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Italy Facts and Figures
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The Republic of Italy

Name: Italy/Italia | Italian Republic/Repubblica Italiana 

 

AREA: 116,348 square miles – 301,000 sq. km (world comparison: 73)

  • 97.6% land, 2.4% water

  • Land use:

    • agriculture - 47.1% (2018 est)

    • forest - 31.4% (2018 est)

    • Other - 21.5% (2018 est)

  • Border line 1,148 mi (1,836 km) -Austria (253 mi/404 km), France (298 mi/476 km), Vatican (2.1 mi/3.4 km), San Marino (23 mi/37 km), Slovenia (136 mi/218 km), Switzerland (436 mi/698 km)

 

POPULATION: (Jan-2022 est.): 61.1 million

  • World rank: 23

  • Birth rate: 6.95/1,000

  • Death rate: 11.3/1,000

  • Ages

    • 13.5% less than 15 yrs. old

    • 64.5% ages 15 – 65

    • 22% over 65

    • Life expectancy (at birth) 

      • male: 80.3 yrs​

      • female: 85.1 yrs

      • Total: 82.6 yrs

  • 72% Urban, 29% Rural (2022 est)

    • Rome: 4.3 mil, Milan: 3.2 mil, Naples: 2.2 mil, Turin: 0.9 mil, Palermo: 0.9 mil​

  • 488 People/sq mile (189/ sq. Km)

  • Ethnic Groups

    • Italian, small minorities German, French, Slovene, Albanian and Greek

 

LANGUAGES: Italian (small sections speak German or Slovene)

 

CAPITAL, REGIONS AND MAJOR CITIES (2019 est.)

  • Rome – 2.9 million (Capital)

  • Milan – 3.1 million

  • Naples – 2.2 million

  • Turin – 1.8 million

  • 15 regions

    • Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio (Latium), Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte (Piedmont), Puglia (Apulia), Toscana (Tuscany), Umbria, Veneto​

  • 5 autonomous regions

    • ​Friuli Venezia Giulia, Sardegna (Sardinia), Sicilia (Sicily), Trentino-Alto Adige (Trentino-South Tyrol) or Trentino-Suedtirol (German), Valle d'Aosta (Aosta Valley)​

 

ECONOMY / GDP: 

$2.3 trill (GDP/ capita; Agriculture-9%; Industry & Commerce-32%; Services

  • Exports $496 B

    • Partners

      • Germany 12.5%

      • France 10.3%

      • US 9%

      • Spain 5.2%

      • UK 5.2%

      • Switzerland 4.6%

  • Imports $ 433 B

    • Partners

      • Germany 16.3%

      • France 8.8%

      • China 7.1%

      • Netherlands 5.6%

      • Spain 5.3%

      • Belgium 4.5%

  • Tourism $ 24 B

  • National Budget

    • Revenues – $903 B

    • Expenditures – $948 B

 

RELIGION

  • Christian – 80.8% (mostly Roman Catholic)

  • Muslim – 4.9%

  • Unaffiliated – 13.4%

  • ​Other – 0.9%

 

EDUCATION

  • Education expenditure: 4.3% of GDP

  • Literacy (2020 est.)

    • ​Education is free and compulsory for ages 6-13

    • 99.2% of adult population is literate

  • 90 Universities (2017 est.) 

​

​HEALTH

  • Hospital Beds – 3.12 per 1,000 population

  • Physicians – 4 per 1,000 population (2020 est.)

  • Infant Mortality – 2.43 per 1,000 population

GOVERNMENT

  • Parlamentary Republic

  • Capital: Rome (standard time: 6 hours ahead of New York)

Sergio Mattarella

Cabinet President (Chief of State): Sergio Mattarella (independent) – born 7/23/1941, elected on January 31, 2015, succeeding President Giorgio Napolitano, who resigned on 1/14/2015.

The President is elected for a 7-year term by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives.  President Mattarella was re-elected on January 29, 2022

Giorgia Meloni

Cabinet Prime Minister (Head of Government): Giorgia Meloni, born 15 January 1977, has been serving as the prime minister of Italy since 22 October 2022, the first woman to hold this position.

A member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006, she has led the Brothers of Italy (FdI) political party since 2014, and she has been the president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party since 2020.

