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 is a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC) and its subsequent successors the EC and the EU. It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include sluggish economic growth, high youth and female unemployment, organized crime, corruption, and economic disparities between southern Italy and the more prosperous north.

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

42 50 N, 12 50 E

Europe

almost twice the size of Georgia; 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

highest point: Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) de Courmayeur 4,748 m (a secondary peak of Mont Blanc)

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

arable land 22.8%; permanent crops 8.6%; permanent pasture 15.7%

39,500 sq km (2012)

despite a distinctive pattern with an industrial north and an agrarian south, a fairly even population distribution exists throughout most of the country, with coastal areas, the Po River Valley, and urban centers (particularly Milan, Rome, and Naples), attracting larger and denser populations

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

62,137,802 (July 2017 est.)

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

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)

Christian 80% (overwhelmingly Roman Catholic with very small groups of Jehovah's Witnesses and Protestants), Muslim (about 800,000 to 1 million), atheist and agnostic 20%

0.19% (2017 est.)

8.6 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

10.4 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

3.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)

despite a distinctive pattern with an industrial north and an agrarian south, a fairly even population distribution exists throughout most of the country, with coastal areas, the Po River Valley, and urban centers (particularly Milan, Rome, and Naples), attracting larger and denser populations

ROME (capital) 3.718 million; Milan 3.099 million; Naples 2.202 million; Turin 1.765 million; Palermo 853,000; Bergamo 840,000 (2015)

30.7 years (2014 est.)

4 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)

1.44 children born/woman (2017 est.)

9.2% of GDP (2014)

3.95 physicians/1,000 population (2014)

3.4 beds/1,000 population (2011)

urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 100% of population

urban: 0% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0% of population (2015 est.)

urban: 99.5% of population

rural: 99.6% of population

total: 99.5% of population

urban: 0.5% of population

rural: 0.4% of population

total: 0.5% of population (2015 est.)

0.3% (2016 est.)

130,000 (2016 est.)

19.9% (2016)

4.2% of GDP (2013)

parliamentary 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 1871)

Republic Day, 2 June (1946)

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

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

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

Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - center-left coalition 345 (PD 297, SEL 37, CD 6 SVP 5), center-right coalition 125 (PdL 98, LN 18, FdI-AN 9), M5S 109, centrist coalition 47, other 3

Democratic Centre or CD [Bruno TABACCI]

Democratic Party or PD [Matteo RENZI]

Popular Alliance or AP [Angelino ALFANO] (formerly New Center-Right or NCD)

Union of the Center or UdC [Pier Fernando CASSINI]

Forza Italia [Silvio BERLUSCONI] (formerly People of Freedom or PdL)

Northern League or LN [Matteo SALVINI]

Liberal Popular Alliance or ALA [Denis VERDINI]

Movement of Democrats and Progressives or DP [Roberto SPERANZA]

Sinistra Italiani [Nicola FRATOIANNI] (formerly Sinistra Ecologia Liberta or SEL)

South Tyrolean People's Party or SVP [Philipp ACHAMMER]

Confindustria

Confagricoltura

Confederazione Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL [Raffaele BONANNI] (Roman Catholic centrist)

Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL [Luigi ANGELETTI] (lay centrist)

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CD, CDB, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSMA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UN Security Council (temporary), 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

white, five-pointed star (Stella d'Italia); national colors: red, white, green

Italy has a diversified economy, which is divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, highly subsidized, agricultural south, where unemployment is higher. 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 17% of GDP. These activities are most common within the agriculture, construction, and service sectors.

Italy is the third-largest economy in the euro zone, but its exceptionally high public debt and structural impediments to growth have rendered it vulnerable to scrutiny by financial markets. Public debt has increased steadily since 2007, reaching 133% of GDP in 2016. Investor concerns about Italy and the broader euro-zone crisis eased in 2013, bringing down Italy's borrowing costs on sovereign government debt from euro-era records. The government still faces pressure from investors and European partners to sustain its efforts to address Italy's longstanding structural impediments to growth, such as labor market inefficiencies, a sluggish judicial system, and a weak banking sector. Italy’s economy returned to modest growth in late 2014 for the first time since late 2011. In 2015-16, Italy’s economy grew 0.7% each year. In 2016, overall unemployment was 11.7%, but youth unemployment remains high at 37.1%.

