"text":"<p>Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy is a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC) and its subsequent successors the EC and the EU. It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include sluggish economic growth, high youth and female unemployment, organized crime, corruption, and economic disparities between southern Italy and the more prosperous north.</p>"
"text":"despite a distinctive pattern with an industrial north and an agrarian south, a fairly even population distribution exists throughout most of the country, with coastal areas, the Po River Valley, and urban centers (particularly Milan, Rome, and Naples), attracting larger and denser populations"
"text":"<p>regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice</p><p><strong>volcanism:</strong> significant volcanic activity; Etna (3,330 m), which is in eruption as of 2010, is Europe's most active volcano; flank eruptions pose a threat to nearby Sicilian villages; Etna, along with the famous Vesuvius, which remains a threat to the millions of nearby residents in the Bay of Naples area, have both been deemed Decade Volcanoes by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to their explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Stromboli, on its namesake island, has also been continuously active with moderate volcanic activity; other historically active volcanoes include Campi Flegrei, Ischia, Larderello, Pantelleria, Vulcano, and Vulsini</p>"
"text":"Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)"
"text":"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)"
"text":"<br>L'Almanacco dei fatti del mondo, l'indispensabile fonte per le informazioni di base. (Italian)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"Christian 80.8% (overwhelmingly Roman Catholic with very small groups of Jehovah's Witnesses and Protestants), Muslim 4.9%, unaffiliated 13.4%, other 0.9% (2020 est.)"
"text":"despite a distinctive pattern with an industrial north and an agrarian south, a fairly even population distribution exists throughout most of the country, with coastal areas, the Po River Valley, and urban centers (particularly Milan, Rome, and Naples), attracting larger and denser populations"
"text":"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":{
"text":"Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"predominantly Mediterranean; alpine in far north; hot, dry in south"
"text":"derivation is unclear, but the Latin \"Italia\" may come from the Oscan \"Viteliu\" meaning \"[Land] of Young Cattle\" (the bull was a symbol of southern Italic tribes)"
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"parliamentary republic"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Rome"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"41 54 N, 12 29 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
},
"daylight saving time":{
"text":"+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October"
"text":"17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally unified until 1871)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Republic Day, 2 June (1946)"
},
"Constitution":{
"history":{
"text":"previous 1848 (originally for the Kingdom of Sardinia and adopted by the Kingdom of Italy in 1861); latest enacted 22 December 1947, adopted 27 December 1947, entered into force 1 January 1948"
"text":"proposed by both houses of Parliament; passage requires two successive debates and approval by absolute majority of each house on the second vote; a referendum is only required when requested by one fifth of the members of either house, by voter petition, or by 5 Regional Councils (elected legislative assemblies of the 15 first-level administrative regions and 5 autonomous regions of Italy); referendum not required if an amendment has been approved by a two-thirds majority in each house in the second vote; amended many times, last in 2020"
"text":"Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, known officially as the President of the Council of Ministers and locally as the Premier; nominated by the president; the current deputy prime ministers, known officially as vice presidents of the Council of Ministers, are Matteo SALVINI (L) and Antonio TAIANI (FI) (since 22 October 2022)"
"text":"president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives for a 7-year term (no term limits); election last held on 24-29 January 2022 (eight rounds) (next to be held in 2029); prime minister appointed by the president, confirmed by parliament"
"text":"<p><em>2022:</em> Sergio MATTARELLA (independent) reelected president; electoral college vote count in eighth round - 759 out of 1,009 (505 vote threshold)<br><br><em>2015: </em>Sergio MATTARELLA (independent) elected president; electoral college vote count in fourth round - 665 out of 995 (505 vote threshold)</p> <p></p>"
"text":"bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of:<br>Senate or Senato della Repubblica (200 elected seats; 122 members in multi-seat constituencies directly elected by proportional representation vote, 74 members in single-seat constituencies directly elected by plurality vote, and 4 members in multi-seat constituencies abroad directly elected by proportional representation vote; all members serve 5-year terms)<br>Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (400 seats; 245 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; 147 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by plurality vote and 8 members in multi-seat constituencies abroad by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)"
