1.19 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.35% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 95,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 1,000 (1999 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: predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and
Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community

Languages: Italian (official), 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: 98% (1998) male: NA% female: NA%

Government Italy

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

Government type: 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; Italy was
not finally unified until 1870)

National holiday: Republic Day, 2 June (1946)

Constitution: 1 January 1948

Legal system: based on civil law system; appeals treated as new trials;
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 Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI
(since 13 May 1999) 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 13 May 1999 (next to be held
NA May 2006); prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed
by Parliament head of government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy
as the president of the Council of Ministers) Silvio BERLUSCONI (since
10 June 2001) cabinet: the president election results: Carlo Azegli