Italy

Official name Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic)
Form of government republic with two legislative houses (Senate [3231]; Chamber of Deputies [630])
Head of state President: Giorgio Napolitano
Head of government Prime Minister: Matteo Renzi
Capital Rome
Official language Italian2
Official religion none
Monetary unit euro (€)
Population (2013 est.) 59,866,000COLLAPSE
Total area (sq mi) 116,346
Total area (sq km) 301,336
Urban-rural population

Urban: (2011) 68.4%

Rural: (2011) 31.6%

Life expectancy at birth

Male: (2011) 79.4 years

Female: (2011) 84.5 years

Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate

Male: (2007) 99.1%

Female: (2007) 98.6%

GNI per capita (U.S.$) (2012) 33,840

1Includes 7 nonelective seats (5 presidential appointees and 2 former presidents serving ex officio).

2In addition, German is locally official in the region of Trentino–Alto Adige, and French is locally official in the region of Valle d’Aosta.

Background of Italy

To the north, Italy borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia, and its borders are largely naturally defined by the Alpine watershed. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula and the two largest Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinia as well as around 68 smaller islands. There are two small independent states within Italy: the Vatican City in Rome, and the Republic of San Marino. The most important sectors of Italy’s economy in 2012 were wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services (20.6 %) and industry (18.4 %) and public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities (16.9 %). Italy’s main export partners are Germany, France and the US while its main import partners are Germany, France and China.

Disclaimer

This is not the official site of this country. Most of the information in this site were taken from the U.S. Department of State, The Central Intelligence Agency, The United Nations, [1],[2], [3], [4], [5],[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14],[15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24],[25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30],[31], [32], [33], [34], and the [35].

Other sources of information will be mentioned as they are posted.