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U.S. Department of State

Diplomacy in Action

Italy (05/12/11)

May 12, 2011




Terrain: Mostly rugged and mountainous.
Climate: Generally mild Mediterranean; cold northern winters.

Nationality: Noun and adjective--Italian(s).
Population (January 2011 est.): 60.6 million.
Annual population growth rate (2010 est.): 0.04%, mostly due to immigration.
Religion: Roman Catholic (majority).
Language: Italian (official).
Education: Years compulsory--16. Literacy--98%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--3.7/1,000 live births. Life expectancy--79.1 years for men; 84.3 years for women.
Work force (25.01 million, 2010): Services--67%; industry and commerce--29%; agriculture--4%. Unemployment rate is 8.5%.

Type: Republic since June 2, 1946.
Constitution: January 1, 1948.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state), Council of Ministers (cabinet) headed by the president of the council (prime minister). Legislative--bicameral parliament: 630-member Chamber of Deputies, 315-member Senate (plus a varying number of Senators “for life”). Judicial--independent constitutional court and lower magistracy.
Subdivisions: 94 provinces, 20 regions.
Political parties: People of Liberty, Democratic Party, Northern League, Future and Liberty, Italy of Values, Union of the Center, Movement for Autonomy.
Suffrage: Vote for House is universal over 18; vote for Senate is universal over 25.

GDP (purchasing power parity, 2010): $1.77 trillion.
GDP per capita (purchasing power parity, 2010): $29,400.
GDP growth: 1.3% (2010); -5.2% (2009); -1.3% (2008); 1.5% (2007); 2.0% (2006); 0.7% (2005); 1.5% (2004), 0.0% (2003 est.); 0.5% (2002); 1.8% (2001).
Natural resources: Fish and natural gas.
Trade: Exports (2010)--$447.2 billion f.o.b.: mechanical products, textiles and apparel, transportation equipment, metal products, chemical products, food and agricultural products. Partners (2009)--Germany 12.7%, France 11.6%, U.S. 5.9%, Spain 5.7%, U.K. 5.1%. Imports (2010)--$483 billion c.i.f.: machinery and transport equipment, foodstuffs, ferrous and nonferrous metals, wool, cotton, energy products. Partners (2008)--Germany 16.7%, France 8.9%, China 6.5%, Netherlands 5.7%, Spain 4.4%, Russia 4.1%, Belgium 4.0%.




20th-Century History




Italy's Cultural Contributions





The houses of parliament are popularly and directly elected by a proportional representation system. Under 2005 legislation, the Chamber of Deputies has 630 members (12 of whom are elected by Italians abroad). In addition to 315 elected members (six of whom are elected by Italians abroad), the Senate includes former presidents and several other persons appointed for life according to special constitutional provisions. Both houses are elected for a maximum of 5 years, but either may be dissolved before the expiration of its normal term. Legislative bills may originate in either house and must be passed by a majority in both.

The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law modified by the Napoleonic code and subsequent statutes. There is only partial judicial review of legislation in the American sense. A constitutional court, which passes on the constitutionality of laws, is a post-World War II innovation. Its powers and the volume and frequency of its decisions are not as extensive as those of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Principal Government Officials
President--Giorgio Napolitano
Prime Minister--Silvio Berlusconi
Foreign Minister--Franco Frattini
Minister of Defense--Ignazio La Russa
Minister of Finance--Giulio Tremonti
Minister of Justice--Angelino Alfano
Minister of the Interior--Roberto Maroni
Ambassador to the United States--Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata


Until recently, there had been frequent government turnovers (more than 60 and counting) since 1945. The dominance of the Christian Democratic (DC) party during much of the postwar period lent continuity and comparative stability to Italy's political situation.





In national elections held April 9-10, 2006, Romano Prodi's center-left Union coalition won a narrow victory over Berlusconi's Freedom House coalition. The Union coalition included the Democratic Party (born of the November 2007 fusion of the Democrats of the Left and the Daisy Party), UDEUR (Union of Democrats for Europe), Rose in the Fist (made up by Italian Social Democrats and Italian Radical Party), Communist Renewal, the Italian Communist Party, Italy of Values, and the Greens.

