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This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

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@Italy

Introduction Italy

Background:
Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-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 European 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.

Geography Italy

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
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily
water: 7,210 sq km
land: 294,020 sq km

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,
fluorospar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil
reserves, fish, arable land

Land use:
arable land: 27.79%
permanent crops: 9.53%
other: 62.68% (2001)

Irrigated land:
26,980 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
regional risks inclu