$2.234 trillion (2016 est.)

$2.187 trillion (2015 est.)

$2.146 trillion (2014 est.)

$1.851 trillion (2016 est.)

0.9% (2016 est.)

0.8% (2015 est.)

0.1% (2014 est.)

$36,800 (2016 est.)

$36,400 (2015 est.)

$36,100 (2014 est.)

19.6% of GDP (2016 est.)

18.8% of GDP (2015 est.)

18.9% of GDP (2014 est.)

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

1.5% (2016 est.)

25.76 million (2016 est.)

11.7% (2016 est.)

11.9% (2015 est.)

29.9% (2012 est.)

31.9 (2012 est.)

27.3 (1995)

47.1% of GDP (2016 est.)

-2.4% of GDP (2016 est.)

132.5% of GDP (2016 est.)

132.1% of GDP (2015 est.)

calendar year

-0.1% (2016 est.)

0.1% (2015 est.)

0.25% (31 December 2013)

0.75% (31 December 2012)

3.5% (31 December 2016 est.)

4.13% (31 December 2015 est.)

$1.101 trillion (31 December 2016 est.)

$1.027 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)

$1.519 trillion (31 December 2016 est.)

$1.497 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)

$3.024 trillion (31 December 2016 est.)

$3.053 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)

$587.3 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$615.5 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$480.5 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$47.31 billion (2016 est.)

$26.12 billion (2015 est.)

$454.1 billion (2016 est.)

$449.6 billion (2015 est.)

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

Germany 12.6%, France 10.5%, US 8.9%, UK 5.4%, Spain 5%, Switzerland 4.6% (2016)

$387.1 billion (2016 est.)

$393.4 billion (2015 est.)

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

Germany 16.3%, France 8.9%, China 7.5%, Netherlands 5.5%, Spain 5.3%, Belgium 4.9% (2016)

$136 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

$130.6 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$2.444 trillion (31 March 2016 est.)

$2.3 trillion (31 March 2015 est.)

$471.7 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

$457.1 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$584.1 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

$587.3 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

euros (EUR) per US dollar -

0.9214 (2016 est.)

0.885 (2015 est.)

0.885 (2014 est.)

0.7634 (2013 est.)

0.7752 (2012 est.)

269.3 billion kWh (2015 est.)

296 billion kWh (2015 est.)

6.155 billion kWh (2016 est.)

43.18 billion kWh (2016 est.)

117 million kW (2015 est.)

52.8% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)

12.5% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)

28.6% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)

70,670 bbl/day (2016 est.)

11,610 bbl/day (2016 est.)

1.231 million bbl/day (2016 est.)

556.7 million bbl (1 January 2017 es)

1.567 million bbl/day (2016 est.)

1.253 million bbl/day (2016 est.)

572,000 bbl/day (2016 est.)

449,600 bbl/day (2016 est.)

5.785 billion cu m (2016 est.)

70.91 billion cu m (2016 est.)

21.2 million cu m (2016 est.)

65.28 billion cu m (2016 est.)

49.13 billion cu m (1 January 2017 es)

362 million Mt (2013 est.)

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

.it

I (2016)

129 (2013)

5 (2013)

gas 20,223 km; oil 1,393 km; refined products 1,574 km (2013)

2,400 km (used for commercial traffic; of limited overall value compared to road and rail) (2012)

1.51% of GDP (2016)

1.39% of GDP (2015)

1.47% of GDP (2014)

1.59% of GDP (2013)

1.63% of GDP (2012)

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), Financial Guard (Guardia di Finanza) (2015)

18-25 years of age for voluntary military service; women may serve in any military branch; Italian citizenship required; 1-year service obligation (2013)

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