Italian Republic

National name: Repubblica Italiana

President: Giorgio Napolitano (2006)

Prime Minister: Romano Prodi (2006)

Land area: 113,521 sq mi (294,019 sq km); total area: 116,306 sq mi (301,230 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 58,133,509 (growth rate: 0.0%); birth rate: 8.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 5.8/1000; life expectancy: 79.8; density per sq mi: 512

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Rome, 3,550,900 (metro. area), 2,455,600 (city proper)

Other large cities: Milan, 1,180,700; Naples, 991,700; Turin, 856,000; Palermo, 651,500; Genoa, 602,500; Bologna, 369,300; Florence, 351,600; Bari, 311,900; Catania, 305,900; Venice, 265,700

Monetary unit: Euro (formerly lira)

Languages: Italian (official); German-, French-, and Slovene-speaking minorities

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

Religions: Roman Catholic approx. 90%, Protestant, Jewish, Islamic

Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $1.651 trillion; per capita $28,400. Real growth rate: 0.2%. Inflation: 1.9%. Unemployment: 7.9%. Arable land: 28%. Agriculture: fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish. Labor force: 24.49 million; services 63%, industry 32%, agriculture 5% (2001). Industries: tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics. Natural resources: coal, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorospar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land. Exports: $371.9 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals, and nonferrous metals. Imports: $369.2 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages, and tobacco. Major trading partners: Germany, France, U.S., Spain, UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, China (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 26.596 million (2003); mobile cellular: 55.918 million (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM about 100, FM about 4,600, shortwave 9 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 358 (plus 4,728 repeaters) (1995). . Internet hosts: 1,437,511 (2004). Internet users: 18.5 million (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 19,319 km (2004). Highways: total: 479,688 km; paved: 479,688 km (including 6,621 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (1999). Waterways: 2,400 km; note: used for commercial traffic; of limited overall value compared to road and rail (2004). Ports and harbors: Augusta, Genoa, Livorno, Melilli Oil Terminal, Ravenna, Taranto, Trieste, Venice. Airports: 134 (2004 est.).

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

 

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