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Italy:
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Other pages in this profile of Italy:
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.
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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 disastrous 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 was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north. |
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Location |
Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia |
Geographic coordinates |
42 50 N, 12 50 E |
Map references |
Europe |
Area |
total: 301,230 sq km land: 294,020 sq km water: 7,210 sq km note: includes Sardinia and Sicily |
Area - comparative |
slightly larger than Arizona |
Land boundaries |
total: 1,932.2 km border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740 km |
Coastline |
7,600 km |
Maritime claims |
territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Climate |
predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south |
Terrain |
mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands |
Elevation extremes |
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) de Courmayeur 4,748 m (a secondary peak of Mont Blanc) |
Natural resources |
coal, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorspar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land |
Land use |
arable land: 26.41% permanent crops: 9.09% other: 64.5% (2005) |
Irrigated land |
27,500 sq km (2003) |
Natural hazards |
regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice |
Environment - current issues |
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: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Geography - note |
strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe |
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