ulphur 94, Desertification,
Tropical Timber 94

Geography - note: strategic location dominating central Mediterranean
as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe

@Italy:People

Population: 56,830,508 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years : 15% (male 4,234,767; female 3,997,589)
15-64 years: 68% (male 19,314,674; female 19,442,196)
65 years and over: 17% (male 4,028,659; female 5,812,623) (July 1997
est.)

Population growth rate: -0.08% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 8.96 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 10.07 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 6.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.25 years
male: 75.13 years
female: 81.58 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.16 children born/woman (1997 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: Roman Catholic 98%, other 2%

Languages: Italian, 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: 97%
male: 98%
female: 96% (1990 est.)

@Italy:Government

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

Data code: IT

Government type: republic

National capital: Rome

Administrative divisions: 20 regions (regioni, singular - regione);
Abruzzi, 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)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946)

Constitution: 1 January 1948

Legal system: based on civil law