A General View Italy: General Information
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ITALIAN EMBASSY LONDON ITALY A GENERAL VIEW ITALY: GENERAL INFORMATION 1. General information 1.1 Geography and climate The territory of the Italian Republic covers 301, 278 sq. km. The peninsula is surrounded by the Mediterranean sea and is limited on its northern border by the Alps. Its territory, with the exception of the Po plain, is almost completely occupied by hills or mountains, and geologically is composed of a considerable variety of rocks. Intense exploitation over many thousands of years has greatly altered the original vegetation cover, however, several species of trees both of Mediterranean and central European nature, are to be found. Italy is renowned for its favourable climatic conditions; due mainly to the Mediterranean sea whose warm waters mitigate against extremes of temperature. The hottest month is July (daily temperatures range from 20ºC to 30ºC), and the coldest month is January (daily temperatures range from 4ºC to 10ºC). The wettest month is November with an average rainfall of 129 mm, whilst the driest month is July with an average rainfall of 15 mm. 1.2 Population The population of Italy from the latest recorded data issued in 2006 was 58,751,711. The population growth, as recorded in 2006, was 0,5%, which was almost exclusively due to the immigration of foreigners. Despite Italy's past political divisions, there is a basic ethnic and linguistic unity to the country, but there are still, small minorities of German speakers in the Alto Adige, French speakers in the Valle d'Aosta and Slovene speakers in Friuli. From a religious point of view, the large majority of Italians are Roman Catholic. Traditionally, Italy has been a land of emigration as witnessed by the massive flows of Italian immigrants migrating to North and South America during the last and early part of this century, as well as to Australia and to Belgium, Germany and Switzerland since W.W.II. In recent years, however, Italy's rapid economic growth has attracted many immigrants to the country, mainly from North and Sub-Saharan Africa, but recently from the Philippines, China, South America, Albania and southeastern Europe. ITALY'S NUMBERS Main territorial and demographic data Latitude North 47° 06' Latitude South 35° 30' Longitude West -5° 50' Longitude East 6° 04' Maximum span (km) 1,200 Territorial surface (km2) 301,336 Total surface of woods (km2) 68,571 Total length of sea coasts (km) 7,375 Surface at high seismic (km2) 27,645 risk Protected areas (km2) 57,325 (km2) 57,325 (km2) 57,325 (m) 4,810 Longest river - Po (km) 652 Railway network (km) 16,225 Road network (km) 172,420 Regions 20 Provinces 107 Municipalities 8,101 Resident population 58,751,711 2 Resident foreigners 2,670,514 Number of households 23,600,370 Households' average 2.5 members Population density (inhab./km2) 195 2. Economic information Italy is amongst the world's eight greatest economic powers in terms of gross domestic product. Italy lacks in energy resources and imports nearly all its gas and oil from foreign countries. The Government elected on April 14 2008, led by Silvio Berlusconi, reopened the debate on nuclear power plants, aiming to reverse a 20-year ban on nuclear energy following a referendum held on the subject in November 1988, which had prevented the Italian Government from further developing the nuclear energy programme. GDP - composition by sector: (2007 estimate) Agriculture 1.9% Industry 28.8% Services 69.3% Further Economic information GDP (purchasing power parity) $1.8 trillion (2007 est. GDP (official exchange rate) $2.068 trillion (2007 est.) GDP - real growth rate 1.9% (2007 est.) GDP - per capita (PPP) $31,000 (2007 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture 1.9% industry 28.8% services 69.3% (2007 est.) Labor force: 24.86 million (2007 est.) Labor force - by occupation: Agriculture 5% Industry 32% Services 63% (2001) Unemployment rate: 6.7% (2007 est.) 3 2.1 Industry The structure of industrial production in Italy is characterised by the prevalence of small and medium sized companies engaged in sectors such as mechanical engineering, clothing and textile industries. It is often the case that towns specialise in production of one material, with the help of small local industries. For example Como produces mainly silk, but Prato produces wool and Verona specialises in shoes. Given the existence of a large number of small local banks in Italy, this geographical specialisation is often very useful since it increases local financiers' knowledge and understanding of the needs of a particular industry. However, there are also many large companies of a multinational nature, many of which are still family-dominated, some of which have become international names throughout the world, such as FIAT, Benetton, Pirelli. Similarly, Italy is now at the forefront of many hi-tech industries such as electronics, telecommunications, aviation and computing. For example Olivetti, which is based in Ivrea, northern Italy, is a leading supplier of computers and software products. Italian ceramics, glass, furniture, household goods and leather articles are renowned throughout the world for their design and quality. 