1993 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1993 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Area
total area: 301,230 km2 land area: 294,020 km2 comparative area: slightly larger than Arizona note: includes Sardinia and Sicily
Climate
predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south
Coastline
4,996 km
Environment
regional risks include landslides, mudflows, snowslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, pollution; land sinkage in Venice
International disputes
small vocal minority in northern Italy seeks the return of parts of southwestern Slovenia
Irrigated land
31,000 km2 (1989 est.)
Land boundaries
total 1,899.2 km, Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 199 km, Switzerland 740 km
Land use
arable land: 32% permanent crops: 10% meadows and pastures: 17% forest and woodland: 22% other: 19%
Location
Southern Europe, a peninsula in the central Mediterranean Sea
Map references
Africa, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims
continental shelf: 200 m depth or to depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 nm
Natural resources
mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal
Note
strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
Terrain
mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands
People and Society
Birth rate
10.65 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate
9.66 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Ethnic divisions
Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south), Sicilians, Sardinians
Infant mortality rate
7.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Labor force
23.988 million by occupation: services 58%, industry 32.2%, agriculture 9.8% (1988)
Languages
Italian, 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)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 77.43 years male: 74.22 years female: 80.85 years (1993 est.)
Literacy
age 15 and over can read and write (1990) total population: 97% male: 98% female: 96%
Nationality
noun: Italian(s) adjective: Italian
Net migration rate
1.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Population
58,018,540 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate
0.2% (1993 est.)
Religions
Roman Catholic 100%
Total fertility rate
1.37 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Government
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
Capital
Rome
Chamber of Deputies
last held 5-6 April 1992 (next to be held by April 1997); results - DC 29.7%, PDS 16.1%, PSI 13.6%, Northern Leagues 8.7%, RC 5.6%, MSI 5.4%, PRI 4.4%, PLI 2.8%, PSDI 2.7%, other 11%; seats - (630 total) DC 206, PDS 107, PSI 92, Northern Leagues 55, RC 35, MSI 34, PRI 27, PLI 17, PSDI 16, other 41
Chief of State
President Oscar Luigi SCALFARO (since 28 May 1992)
Constitution
1 January 1948
Digraph
IT
Diplomatic representation in US
chief of mission: Ambassador Boris BIANCHERI CHIAPPORI chancery: 1601 Fuller Street NW, Washington DC 20009 telephone: (202) 328-5500 consulates general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco consulates: Detroit, New Orleans, and Newark (New Jersey)
Executive branch
president, prime minister (president of the Council of Ministers)
FAX
[39] (6) 488-2672 consulates general: Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, 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 Cote d'Ivoire, which has the colors reversed - orange (hoist side), white, and green
Head of Government
Prime Minister Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI (29 April 1993)
Independence
17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed)
Judicial branch
Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale)
Legal system
based on civil law system, with ecclesiastical law influence; appeals treated as trials de novo; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch
bicameral Parliament (Parlamento) consists of an upper chamber or Senate of the Republic (Senato della Repubblica) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati)
Member of
AfDB, AG (observer), Australia Group, AsDB, BIS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CEI, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, FAO, G-7, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IEA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), LORCS, MINURSO, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMOGIP, UNOMOZ, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Names
conventional long form: Italian Republic conventional short form: Italy local long form: Repubblica Italiana local short form: Italia former: Kingdom of Italy
National holiday
Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946)
Other political or pressure groups
the Roman Catholic Church; three major trade union confederations (CGIL - formerly Communist dominated, CISL - Christian Democratic, and UIL - Social Democratic, Socialist, and Republican); Italian manufacturers association (Confindustria); organized farm groups (Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura)
Political parties and leaders
Christian Democratic Party (DC), Fermo Mino MARTINAZZOLI, general secretary; Rosa Russo JERVOLINO, president; Socialist Party (PSI), Giorgio BENVENUTO, party secretary; Social Democratic Party (PSDI), Enrico FERRI, party secretary; Liberal Party (PLI); Democratic Party of the Left (PDS - was Communist Party, or PCI, until January 1991), Achille OCCHETTO, secretary general; Italian Social Movement (MSI), Gianfranco FINI, national secretary; Republican Party (PRI), Giorgio BOGI, political secretary; Lega Nord (Northern League), Umberto BOSSI, president; Communist Renewal (RC), Sergio GARAVINI
Senate
last held 5-6 April 1992 (next to be held by April 1997); results - DC 27.3%, PDS 17.0%, PSI 13.6%, Northern Leagues 8.2%, other 33.9%; seats - (326 total; 315 elected, 11 appointed senators-for-life) DC 107, PDS 64, PSI 49, Leagues 25, other 70
Suffrage
18 years of age, universal (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25)
Type
republic
US diplomatic representation
chief of mission: (vacant) embassy: Via Veneto 119/A, 00187, Rome mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100, APO AE 09624 telephone: [39] (6) 46741
Economy
Agriculture
accounts for about 4% of GDP and about 10% of the work force; self-sufficient in foods other than meat, dairy products, and cereals; principal crops - fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; fish catch of 525,000 metric tons in 1990
Budget
revenues $447 billion; expenditures $581 billion, including capital expenditures of $46 billion (1992 est.)
