can read and write
total population: 98.6%
male: 99%
female: 98.3% (2003 est.)

Government Italy

Country name:
conventional long form: Italian Republic
conventional short form: Italy
local long form: Repubblica Italiana
local short form: Italia
former: Kingdom of Italy

Government type:
republic

Capital:
Rome

Administrative divisions:
16 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 4 autonomous regions*
(regioni autonome, singular - regione autonoma); Abruzzo,
Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia
Giulia*, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte,
Puglia, Sardegna*, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige*, Umbria,
Valle d'Aosta*, Veneto

Independence:
17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally
unified until 1870)

National holiday:
Republic Day, 2 June (1946)

Constitution:
passed 11 December 1947, effective 1 January 1948; amended many
times

Legal system:
based on civil law system; appeals treated as new trials; judicial
review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal (except in senatorial elections, where
minimum age is 25)

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI (since 13 May 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the
president of the Council of Ministers) Silvio BERLUSCONI (since 10
June 2001)
cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and
approved by the president
elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of
both houses of parliament and 58 regional representatives for a
seven-year term; election last held 13 May 1999 (next to be held May
2006); prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by
parliament
election results: Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI elected president; percent of
electoral college vote - 70%
note: a four-party government coalition includes Forza Italia,
National Alliance, Northern League, and Union of Christian Democrats
and Center Democrats

Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato
della Repubblica (315 seats elected by popular vote of which 232 are
directly elected and 83 are elected by regional proportional
representation; in addition, there are a small number of
senators-for-li