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 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 branch:
chief of state: President Oscar Luigi SCALFARO (since 28 May 1992)
head of government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the
president of the Council of Ministers) Romano PRODI (since 18 May
1996)
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 25 May 1992 (next to be held NA
1999); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Oscar Luigi SCALFARO elected president; percent of
electoral college vote-NA

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the
Senate or Senato della Repubblica (326 seats, 315 popularly elected of
which 232 are directly elected and 83 by regional proportional
representation, 11 appointed senators-for-life; members serve
five-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati
(630 seats; 475 are directly elected, 155 by regional proportional
representation; members serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate-last held 21 April 1996 (next to be held by NA April
2001); Chamber of Deputies-last held 21 April 1996 (next to be held by
NA April 2001)
election results: Senate-percent of vote by party-NA; seats by
party-Olive Tree 157