Currency
1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi
Economic aid
donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $25.9 billion
Electricity
58,000,000 kW capacity; 235,000 million kWh produced, 4,060 kWh per capita (1992)
Exchange rates
Italian lire (Lit) per US$1 - 1,482.5 (January 1993), 1,232.4 (1992), 1,240.6 (1991), 1,198.1 (1990), 1,372.1 (1989), 1,301.6 (1988)
Exports
$168.8 million (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: textiles, wearing apparel, metals, production machinery, motor vehicles, transportation equipment, chemicals, other partners: EC 58.3%, US 6.8%, OPEC 5.1% (1992)
External debt
$42 billion (September 1992)
Fiscal year
calendar year
Illicit drugs
increasingly important gateway country for Latin American cocaine entering the European market
Imports
$169.7 million (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: petroleum, industrial machinery, chemicals, metals, food, agricultural products partners: EC 58.8%, OPEC 6.1%, US 5.5% (1992)
Industrial production
growth rate -0.5% (1992 est.); accounts for almost 35% of GDP
Industries
machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
5.4% (1992)
National product
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $1.012 trillion (1992)
National product per capita
$17,500 (1992)
National product real growth rate
0.9% (1992)
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 private companies, and an undeveloped agricultural south, dominated by large public enterprises. Services account for 48% of GDP, industry 35%, agriculture 4%, and public administration 13%. Most raw materials needed by industry and over 75% of energy requirements must be imported. After growing at an annual average rate of 3% in 1983-90, growth slowed to about 1% in 1991 and 1992. In the second half of 1992, Rome became unsettled by the prospect of not qualifying to participate in EC plans for economic and monetary union later in the decade; thus it finally began to address its huge fiscal imbalances. Thanks to the determination of Prime Minister AMATO, the government adopted a fairly stringent budget for 1993, abandoned its highly inflationary wage indexation system, and started to scale back its extremely generous social welfare programs, including pension and health care benefits. Monetary officials, who were forced to withdraw the lira from the European monetary system in September 1992 when it came under extreme pressure in currency markets, remain committed to bringing the currency back into the grid as soon as conditions warrant. For the 1990s, Italy faces the problems of refurbishing a tottering communications system, curbing pollution in major industrial centers, and adjusting to the new competitive forces accompanying the ongoing economic integration of the European Community.
Unemployment rate
11% (1992 est.)
Communications
Airports
total: 137 usable: 133 with permanent-surface runways: 92 with runways over 3,659 m: 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 36 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 39
Highways
298,000 km total; autostrada (expressway) 6,000 km, state highways 46,000 km, provincial highways 103,000 km, communal highways 143,000 km; 270,000 km paved, 23,000 km gravel and crushed stone, 5,000 km earth
Inland waterways
2,400 km for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value
Merchant marine
536 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,788,938 GRT/10,128,468 DWT; includes 15 passenger, 36 short-sea passenger, 87 cargo, 4 refrigerated cargo, 21 container, 69 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 8 vehicle carrier, 1 multifunction large-load carrier, 138 oil tanker, 34 chemical tanker, 45 liquefied gas, 10 specialized tanker, 9 combination ore/oil, 57 bulk, 2 combination bulk
Pipelines
crude oil 1,703 km; petroleum products 2,148 km; natural gas 19,400 km
Ports
Cagliari (Sardinia), Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Naples, Palermo (Sicily), Taranto, Trieste, Venice
Railroads
20,011 km total; 16,066 km 1.435-meter government-owned standard gauge (8,999 km electrified); 3,945 km privately owned - 2,100 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (1,155 km electrified) and 1,845 km 0.950-meter narrow gauge (380 km electrified)
Telecommunications
modern, well-developed, fast; 25,600,000 telephones; fully automated telephone, telex, and data services; high-capacity cable and microwave radio relay trunks; broadcast stations - 135 AM, 28 (1,840 repeaters) FM, 83 (1,000 repeaters) TV; international service by 21 submarine cables, 3 satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT with 3 Atlantic Ocean antennas and 2 Indian Ocean antennas; also participates in INMARSAT and EUTELSAT systems
Military and Security
Branches
Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri
Defense expenditures
exchange rate conversion - $24.5 billion, 2% of GDP (1992)
Manpower availability
males age 15-49 14,898,913; fit for military service 12,989,142; reach military age (18) annually 425,286 (1993 est.)