"text":"<br>Senate - last held on 25 September 2022<br>Chamber of Deputies - last held on 25 September 2022; note - snap elections were called when Prime Minister DRAGHI resigned, and the parliament was dissolved on 21 July 2022 (next to be held 30 September 2027)"
"text":"<br>Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - center-right coalition (FdI 65, Lega 30, FI 18), center-left coalition (PD 40, AVS 3), M5S 28, Action-Italia Viva 9, SVP 2, MAIE 1, ScN 1; composition (as of September 2022) - men 131, women 69, percent of women 34.5%<br>Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - center-right coalition (FdI 119, Lega 66, FI 45), center-left coalition (PD 69, AVS 12), M5S 52, Action-Italia Viva 21, SVP 3, MAIE 1, ScN 1; composition (as of September 2022) - men 271, women 129, percent of women 32.3%; note - total Parliament percent of women 33%"
"note":"<strong>note</strong>: in October 2019, Italy's Parliament voted to reduce the number of Senate seats from 315 to 200 and the number of Chamber of Deputies seats from 630 to 400; a referendum to reduce the membership of Parliament held on 20-21 September 2020 was approved, effective for the September 2022 snap election"
"text":"Supreme Court of Cassation or Corte Suprema di Cassazione (consists of the first president (chief justice), deputy president, 54 justices presiding over 6 civil and 7 criminal divisions, and 288 judges; an additional 30 judges of lower courts serve as supporting judges; cases normally heard by 5-judge panels; more complex cases heard by 9-judge panels); Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (consists of the court president and 14 judges)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Supreme Court judges appointed by the High Council of the Judiciary, headed by the president of the republic; judges may serve for life; Constitutional Court judges - 5 appointed by the president, 5 elected by Parliament, 5 elected by select higher courts; judges serve up to 9 years"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"various lower civil and criminal courts (primary and secondary tribunals and courts of appeal)"
"text":"<p>Action-Italia Viva [Carlo CALENDA and Matteo RENZI]<br>Associative Movement of Italians Abroad or MAIE [Ricardo Antonio MERIO]<br>Brothers of Italy or FdI [Giorgia MELONI]<br>Democratic Party or PD [Elly SCHLEIN]<br>Five Star Movement or M5S [Giuseppe CONTE]<br>Forza Italia or FI<br>Free and Equal (Liberi e Uguali) or LeU [Pietro GRASSO]<br>Greens and Left Alliance or AVS [Angelo BONELLI]<br>Italexit [Gianluigi PARAGONE]]<br>League or Lega [Matteo SALVINI]<br>More Europe or +EU [Emma BONINO]<br>Popular Union or PU [Luigi DE MAGISTRIS]<br>South calls North or ScN [Cateno DE LUCA]<br>South Tyrolean Peoples Party or SVP [Philipp ACHAMMER]<br>other minor parties</p>"
"text":"three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; design inspired by the French flag brought to Italy by Napoleon in 1797; colors are those of Milan (red and white) combined with the green uniform color of the Milanese civic guard",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> similar to the flag of Mexico, which is longer, uses darker shades of green and red, and has its coat of arms centered on the white band; Ireland, which is longer and is green (hoist side), white, and orange; also similar to the flag of the Cote d'Ivoire, which has the colors reversed - orange (hoist side), white, and green"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> adopted 1946; the anthem, originally written in 1847, is also known as \"L'Inno di Mameli\" (Mameli's Hymn), and \"Fratelli D'Italia\" (Brothers of Italy)"
"text":"Historic Center of Rome (c); Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata (c); Venice and its Lagoon (c); Historic Center of Florence (c); Piazza del Duomo, Pisa (c); Historic Centre of Naples (c); Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (c); Villa d'Este, Tivoli (c); Mount Etna (n); Rock Drawings in Valcamonica (c); Historic Siena (c)"
"text":"core EU economy; strong services, manufacturing, and tourism sectors; hard hit by COVID-19 disruptions but starting to recover; large EU exporter but data skews due to inflated port entry valuation; corruption somewhat stymies foreign direct investment"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> Italy reports its data on public debt according to guidelines set out in the Maastricht Treaty; general government gross debt is defined in the Maastricht Treaty as consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year, in the following categories of government liabilities (as defined in ESA95): currency and deposits (AF.2), securities other than shares excluding financial derivatives (AF.3, excluding AF.34), and loans (AF.4); the general government sector comprises central, state, and local government and social security funds"
