s and over: 17% (male 3,902,426; female 5,684,515) (July 1996
est.)

Population growth rate: 0.13% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 9.87 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 9.82 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.95 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 6.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.06 years
male: 74.85 years
female: 81.48 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.27 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Italian(s)
adjective: Italian

Ethnic divisions: Italian (includes small clusters of German-,
French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and
Greek-Italians in the south), Sicilians, Sardinians

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: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 97%
male: 98%
female: 96%

Government
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Name of country:
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

Type of government: republic

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 system, with ecclesiastical law
influence; appeals treated as trials de novo; 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 bra