation are difficult to obtain, both on account of their varied and piecemeal character and from the lack of a complete cadastral survey. A complete survey was ordered by the law of the 1st of March 1886, but many years must elapse before its completion. The law, however, enabled provinces most heavily burdened by land tax to accelerate their portion of the survey, and to profit by the re-assessment of the tax on the new basis. An idea of the effects of the survey may be gathered from the fact that the assessments in the four provinces of Mantua, Ancona, Cremona and Milan, which formerly amounted to a total of £1,454,696, are now £2,788,080, an increase of 91%. Of the total area of Italy, 70,793,000 acres, 71% are classed as “productive.” The unproductive area comprises 16% of the total area (this includes 4% occupied by lagoons or marshes, and 1.75% of the total area susceptible of bonificazione or improvement by drainage. Between 1882 and 1902 over £4,000,000 was spent on this by the government). The uncultivated area is 13%. This includes 3.50% of the total susceptible of cultivation.
The cultivated area may be divided into five agrarian regions or zones, named after the variety of tree culture which flourishes in them. (1) Proceeding from south to north, the first zone is that of the agrumi (oranges, lemons and similar fruits). It comprises a great part of Sicily. In Sardinia it extends along the southern and western coasts. It predominates along the Ligurian Riviera from Bordighera to Spezia, and on the Adriatic, near San Benedetto del Tronto and Gargano, and, crossing the Italian shore of the Ionian Sea, prevails in some regions of Calabria, and terminates around the gulfs of Salerno, Sorrento and Naples. (2) The region of olives comprises the internal Sicilian valleys and part of the mountain slopes; in Sardinia, the valleys near the coast on the S.E., S.W. and N.W.; on the mainland it extends from Liguria and from the southern extremities of the Romagna to Cape Santa Maria di Leuca in Apulia, and to Cape Spartivento in Calabria. Some districts of the olive region are near the lakes of upper Italy and in Venetia, and the territories of Verona, Vicenza, Treviso and Friuli. (3) The vine region begins on the sunny slopes of the Alpine spurs and in those Alpine valleys open towards the south, extending over the plains of Lombardy and Emilia. In Sardinia it covers the mountain slopes to a considerable height, and in Sicily covers the sides of the Madonie range, reaching a level above 3000 ft. on the southern slope of Etna. The Calabrian Alps, the less rocky sides of the Apulian Murgie and the whole length of the Apennines are covered at different heights, according to their situation. The hills of Tuscany, and of Monferrato in Piedmont, produce the most celebrated Italian vintages. (4) The region of chestnuts extends from the valleys to the high plateaus of the Alps, along the northern slopes of the Apennines in Liguria, Modena, Tuscany, Romagna, Umbria, the Marches and along the southern Apennines to the Calabrian and Sicilian ranges, as well as to the mountains of Sardinia. (5) The wooded region covers the Alps and Apennines above the chestnut level. The woods consist chiefly of pine and hazel upon the Apennines, and upon the Calabrian, Sicilian and Sardinian mountains of oak, ilex, hornbeam and similar trees.
Between these regions of tree culture lie zones of different herbaceous culture, cereals, vegetables and textile plants. The style of cultivation varies according to the nature of the ground, terraces supported by stone walls being much used in mountainous districts. Cereal cultivation occupies the foremost place in area and quantity though it has been on the decline since 1903, still representing, however, an advance on previous years. Wheat is the most important crop and is widely distributed. In 1905 12,734,491 acres, or about 18% of the total area, produced 151,696,571 bushels of wheat, a yield of only 12 bushels per acre. The importation has, however, enormously increased since 1882—from 164,600 to 1,126,368 tons; while the extent of land devoted to corn cultivation has slightly decreased. Next in importance to wheat comes maize, occupying about 7% of the total area of the country, and cultivated almost everywhere as an alternative crop. The production of maize in 1905