Governing Coalition (2022)

Giorgia Meloni
Matteo Salvini
Silvio Berlusconi

Giorgia Meloni

FdI

Matteo Salvini

LN

Silvio Berlusconi

FI

Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi are Deputy Prime Ministers, each with the official title of Vice President of the Council of Ministers.

Cabinet

Referred to as Council of Ministers, nominated by the Prime Minister and approved by the President.

​

Legislature

Bicameral Legislature or “Parlamento” consists of the Senate or “Senato” holding 326 seats, 315 elected by popular vote of which 232 are directly elected and 83 are elected by regional proportional representation, and 11 senators are appointed for-life. Members serve five-year terms.

​

Chamber of Deputies or “Camera dei Deputati” holding 630 seats, 475 members are elected directly and 155 are elected by regional proportional representation. Members serve five-year terms

Political Division

​20 regions with, some autonomy, divided into 95 provinces.

​

Political Parties (2022 elections  9/25/2022, next on 9/30/2027)

  • Governing Coalition (Center Right):

    • Brothers of Italy (FdI 65 seats) - Giorgia Meloni, Council Chair/Prime Minister),

    • Northern League (Lega Nord 30 seats or Lega) - Matteo SALVINI,

    • Forza Italia (FI 18 seats) - Silvio Berlusconi.

  • Center - Left-Coalition:

    • Democratic Party (PD 40 seats) - Valentina Cuppi

    • Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra (AVS  3 seats) - Angelo Bonelli/Nicola Fratoianni

    • Muovimento 5 Stelle (M5S 28 seats) - Beppe Grillo

    • Italia Viva (IV 9 seats) - Matteo Renzi

    • Südtiroler Volkspartei (South Tyrolean People’s Party/SVP 2 seats) - Philipp Achammer

    • Sud chiama Nord (South calls North/SCN 1 seat) - Cateno De Luca

  • Other Parties and Parliamentary Groups:

    • Action (Azione/A o Az) - Carlo Calenda

    • Article One (Articolo Uno/Art.1) - Roberto Speranza

    • Associative Movement of Italians Abroad (Movimento Associativo Italiani all'Estero, MAIE) - Ricardo Antonio Merlo

    • August 24th Movement (Movimento 24 Agosto/M24A) - Pino Aprile

    • Base Camp (Campobase) - Micheal Rech

    • Centrists for Europe (Centristi per l'Europa/CpE) - Pier Ferdinanco Casini 

    • Courage Italy (Coraggio Italia/CI) - Luigi Brugnaro

    • Democratic Center (Centro Democratico/CD) - Bruno Tabacci

    • Fassa Association (Associazione Fassa/Fassa) - Francesco Pitscheider

    • Free and Equal (Liberi e Uguali/LeU) - Pietro Grasso

    • Green Europe (Europa Verde/EV) - Marco Boato/Fiorella Zabatta

    • Italian Left (Sinistra Italiana/SI) - Maria Gabriella Branca

    • Italy in the Center (Italia al Centro/IaC) - Giovanni Toti

    • It is Alive (èViva) - Francesco Laforgia

    • More Europe  (+EU/Piu Europa) - Emma Bonino

    • New Italian Socialist Party (Nuovo Partito Socialista Italiano/NPSI) - Stefano Caldoro

    • Popular Civic List (Civica Populare/CP) - Beatrice Lorenzin

    • Possible (Possibile/Pos) - Beatrice Brignone

    • Progressive Party (Partito Progressista) - Massimo Zedda

    • Solidary Democracy (Democrazia Solidale/Demo S) - Mario Giro

    • Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party (Partito Autonomista Trentino Tirolese/PATT) - Franco Panizza

    • Union of the Center (Unione di Centro/UdC) - Antonio de Poli

    • Us with Italy (Noi con L'Italia/NcI) - Maurizio Lupi

    • Valdostan Union (Union valdôtaine/UV) - Christina Machet

    • Will Become very Beautiful (Diventerà Bellissima) - Nello Musumeci

 

Political Influencers

  • The Roman Catholic Church;

  • Workers Union (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro/CGIL),  left wing,

  • Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions (Confederazione Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL),

  • Catholic centrist (Centristi Cattolici)

  • Italian Labor Union (Unione Italiana del Lavoro/UIL), 

  • Italian manufacturers and merchants associations (Confederazione Industria, Confederazione Commercio);

