regional risks include landslides, mudflows,
avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence
in Venice

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

Environment-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, Desertification, 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, Tropical Timber 94

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

@Italy:People

Population: 56,782,748 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 14% (male 4,192,662; female 3,955,857)
15-64 years: 68% (male 19,265,714; female 19,369,554)
65 years and over: 18% (male 4,098,526; female 5,900,435) (July 1998
est.)

Population growth rate: -0.08% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 9.13 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 10.18 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 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 (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 6.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.38 years
male: 75.26 years
female: 81.7 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.19 children born/woman (1998 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