Country Name: Italy (Italian Republic)

Capital: Rome

Government Type: parliamentary republic

Background: 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.

Continent: Europe

Population: 61,021,855 (2023 est.)

Ethnic Groups: Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)

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)

Religions: 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.)

Economic Overview: 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

Currency: European Euro (EUR)

Reserves of Foreign Exchange & Gold: $224.581 billion (2022 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars

Real GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $2.611 trillion (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars

Real GDP Growth Rate: 3.72% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

Real GDP per Capita: $44,300 (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars

Exports: 

• $751.092 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

• Comparison Ranking: 11

Export Commodities: packaged medicines, cars and vehicle parts, refined petroleum, vaccines and cultures, jewelry, valves (2021)

Export Partners: Germany 12%, France 11%, United States 10%, United Kingdom 5%, Spain 5%, Switzerland 5% (2019)

Imports: 

• $781.083 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

• Comparison Ranking: 10

Import Commodities: crude petroleum, cars, packaged medicines, natural gas, refined petroleum (2019)

Import Partners: Germany 16%, France 9%, China 7%, Spain 5%, Netherlands 5%, Belgium 5% (2019)

Natural Resources: coal, antimony, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorspar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land

Agricultural Products: milk, grapes, wheat, maize, tomatoes, apples, olives, sugar beets, oranges, rice

Industries: tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics

Industrial Production Growth Rate: 

• 1.9% (2022 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency

• Comparison Ranking: 130

Labor Force: 25.342 million (2022 est.)

Unemployment Rate: 8.07% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

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

• Volcanism: significant volcanic activity; Etna (3,330 m), which is in eruption as of 2013, 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

Geography:

• Total: 301,340 sq km

• Land: 294,140 sq km

• Water: 7,200 sq km

(Country Summary, The World Factbook, CIA.gov)

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