In May 2006, the parliament elected Giorgio Napolitano as the Republic's President. President Napolitano formerly served as a lifetime senator, Minister of the Interior, and a member of the European Parliament as a member of center-left parties. President Napolitano's term ends in May 2013. The Senate, lower house, and regional representatives will vote to elect his successor.

In January 2008, the Prodi government fell when small coalition partner UDEUR withdrew support. In February, the President dissolved parliament and Silvio Berlusconi returned to power after defeating former Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni by a comfortable margin in elections on April 13-14, 2008. Berlusconi's winning coalition was composed of the People of Liberty (a union of Forza Italia and National Alliance), the Northern League, and the Movement for Autonomy. Berlusconi was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 8. Veltroni resigned as leader of the opposition in February 2009. His deputy, Dario Franceschini, was elected new Democratic Party (PD) leader until party primary elections held in October 2009, when Pierluigi Bersani was elected PD national secretary. In April 2010, Gianfranco Fini, cofounder of the People of Liberty, and a number of adherents broke from it and established a new opposition party called Future and Liberty, weakening Berlusconi’s coalition, which continued nevertheless to govern.

Political Parties
Italy's dramatic self-renewal transformed the political landscape between 1992 and 1997. Scandal investigations touched thousands of politicians, administrators, and businessmen; the shift from a proportional to majoritarian voting system also altered the political landscape.


In October 2007, the Democrats of the Left and the Daisy parties officially merged to form the Democratic Party. Veltroni was chosen as party leader and was the center-left's candidate in the April 2008 elections. Silvio Berlusconi launched an alliance between his Forza Italia party and Gianfranco Fini's National Alliance. The parties ran together under the People of Liberty symbol in April 2008. The election greatly simplified parliament, dramatically reducing the numbers of parties, and for the first time since World War II, leaving communist parties out of parliament. People of Liberty (37.4%) won the largest share of the vote and took power in coalition with a strengthened Northern League (8.3%) and the tiny Movement for Autonomy (1.1%). The Democratic Party scored 33.2% and ran in alliance with Italy of Values (4.4%), while the Union of the Center (5.6%) ran alone.

In March 2009, Forza Italia and National Alliance changed the People of Liberty identification from an alliance to a party. The mass center-right party, led by Berlusconi, is Italy's largest party and one of the largest in Europe.

The Italian economy has changed dramatically since the end of World War II. From an agriculturally based economy, it has developed into an industrial state ranked as the world's seventh-largest market economy. Italy belongs to the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized nations; it is a member of the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).


Italy continues to grapple with budget deficits and high public debt--4.6% and 119% of GDP for 2010, respectively. Italy joined the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 by signing the Stability and Growth Pact, and as a condition of this Euro zone membership, Italy must keep its budget deficit beneath a 3% ceiling. The Italian Government has found it difficult to bring the budget deficit down to a level that would allow a rapid decrease of the debt. The worsening economic situation undermined this aim, and the deficit grew well above the 3% ceiling in 2009 and 2010, to 5.4% and 4.5% respectively. The government plans to bring the deficit down to 3.9% in 2011 and below 3% in 2012. Modest GDP growth is likely to jeopardize this effort.

Italy's economic growth averaged only 0.8% in the period 2001-2008. GDP contracted as the Euro zone and world economies slowed, decreasing 1.3% in 2008 and 5.2% in 2009 largely due to the global economic crisis and its impact on exports and domestic demand. GDP recovered only part of the ground lost, growing 1.3% in 2010. In 2011 Italy’s GDP is expected to grow below the EMU countries' average.

Italy's closest trade ties are with the other countries of the European Union, with whom it conducts about 58.1% of its total trade (2009 data). Italy's largest European Union trade partners, in order of market share, are Germany (12.7%), France (11.6%), Spain (5.7%), and the United Kingdom (5.1%). Italy continues to grapple with the effects of globalization, where certain countries (notably China) have eroded the Italian lower-end industrial product sector.

