The World Factbook (1990)/Italy
Italy
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See regional map V
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 or to depth of exploitation
- Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: South Tyrol question with Austria
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: 32% arable land; 10% permanent crops; 17% meadows and pastures; 22% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes 10% irrigated
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: 57,664,405 (July 1990),
growth rate 0.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 10 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 81 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1990)
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 in the south; Sicilians; Sardinians
Religion: almost 100% nominally Roman Catholic
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: 93%
Labor force: 23,670,000; 56.7% services, 37.9% industry, 5.4% agriculture (1987)
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; 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,
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Parlamento) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senato) 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 sixth 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); Communist Party (PCI), Achille Occhetto (secretary general); Socialist Party (PSI), Bettino Craxi (party secretary); Social Democratic Party (PSDI), Antonio Cariglia (party secretary); Liberal Party (PLI), Renato Altissimo (secretary general); Italian Social Movement (MSI), Giuseppe (Pino) Rauti (national secretary); Republican Party (PRI), Giorgio La Malfa (political secretary); Italy's 49th postwar government was formed on 23 July 1989, with Prime Minister Andreotti, a Christian Democrat, presiding over a five-party coalition consisting of the Christian Democrats, Socialists, Social Democrats, Republicans, 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%, others 27.1%; seats—(320 total, 315 elected) DC 125, PCI 100, PSI 36, others 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%, others 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, others 7
Communists: 1,673,751 members (1983)
Other political or pressure groups: Vatican City; 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: ADB, ASSIMER, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ECOWAS, EIB, EMS, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IEA, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG
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 large
private companies and state enterprises and
an undeveloped agricultural south.
Services account for 58% of GDP, industry
37%, and agriculture 5%. 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 1989, 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 the
increasing pollution in major industrial
centers, and adjusting to the new competitive
forces accompanying the ongoing
economic integration of the European
Community.
GDP: $803.3 billion, per capita $14,000; real growth rate 3.3% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.6% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 11.9% (1989)
Budget: revenues $355 billion; expenditures $448 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)
Exports: $141.6 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities—textiles, wearing apparel, metals, transportation equipment, chemicals; partners—EC 57%, US 9%, OPEC 4%
Imports: $143.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities—petroleum, industrial machinery, chemicals, metals, food, agricultural products; partners—EC 57%, OPEC 6%, US 6%
External debt: NA
Industrial production: growth rate 2.9% (1989)
Electricity: 56,022,000 kW capacity; 201,400 million kWh produced, 3,500 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: machinery and transportation equipment, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles
Agriculture: accounts for about 5% of GNP and 5% 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 554,000 metric tons in 1987
Aid: donor—ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $18.7 billion
Currency: Italian lira (plural—lire); 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi
Exchange rates: Italian lire (Lit) per US$1—1,262.5 (January 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—2,100km 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: 547 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,871,505 GRT/10,805,368 DWT; includes 6 passenger, 41 short-sea passenger, 100 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo, 22 container, 72 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 4 vehicle carrier, 1 multi-function large-load carrier, 2 livestock carrier, 147 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 37 chemical tanker, 29 liquefied gas, 8 specialized tanker, 16 combination ore/oil, 55 bulk, 2 combination bulk
Civil air: 132 major transport aircraft
Airports: 143 total, 138 usable; 88 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 35 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 42 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, 135 (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
Military manpower: males 15-49, 14,721,704; 12,855,022 fit for military service; 430,782 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 2.4% of GDP, or $19 billion (1989 est.)