t of Tunisia

Geographic coordinates: 42 50 N, 12 50 E

Map references: Europe

Area:
total area: 301,230 sq km
land area: 294,020 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Arizona
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily

Land boundaries:
total: 1,935.2 km
border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican
City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 235 km, Switzerland 740 km

Coastline: 7,600 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: Italy is negotiating with Slovenia over
property and minority rights issues dating from World War II

Climate: predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot,
dry in south

Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal
lowlands
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m

Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling
natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal

Land use:
arable land: 32%
permanent crops: 10%
meadows and pastures: 17%
forest and woodland: 22%
other: 19%

Irrigated land: 31,000 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: 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
natural hazards: regional risks include landslides, mudflows,
avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land
subsidence in Venice
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not
ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Desertification

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

People
------

Population: 57,460,274 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 15% (male 4,419,636; female 4,167,860)
15-64 years: 68% (male 19,656,546; female 19,629,291)
65 year