The Italian economy is also affected by a large underground economy--worth some 27% of Italy's GDP. This production is not subject, of course, to taxation and thus remains a source of lost revenue to the local and central government.

U.S.-Italy Economic Relations
The United States and Italy cooperate closely on major economic issues, including within the G-8. With a large population and a high per capita income, Italy was the United States' 16th-largest trading partner in 2010, with total bilateral trade of $42.7 billion comprised of exports to Italy totaling $14.2 billion and imports from Italy worth $28.5 billion. The U.S.'s $14.3 billion deficit with Italy in 2010 was largely in line with the $14.2 billion deficit registered in 2009. Machinery and aircraft are becoming important U.S. exports to Italy. U.S. foreign direct investment in Italy at the end of 2009 exceeded $28.7 billion.

Unemployment is a regional issue in Italy--low in the north, high in the south. Italy's unemployment rate, 8.5% in 2010, has crept up as a decade of low growth and the slowing world economy have taken their toll. The U.S. Embassy and various economists expect the unemployment rate to remain high in 2011 and 2012. Traditional regional labor market disparities remain unchanged, with the southern third of the country posting a significantly higher unemployment rate compared to northern and central Italy. The overall national rate is at its lowest level since 1992. Chronic problems of inadequate infrastructure, corruption, and organized crime act as disincentives to investment and job creation in the south. A significant underground economy absorbs substantial numbers of people, but they work for low wages and without standard social benefits and protections. Women and youth have significantly higher rates of unemployment than do men.




Italy was a founding member of the European Community--now the European Union (EU). Italy was admitted to the United Nations in 1955 and is a member and strong supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Council of Europe. It chaired the CSCE (the forerunner of the OSCE) in 1994; the EU from July to December 1990, January to June 1996, and July to December 2003; and the G-8 in 2001 and in 2009. Italy served a 2-year term on the UN Security Council in 2007-2008.

Italy firmly supports the United Nations and its international security activities. Italy led the UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and has actively participated in and deployed troops in support of UN peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Mozambique, and Timor-Leste. It has provided critical support for NATO and EU operations in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania, Georgia, and Chad. Italy, under NATO's ISAF, maintains a Provincial Reconstruction Team in the western Afghanistan province of Herat, commands RC-West, and maintains a Carabinieri police training center. Italy supports reconstruction and development assistance to the Iraqi people through humanitarian workers and other officials, particularly in Dhi Qar Province, and is a leading contributor to the NATO Training Mission-Iraq, with approximately 70 military personnel and Carabinieri police trainers. Currently almost 8,000 Italian troops are deployed, including approximately 1,100 in Kosovo, almost 1,800 in Lebanon as part of UNIFIL, and approximately 4,000 in Afghanistan.


The United States enjoys warm and friendly relations with Italy. Italy is a leading partner in counterterrorism efforts. The two are NATO allies and cooperate in the United Nations, in various regional organizations, and bilaterally for peace, prosperity, and security. Italy has worked closely with the United States and others on such issues as NATO and UN operations as well as on assistance to Russia and the New Independent States; Lebanon; the Middle East peace process; multilateral talks; Somalia and Mozambique peacekeeping; and combating drug trafficking, trafficking in women and children, and terrorism.

Under longstanding bilateral agreements flowing from NATO membership, Italy hosts important U.S. military forces at Vicenza and Livorno (army); Aviano (air force); and Sigonella, Gaeta, and Naples--home port for the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet. The United States has about 11,500 military personnel stationed in Italy. Italy hosts the NATO Defense College in Rome.


Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--David Thorne
Deputy Chief of Mission--Douglas Hengel
Economic Affairs--George White
Political Affairs--Liam Wasley
Consular Affairs--Philip Egger
Public Affairs--Benjamin Ziff
Commercial Affairs--Thomas Moore
Regional Security Affairs--James Bacigalupo
Agricultural Section--James Dever
Defense Attache--CAPT Clifford Olsen

Consular Posts
Consul General, Florence--Mary Ellen Countryman
Consul General, Milan--Carol Perez
Consul General, Naples--Donald Moore


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