"text":"Italy’s large telecom market has one of the most progressive fiber sectors in Europe, with regulatory measures encouraging network sharing; regulatory measures have also been introduced to facilitate access to next generation networks (NGNs), and a number of deals have been brokered which enable the main telcoms to provide bundled services to large numbers of the population; Italy’s vibrant mobile market has one of the highest subscription rates in Europe, though the number of subscribers has fallen in recent years as customers respond to attractive off-net pricing which has reduced the financial benefit of having SIM cards from different providers; network companies were among the first in Europe to trial services based on 5G; the high cost also encouraged the regulator in early 2021 to consider extending the licenses by an additional six years (2021)"
"text":"country code - 39; landing points for Italy-Monaco, Italy-Libya, Italy-Malta, Italy-Greece-1, Italy-Croatia, BlueMed, Janna, FEA, SeaMeWe-3 & 4 & 5, Trapani-Kelibia, Columbus-III, Didon, GO-1, HANNIBAL System, MENA, Bridge International, Malta-Italy Interconnector, Melita1, IMEWE, VMSCS, AAE-1, and OTEGLOBE, submarine cables that provide links to Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia and US; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (with a total of 5 antennas - 3 for Atlantic Ocean and 2 for Indian Ocean) (2019)"
"text":"two Italian media giants dominate with 3 national terrestrial stations and privately owned companies with 3 national terrestrial stations; a large number of private stations, a satellite TV network; 3 AM/FM nationwide radio stations; about 1,300 commercial radio stations"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"text":"Italy operates one PC 5 or 6 class light icebreaker, it is based in the Mediterranean<br>note - PC indicates a Polar Class vessel: PC 5 - year-round operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 70-120 cm); PC 6 - summer/autumn operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 30-70 cm)"
"text":"Italian Armed Forces: Army (Esercito Italiano, EI), Navy (Marina Militare Italiana, MMI; includes aviation, marines), Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana, AMI); Carabinieri Corps (Arma dei Carabinieri, CC) (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note 1:</strong> the National Police and Carabinieri (gendarmerie or military police) maintain internal security; the National Police reports to the Ministry of Interior while the Carabinieri reports to the Ministry of Defense but is also under the coordination of the Ministry of Interior; the Carabinieri is primarily a domestic police force organized along military lines, with some overseas responsibilities<br><br><strong>note 2:</strong> the Financial Guard (Guardia di Finanza) under the Ministry of Economy and Finance is a force with military status and nationwide remit for financial crime investigations, including narcotics trafficking, smuggling, and illegal immigration"
"text":"the military's inventory includes a mix of domestically manufactured, imported, and jointly produced weapons systems, mostly from Europe and the US; in recent years, the US has been the lead supplier of military hardware to Italy; the Italian defense industry is capable of producing equipment across all the military domains with particular strengths in aircraft, armored vehicles, and naval vessels; it also participates in joint development and production of advanced weapons systems with other European countries and the US (2023)"
"text":"17-25 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women (some variations on age depending on the military branch); voluntary service is a minimum of 12 months with the option to extend in the Armed Forces or compete for positions in the Military Corps of the Italian Red Cross, the State Police, the Carabinieri, the Guardia di Finanza, the Penitentiary Police, or the National Fire Brigade; recruits can also volunteer for 4 years military service; conscription abolished 2004 (2022)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> women may serve in any military branch; as of 2019, women made up about 6% of the military's full-time personnel"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some NATO countries, including Italy, have sent additional troops and equipment to the battlegroups deployed in NATO territory in eastern Europe"
"text":"Italy is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) in 1949<br><br>Italy is an active participant in EU, NATO, UN, and other multinational military, security, and humanitarian operations abroad; as of 2022, it hosted the headquarters for the EU’s Mediterranean naval operations force (EUNAVFOR-MED) in Rome and the US Navy’s 6th Fleet in Naples; Italy was admitted to the UN in 1955 and in 1960 participated in its first UN peacekeeping mission, the UN Operation in Congo (ONUC); since 1960, it has committed more than 60,000 troops to UN missions; since 2006, Italy has hosted a training center in Vicenza for police personnel destined for peacekeeping missions (2023)"
"text":"Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix-T"
"text":"<p>Italy's long coastline and developed economy entices tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from southeastern Europe and northern Africa</p> <p><em>Italy-Austria-Switzerland</em>: borders are shifting because glacier peaks that had served as a natural boundary are melting</p>"
