Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His 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 Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north.

Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia

42 50 N, 12 50 E

Europe

slightly larger than Arizona

7,600 km

predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south

mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands

coal, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorspar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land

39,500 sq km (2008)

175 cu km (2005)

regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice

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

strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe

61,016,804 (July 2011 est.)

0.42% (2011 est.)

9.18 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)

9.84 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)

4.86 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)

ROME (capital) 3.357 million; Milan 2.962 million; Naples 2.27 million; Turin 1.662 million; Palermo 872,000 (2009)

1.39 children born/woman (2011 est.)

0.3% (2009 est.)

140,000 (2009 est.)

fewer than 1,000 (2009 est.)

urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 100% of population (2008)

Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)

Roman Catholic 90% (approximately; about one-third practicing), other 10% (includes mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community)

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)

4.3% of GDP (2007)

republic

15 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 5 autonomous regions (regioni autonome, singular - regione autonoma)

17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally unified until 1870)

Republic Day, 2 June (1946)

passed 11 December 1947, effective 1 January 1948; amended many times

civil law system; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25)

bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica (315 seats; members elected by proportional vote with the winning coalition in each region receiving 55% of seats from that region; members to serve five-year terms; and up to 5 senators for life appointed by the president of the Republic) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; members elected by popular vote with the winning national coalition receiving 54% of chamber seats; members to serve five-year terms); note - it has not been clarified if each president has the power to designate up to five senators or if five is the number of senators for life who might sit in the Senate

Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (composed of 15 judges: one-third appointed by the president, one-third elected by parliament, one-third elected by the ordinary and administrative Supreme Courts)

manufacturers and merchants associations - Confcommercio; Confindustria; organized farm groups - Confcoltivatori; Confagricoltura; Roman Catholic Church; three major trade union confederations - Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro or CGIL [Guglielmo EPIFANI] which is left wing; Confederazione Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL [Raffaele BONANNO], which is Roman Catholic centrist; Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL [Luigi ANGELETTI] which is lay centrist)

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CD, CDB, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-20, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMOGIP, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; design inspired by the French flag brought to Italy by Napoleon in 1797; colors are those of Milan (red and white) combined with the green uniform color of the Milanese civic guard

Italy has a diversified industrial economy, which is divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, welfare-dependent, agricultural south, with high unemployment. The Italian economy is driven in large part by the manufacture of high-quality consumer goods produced by small and medium-sized enterprises, many of them family owned. Italy also has a sizable underground economy, which by some estimates accounts for as much as 15% of GDP. These activities are most common within the agriculture, construction, and service sectors. Italy has moved slowly on implementing needed structural reforms, such as reducing graft, overhauling costly entitlement programs, and increasing employment opportunities for young workers, particularly women. The international financial crisis worsened conditions in Italy's labor market, with unemployment rising from 6.2% in 2007 to 8.4% in 2010, but in the longer-term Italy's low fertility rate and quota-driven immigration policies will increasingly strain its economy. A rise in exports and investment driven by the global economic recovery nevertheless helped the economy grow by about 1% in 2010 following a 5% contraction in 2009. The Italian government has struggled to limit government spending, but Italy's exceedingly high public debt remains above 115% of GDP, and its fiscal deficit - just 1.5% of GDP in 2007 - exceeded 5% in 2009 and 2010, as the costs of servicing the country's debt rose.

$1.774 trillion (2010 est.)

$1.751 trillion (2009 est.)

$1.847 trillion (2008 est.)

$2.055 trillion (2010 est.)

1.3% (2010 est.)

-5.2% (2009 est.)

-1.3% (2008 est.)

$30,500 (2010 est.)

$30,100 (2009 est.)

$31,800 (2008 est.)

25.05 million (2010 est.)

8.4% (2010 est.)

7.8% (2009 est.)

NA%

32 (2006)

27.3 (1995)

19.1% of GDP (2010 est.)

118.1% of GDP (2010 est.)

115.8% of GDP (2009 est.)

1.4% (2010 est.)

0.8% (2009 est.)

1.75% (31 December 2010)

1.75% (31 December 2009)

10.26% (31 December 2009 est.)

11.31% (31 December 2008 est.)

$1.234 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.267 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)

$1.884 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.846 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)

$3.274 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)

$3.047 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)

$317.3 billion (31 December 2009)

$520.9 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.073 trillion (31 December 2007)

fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish

tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics

0.5% (2010 est.)

289.7 billion kWh (2007 est.)

315 billion kWh (2007 est.)

3.431 billion kWh (2008 est.)

43 billion kWh (2008 est.)

146,500 bbl/day (2009 est.)

1.537 million bbl/day (2009 est.)

586,900 bbl/day (2008 est.)

1.911 million bbl/day (2008 est.)

423.7 million bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

8.119 billion cu m (2009 est.)

78.12 billion cu m (2009 est.)

124 million cu m (2009 est.)

69.24 billion cu m (2009 est.)

69.83 billion cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

$-61.98 billion (2010 est.)

$-66.2 billion (2009 est.)

$458.4 billion (2010 est.)

$407.2 billion (2009 est.)

engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals, and nonferrous metals

Germany 12.6%, France 11.57%, US 5.92%, Spain 5.69%, UK 5.13%, Switzerland 4.69% (2009)

$459.7 billion (2010 est.)

$403.9 billion (2009 est.)

engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages, and tobacco

Germany 16.68%, France 8.82%, China 6.53%, Netherlands 5.63%, Spain 4.3%, Russia 4.12%, Belgium 4.08% (2009)

$NA (31 December 2010 est.)

$132.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$2.223 trillion (30 June 2010 est.)

$2.328 trillion (31 December 2008)

$405.1 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$368.9 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$601.1 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$555.2 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

euros (EUR) per US dollar -

0.7715 (2010)

0.7179 (2009)

0.6827 (2008)

0.7345 (2007)

0.7964 (2006)

21.3 million (2009)

90.613 million (2009)

two Italian media giants - the publicly-owned Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) with 3 national terrestrial stations and privately-owned Mediaset with 3 national terrestrial stations - dominate; additional broadcasts by a large number of private stations and Sky Italia - a satellite TV network; RAI operates 3 AM/FM nationwide radio stations; some 1,300 commercial radio stations (2007)

.it

23.16 million (2010)

29.235 million (2009)

132 (2010)

6 (2010)

gas 18,348 km; oil 1,241 km (2010)

2,400 km (used for commercial traffic; of limited overall value compared to road and rail) (2009)

Augusta, Cagliari, Genoa, Livorno, Santa Panagia (Melilli), Taranto, Trieste, Venice

Italian Armed Forces: Army (Esercito Italiano, EI), Navy (Marina Militare Italiana, MMI), Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana, AMI), Carabinieri Corps (Arma dei Carabinieri, CC) (2011)

18-27 year of age for voluntary military service; conscription abolished January 2005; women may serve in any military branch; 10-month service obligation, with a reserve obligation to age 45 (Army and Air Force) or 39 (Navy) (2006)

1.8% of GDP (2005 est.)

Italy's long coastline and developed economy entices tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from southeastern Europe and northern Africa

important gateway for and consumer of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market; money laundering by organized crime and from smuggling