1984 Edition

Agriculture

important producer of fruits and vegetables; main crops — cereals, potatoes, olives; 95% self-sufficient; food shortages — fats, meat, fish, and eggs

Aid

donor — bilateral economic aid committed (ODA and OOF), $14.5 billion (1970-81)

Airfields

146 total, 140 usable; 86 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m, 33 with runways 2,4403,659 m, 40 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Area

301,223 km2; 50% cultivated; 21% forest; 17% meadow and pasture; 9% waste or urban; 3% unused but potentially productive

Branches

executive — President empowered to dissolve Parliament and call national election; he is also Commander of the Armed Forces and presides over the Supreme Defense Council; otherwise, authority to govern invested in Council of Ministers; bicameral legislature — popularly elected Parliament (315-member Senate, 630-member Chamber of Deputies); independent judicial establishment

Army, Navy, Air Force

Capital

Rome

Civil air

132 major transport aircraft

Coastline

4,996 km People

Communists

1,673,751 members (1983)

Crude steel

24.0 million metric tons produced (1982), 426 kg per capita

Elections

national election for Parliament held every five years (most recent, June 1983); provincial and municipal elections held every five years with some out of phase; regional elections every five years (held June 1980) Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Party (DC), Ciriaco DeMita (secretary general); Communist Party (PCI), Enrico Berlinguer (secretary general); Socialist Party (PSI), Bettino Craxi (secretary general); Social Democratic Party (PSDI), Pietro Longo (secretary general); Liberal Party (PLI), Valerio Zanone (party secretary); Italian Social Movement (MSI), Giorgio Almirante (party secretary); Republican Party (PRI), Giovanni Spadolini (party secretary)

Electric power

50,558,700 kW capacity (1983); 181.675 billion kWh produced (1983), 3,225 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

primarily Italian but population includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and of Albanian-Italians in the south

Exports

$73.4 billion (f.o.b., 1982); principal items— machinery and transport equipment, textiles, foodstuffs, chemicals, footwear

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 406,828 metric tons (1982); exports $104 million (1981), imports $683 million (1981)

GDP

$347 billion (1982), $5,314 pei capita; 63.5% private consumption, 19.0% gross fixed investment, 18.9% government, net foreign balance —2.8%; 1982 growth rate —0.3% (1970 constant prices) Ivory Coast

Government leaders

Sandro PERTINI, President; Bettino CRAXI, Premier

Highways

294,410 km total; autostrade 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

Imports

$85.9 billion (c.i.f., 1982); principal items — machinery and transport equipment, foodstuffs, ferrous and nonferrous metals, wool, cotton, petroleum

Inland waterways

1,600 km for various types of commercial traffic

Labor force

23,24 1,000 (October 1983); 31.8% industry, 11.5% agriculture, 56.7% other (October 1983); 10.2% unemployment (October 1983)

Land boundaries

1,702 km Water

Language

Italian; parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region (for example, Bolzano) are predominantly German speaking; significant French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region; Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area

Legal system

based on civil law system, with ecclesiastical law influence; constitution came into effect 1 January 1948; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm

Literacy

93%

Major industries

machinery and transportation equipment, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles

Major trade partners

(1981) 41% EC (16% FRG, 13% France, 5% UK, 4% Netherlands); 19% OPEC (6% Saudi Arabia); 7% US; 3% USSR; 2% Eastern Europe

Member of

ADB, ASSIMER, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ECOWAS, EIB, ELDO, EMS, ESRO, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDE— InterAmerican Development Bank, IFAD, IEA, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG Economy

Military budget

proposed for fiscal year ending 31 December 1983, $8.4 billion; about 4.3% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 14,100,000; 11,887,000 fit for military service; 460,000 reach military age ( 1 8) annually

Monetary conversion rate

1704.0 lire=US$l (9 January 1984)

National holiday

Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June

Nationality

noun — Italian(s); adjective — Italian

Official name

Italian Republic

Organized labor

50-55% (est.) of labor force Government

Other political or pressure groups

the Vatican; 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

Pipelines

crude oil, 1,703 km; refined products, 2,148 km; natural gas, 15,944 km

Political subdivisions

constitution provides for establishment of 20 regions; five with special statute (Sicilia, Sardegna, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Valle d'Aosta) have been functioning for some time, and the remaining 15 regions with regular statute were instituted on 1 April 1972; 95 provinces, 8,081 communes

Population

56,998,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 0.3%

Ports

9 major, 1 1 secondary, 40 minor

Railroads

20,085 km total; 16,140 km 1.435meter government-owned standard gauge, 8,585 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

Religion

almost 100% nominally Roman Catholic

Shortages

coal, fuels, minerals

Suffrage

universal over age 18 (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age of voter is 25)

Telecommunications

well engineered, well constructed, and efficiently operated; 19.3 million telephones (33.7 per 100 popl.); 135 AM, 1 ,837 FM, and 1 ,407 TV stations; 20 submarine cables; 2 communication satellite ground stations with a total of 5 antennas Defense Forces

Type

republic

Voting strength

(1979 election) 32.6% DC, 30.3% PCI, 11.4% PSI, 7.0% MSI, 4.0% PRI, 3.9% PSDI, 2.8% PLI, 3.3% other