lothing, footwear, ceramics
Agriculture:
accounts for about 4% of GDP and about 9.8% of the work force;
self-sufficient in foods other than meat, dairy products, and cereals;
principal crops - fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets,
soybeans, grain, olives; fish catch of 525,000 metric tons in 1990
Illicit drugs:
important gateway country for Latin American cocaine and Southwest
Asian heroin entering the European market
Economic aid:
donor:
ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $25.9 billion
Currency:
1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi
Exchange rates:
Italian lire (Lit) per US$1 - 1,700.2 (January 1994), 1,573.7 (1993),
1,232.4 (1992), 1,240.6 (1991), 1,198.1 (1990), 1,372.1 (1989)
Fiscal year:
calendar year

@Italy, Communications

Railroads:
20,011 km total; 16,066 km 1.435-meter government-owned standard gauge
(8,999 km electrified); 3,945 km privately owned - 2,100 km
1.435-meter standard gauge (1,155 km electrified) and 1,845 km
0.950-meter narrow gauge (380 km electrified)
Highways:
total:
298,000 km
paved:
270,000 km (including nearly 7,000 km of expressways)
unpaved:
gravel, crushed stone 23,000 km; earth 5,000 km
Inland waterways:
2,400 km for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited
overall value
Pipelines:
crude oil 1,703 km; petroleum products 2,148 km; natural gas 19,400 km
Ports:
Cagliari (Sardinia), Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Naples, Palermo
(Sicily), Taranto, Trieste, Venice
Merchant marine:
474 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,055,779 GRT/8,924,779 DWT,
bulk 50, cargo 72, chemical tanker 34, combination bulk 1, combination
ore/oil 5, container 20, liquefied gas 39, multifunction large-load
carrier 1, oil tanker 129, passenger 8, refrigerated cargo 2,
roll-on/roll-off cargo 62, short-sea passenger 34, specialized tanker
10, vehicle carrier 7
Airports:
total:
137
usable:
132
with permanent-surface runways:
92
with runways over 3,659 m:
2
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
36
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
39
Telecommunications:
modern, well-developed, fast; 25,600,000 telephones; fully automated
telephone, telex, and data services; high-capacity cable and microwave
radio relay trunks; broadcast stations - 135 AM, 28 (1,840 repeaters)
FM, 83 (1,000 repeaters) TV; international service by 21 submarine
cables, 3 satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT with 3
Atlantic Oc