2.2 Agriculture Given the mountainous and hilly nature of its terrain, Italy is unable to supply the food requirements of its population, and whilst a large variety of crops are grown and exported, overall, Italy is a net importer of food and agricultural products. The situation with regard to land use varies enormously. The North of the country, especially the valley of the Po river is very fertile, whilst large areas of the South and particularly Sardinia are simply barren. Examples of crops grown include, rice, maize and wheat (for pasta) in the North, citrus fruits and tomatoes in the South. Wine production is a major feature throughout the country, while olive production is mainly associated with the central and southern areas of Italy are important in the Centre and South. Following a referendum held in 1993, the administration of the agricultural sector has also changed from that of a centralised organisation in Rome, to one where the individual regions are now responsible for day-to-day management (i.e. responsibility for land use etc.), whilst external policies (i.e. dealings with the E.U. application of the Common Agricultural Policy, etc.), will remain with central Government. 2.3 Regional imbalance and the “southern question” The 'Mezzogiorno' is the name given in Italy to that area of the south of the country which comprises of the regions of Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Calabria and Basilicata, as well as the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. This area comprises of 40% of Italy's total land area, 35% of its population but only 24% of its G.D.P. Since W.W.II a concerted effort has been made to redress the long-standing economic imbalance between the north and the south of the country. A government ministry was set-up, operating via the 'Cassa per il Mezzogiorno', an investment fund designed to both attract investment (and thereby jobs) to the south, as well as to channel government funds into infrastructure projects such as roads, railways telecommunications etc. Unfortunately, despite the vast sums of money poured into the area over the years, the fact remains that most of the investment secured into the area was made not by private enterprises, but by state firms and industries which were obliged to relocate to the south, often resulting in ill- conceived ventures. For this reason in 1986, the Cassa was replaced by the 'Agenzia per la Promozione dello Sviluppo del Mezzogiorno', with the aim of attracting more private investment. Finally, the Ministry for Southern Development was abolished altogether in 1992 and incorporated into the Budget Ministry. At present, a major re-assessment of the question of assistance to the Mezzogiorno is taking place in Italy. The Northern League, which has campaigns to stop further financial assistance to the south. With the relative failure of southern policies to date, it is likely that future Government policy in this area will rely less on direct transfer of funds, but more on a combination of grants, subsidised loans and tax incentives designed to attract private investment and jobs to the Mezzogiorno. 4 2.4 Employment Figures EMPLOYED BY OCCUPATION, BRANCH AND GEOGRAPHICAL AREA: (2006, thousands of people) NORTH CENTRE SOUTH ITALY AGRICULTURE Employees 106 63 305 474 Self-employed 249 79 178 50 Total 356 142 483 980 INDUSTRY Employees 3,359 933 1,164 5,456 Self-employed 819 296 355 1,470 Total 4,178 1,230 1,519 6,926 SERVICES Employees 5,271 2,404 3,308 10,983 Self-employed 1,998 893 1,206 4,097 Total 7,269 3,297 4,514 15,080 TOTAL Employees 8,737 3,401 4,777 16,915 Self-employed 3,066 1,268 1,739 6,073 Total 11,803 4,669 6,516 22,988 3. The Italian political System Italy was proclaimed a Republic in 1946 following a national referendum and adopted its constitutional charter on 1 January 1948. The constitution lists the political and civil liberties of citizens and the parliamentary principles of government. The Head of State is the President of the Republic, elected by the Parliament every seven years; the President represents the nation's unity and guarantees constitutional powers. The current President, Giorgio Napolitano, was elected on 15 May 2006. The Parliament is divided into two assemblies, the Chamber of Deputies with 630 members and the Senate with 315 members; they enjoy equal powers and are both elected by universal suffrage. The Government is appointed by the President of the Republic and is led by the President of the Council of Ministers.