Population growth rate: 0.09% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 9.13 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 9.99 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 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: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 79.03 years
male: 75.85 years
female: 82.41 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.18 children born/woman (2000 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%

@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

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: Anniversary of the Republic, 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 (s