Italian Information

Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic)

The Italian tricolor was first adopted by French republics in northern Italy during the Napoleonic Wars, who modeled it after the French tricolor. In 1848 the design was adopted by the house of Savoy, which went on to lead the Italian unification. The present flag was adopted in 1946, when Italy became a republic and the royal arms were removed.

Inno di Mameli - ( Hymn of Mameli )

Area

• 301,302 sq km

• Near the summit of Mont Blanc, which is 4807 m above sea level

• Sea level

Rome

• January 8¡ C
• July 25¡ C

Rome

• 740 mm (29 in)

Population

• 57,910,000

• Rome 2,775,250
• Milan 1,369,231
• Naples 1,067,365
• Turin 962,507

• Italian

• German, French, Ladin, Albanian, Slovenian, Catalan, Friulian, Sardinian, Croatian, Greek, other minority languages

• 84% Roman Catholicism
• 16% Other
• including Judaism, Islam, Protestantism, and other groups

Government

• Parliamentary republic

Head of State

• President
• Elected to a seven-year term by legislators and representatives of regional councils

Head of Government

• Prime minister
• Appointed by the president

Chamber of Deputies

• 630 deputies

Senate

• 315 senators

• Universal suffrage for all citizens age 18 and older; voters must be at least 25 years old to elect senators

• 20 regions

Economy

Agriculture

• Grapes, olives, wheat, tomatoes, maize, sugar beets, apples, peaches, potatoes

Fishing

• Mediterranean mussels, sardines, trout, striped venus, hake, shrimp and prawns, squid, anchovies, octopus

Mining

• Petroleum, natural gas, lignite, pyrites, fluorspar, barites, sulfur, mercury

Manufacturing

• Machinery and transportation equipment, textiles and clothing, chemicals

Major Exports

• Machinery, motor vehicles, clothing, textile yarn and fabrics, footwear, iron and steel, fruit and vegetables, wine

Major Imports

• Machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum, metals, chemicals, textile yarn and fabrics, meat

Currency

• Lira