NAVIGATION
|
HOME
• FLAG FINDER
• MAP FINDER
• SOURCES
• ADD YOURSELF TO THE ATLAS! COUNTRIES A-D • COUNTRIES E-K • COUNTRIES L-R • COUNTRIES S-Z |
NAVIGATION
Italian Republic
Repubblica Italiana
former: Kingdom of Italy
INTRODUCTION
|
Background:
|
Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous 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 European Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, the ravages of organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north. |
GEOGRAPHY
|
Location:
|
Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia |
|
Geographic coordinates:
|
42 50 N, 12 50 E |
|
Map references:
|
Europe |
|
Area:
|
total: 301,230 sq km
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily water: 7,210 sq km land: 294,020 sq km |
|
Area - comparative:
|
slightly larger than Arizona |
|
Land boundaries:
|
total: 1,932.2 km
border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740 km |
|
Coastline:
|
7,600 km |
|
Maritime claims:
|
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 NM |
|
Climate:
|
predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south |
|
Terrain:
|
mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands |
|
Elevation extremes:
|
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) de Courmayeur 4,748 m (a secondary peak of Mont Blanc) |
|
Natural resources:
|
mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal, arable land |
|
Land use:
|
arable land: 28.07%
permanent crops: 9.25% other: 62.68% (1998 est.) |
|
Irrigated land:
|
26,980 sq km (1998 est.) |
|
Natural hazards:
|
regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice |
|
Environment - current issues:
|
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 |
|
Environment - international agreements:
|
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
|
Geography - note:
|
strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe |
PEOPLE
|
Population:
|
57,715,625 (July 2002 est.) |
|
Age structure:
|
0-14 years: 14.1% (male 4,198,569; female 3,954,159)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 19,334,208; female 19,492,048) 65 years and over: 18.6% (male 4,436,073; female 6,300,568) (2002 est.) |
|
Population growth rate:
|
0.05% (2002 est.) |
|
Birth rate:
|
8.93 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
|
Death rate:
|
10.13 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
|
Net migration rate:
|
1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
|
Sex ratio:
|
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate:
|
5.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total population: 79.25 years
female: 82.63 years (2002 est.) male: 76.08 years |
|
Total fertility rate:
|
1.19 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|
0.35% (1999 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|
95,000 (1999 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|
1,000 (1999 est.) |
|
Nationality:
|
noun: Italian(s)
adjective: Italian |
|
Ethnic groups:
|
Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south) |
|
Religions:
|
predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community |
|
Languages:
|
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) |
|
Literacy:
|
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% (1998) male: NA% female: NA% |