  • Organized farm groups (Confederazione Coltivatori, Confederazione Agricoltura)

 

Voting Qualification

Universal voting rights for all citizens age 18 and older

​

Judicial Branch/Highest Court

  • Constitutional Court Supreme Court of Cassation or Corte Costituzionale, composed of 15 judges

    • One-third appointed by the president

    • One-third elected by Parliament

    • One-third elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts

 

Armed Services​ (2021 est)

  • Mandatory 12-month service by men ages 18 -25

  • Budget: $32 B (1.5% of GDP)

    • Army – 97,000​

    • Navy – 29,500

    • Air Force – 40,500

    • Paramilitary – 174,000 (Carabinieri, Guardia di Finanza)

    • Reserve: 18,300

 

Transportation​

Air (2017 est.) :

  • Airports – 134

    • Paved – 98

    • Unpaved – 31

    • Heliports – 5

  • Registered Air Carriers

    • Scheduled airlines - 3 (Air Dolomiti, ITA Airways, Neos)

    • Charter airlines - 39 (Aer Sicilia, Aeroitalia, AF Air, Air Corporate, Air Four, Air Panarea, Air Service Center, Air Walser, Airaia, Airgreen, Alba Servizi Aerotrasporti, Alidaunia, Alieurope, Aliparma, Aliven, Avionord, Avioriprese, Benair, Compagnia Generale Ripreseaeree, Eas Aeroservizi, Elicar, Elilario Italia, Elitaliana, Elitellina, Elilombarda, Elimediterranea, Eliossola, Elifriulia, Eurofly Service, Fly Jet, Icaro Aero Taxi, Jetcom, Jet-Ops Europe, PeopleFly, Professione Volare, Sardinian Sky Service, Sirio, Sirio Executive, Star Work Sky)

    • Cargo Airlines - 4 (AirCargo Airlines, Cargolux Italia, Poste Air Cargo, Sw Italia)

  • Annual passengers on registered aircraft – 26 million

  • Annual freight on registered aircraft – 945 million metric ton kilometers

  • Air Traffic through busiest Italian airports (2020 data reflecting a 60% decrease impact due to pandemic)​​

    • Rome - 9.7 mil

    • Milan (MXP) - 7.2 mil

    • Bergamo - 3.8 mil ​

    • Catania - 3.6 mil

    • Venice - 2.7 mil

Rail (2014 est.) :

  • 12,541 mi (20,182 km) tracks

    • Standard Gauge – 11,663 mi (18,770 km)

    • Narrow gauge – 76 mi (122 km)

Roadways (2007 est.) :

  • 303,000 mi (487,700 km)

Waterways (2012 est.) :

  • 1,490 mi (2,400 km)

Merchant Marine (2019 est.) :

  • 1,353

    • Bulk carrier – 48

    • Container ships – 9

    • General cargo – 116

    • Oil tankers – 120

    • Other – 1,060

Ports and Terminals (2017 est.) :

  • Major seaports

    • Augusta (East coast of Sicily)

    • Cagliari (Sardegna)

    • Genova (province of Liguria)

    • Livorno (South West of Pisa)

    • Taranto (Southern Italy – bay inside the “boot”)

    • Trieste (close to Venice, bordering Croatia)

    • Venice

  • Oil Terminal

    • Melilli (East coast of Sicily)

    • Sarroch (near Cagliari, Sardinia)

  • Container Ports (in twenty-foot equivalent unit, also referred to as TEU or teu)

    • Genova – 2.6 million

    • Gioia Tauro 2.5 million (province of Reggio Calabria)

  • LNG Terminals (Liquefied Natural Gas)

    • La Spezia (North East of Florence)

    • Panigaglia (South of La Spezia)

    • Porto Levante (South of Venice)

 

Refugees and Illegal Immigration

Given its geographic location and long coastlines, especially to the South facing North Africa, Italy has historically been a favored destination for refugees, embarking often on unsafe small vessels attempting to make their journey from or via North Africa to the Southern coast of Italy. Many attempts result in fatalities. Between 2015 and 2018, an estimated 504,000 refugees and migrants landed at the Southern Italian coast, predominantly originating from Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mali, Somalia, Gambia, Ukraine, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, and Eritrea.

References: CIA World Facts, www.governo.it

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