GENERAL INFORMATION:
Official Name: Italian Republic
Area: 301.225 km2
Population: 57 998 353
Capital: Rome
Official Languages: Italian
Religion: Catholic
INSITUTIONS:
Government Type: Republic (giving a certain autonomy to regions) Parliamentary Democracy
President of the Republic: Carlo Azeglio Ciampi

Political Parties:
Majority : " House of Freedoms " coalition
Opposition: Olive-tree coalition that encompasses center-left parties, namely:
- Democrats of the Left: (moderate wing of the former Italian communist Party, and dominant opposition party).
- Italian Popular Party (Left wing of the former Christian Democracy);
- Union of European Democrats for the Republic
- Italian Renewal
- Democrats (founded by the Council's former Chairman R. Prodi, before the European elections of June13, 1999).
- Other Parties: Except for the Communist Party which obtained 11% of the votes, small parties-both leftist and rightist-knew a clear setback and failed to reach the 4% requirement to be represented in the Chamber of Deputies.

 


ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
GDP: 1,438 billion US$

GDP Composition: Agriculture: 2,4%, Industry: 30%, Services: 67,6%

GDP per capita: 25,000 US$
Growth rate: 0.11%
Currency: Euro
Human development Indicator: 0,903 (19th)

ECONOMIC SITUATION AND PROSPECTS:

The Italian economic fabric, essentially composed of small and medium-sized businesses, witnesses the progressive disappearance of major groups, particularly in chemical and electronic Industries.

 
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