+39 is the dialing code for Italy.
Italy with world-renowned cities such as Venice, Florence and Rome as well as priceless remains from over 3,000 years of history protrude like a boot in the water down to Africa and divide the Mediterranean. Italian society is also divided. In northern Italy there is modern industry and there, the wealth, measured in GDP per person, is higher than in the rural areas of southern Italy. The policy has been characterized by great instability and frequent change of government. In recent years, Italy has struggled with major economic problems.
- Abbreviationfinder: Brief profiles of Italy, including geography, history, politics, economics as well as common acronyms about this country.
Geography and climate
Italy projects like a big boot into the water down to Africa and divides the Mediterranean into a western and an eastern part. The country is 120 km far from north to south and has a total coastal distance of 850 km. In the north, Italy is bounded by the Alps.
Some alpine peaks on the Italian side reach well over 4,000 meters. A series of mountain passes in the alpine masses connect Italy with neighboring countries France, Switzerland and Austria.
- BeHealthyByTomorrow: General information about Italy, covering geography, climate, travel tips and popular sights.
In the northeast, Italy has a short land border with Slovenia. In the west, the country is surrounded by the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas, in the east by the Adriatic Sea and in the south the country has a coast towards the Ionian Sea.
Country Facts
Geography
| Cultivated land | 47.4 % |
| Land area | 301340 km 2 |
Population and health
| Population development | 0.27 ‰ |
| Urban population (Urbanization) | 69 % |
| Death rate | 10.19 per 1000 residents |
| Life expectancy: Women | 84.92 years |
| Life expectancy: Men | 79.48 years |
| Birth rate | 8.74 births per 1000 residents |
| HDI index | 0.873 |
| Population | 61855120 |
| Infant mortality | 3.29 deaths / 1000 births |
Population Graph Source: Countryaah.com
Energy
| Electricity, production | 281 million kWh |
| Energy consumption per resident | 2561.9 kg. oil per resident |
| Natural gas, production | 7149 million cubic meters |
| Crude oil, production | million tons |
Infrastructure
| Internet users | 59.9 per 100 residents |
| Mobile subscriptions | 153 per 100 residents |
| Passenger cars | 679 per 1000 residents |
Business and economics
| Unemployment | 12.2% of the workforce |
| GDP | 35700 per resident |
| Primary occupations | 3.9 % |
| Secondary profession | 28.3 % |
| Tertiary professions | 67.8 % |
With the exception of the fertile Poslätt in the northeast and some coastal areas, the Italian landscape is mountainous. From the southern part of Poslättens rises the mountain range Apennines, which then extends down the entire peninsula. In the region of Campania (Campania) is the still active volcano Vesuvius.
On the island of Sicily, which is separated from the mainland by the narrow Messina Strait, lies the 3,330 meter high volcano Etna, which releases lava almost every year. The mountainous island of Sardinia lies between the mainland and the Spanish archipelago of the Balearic Islands.
Italy has a very varied climate. The northern parts are temperate, but in the south there is a Mediterranean climate with dry hot summers and mild rainy winters. Most precipitation falls in the west and in the north. The rainfall is gradually decreasing further south in the country.
In winter, there can be minus degrees and snow in the Milan area, while Sicily is 20 degrees warm. In the summers, the differences are not so extreme. The temperature in the north can reach around 30 degrees heat and in Sicily around 40 degrees.
FACTS – GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
Surface
301 309 km2 (2018)
Time
Swedish
Adjacent country (s)
France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Vatican City
Capital with number of residents
Rome 2 419 000 residents
Other major cities
Milan 1,321,000, Naples 965,000, Turin 865,000, Palermo 653,000, Genoa 588,000, Florence 377,000, Bologna 372,000 (estimated 2008)
Highest mountain
Monte Rosa (4633 m asl)
Important rivers
Po, Tiber, Adige
Largest lake
Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore, Lake Como
Average Precipitation / month
Room 150 mm (Nov), 15 mm (July)
Average / day
Room 26 °C (July), 7 °C (Jan)
- EstimationSources
2013
December
Refugees should be relocated
The government decides to relocate refugees and migrants from the reception center on the island of Lampedusa, where it has been revealed that housing has been treated unworthily. The Ministry of the Interior estimates that about 42,000 migrants landed in Italy during the year, usually in boats from North Africa. At the same time, hundreds have drowned.
The budget is approved
December 23
Prime Minister Letta wins a vote of confidence in Parliament’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, on next year’s budget. The figures are 350 against 196.
New party leader
December 15
Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi, 38, is elected by a large majority as new leader of the Democratic Party. The popular Renzi has long criticized the government for not doing enough in the fight against unemployment and against corruption.
Election Day is doomed
December 4th
The Constitutional Court declares that the electoral law applied in the 2013 election is in some respects unconstitutional. Among other things, the Court is addressing the fact that there is no limit to how many votes a party / alliance needs to win in order to qualify for extra seats in Parliament’s House of Commons. Under the current electoral law, the party / alliance that wins the most votes in the election to the House of Commons automatically receives 340 of the House of Commons 630 seats.
November
New prosecution threatens Berlusconi
Berlusconi risks another trial when a Milan judge accuses him of bribing prostitutes to testify falsely in the charge of sex with minors (see June 2013).
The Senate excludes Berlusconi
November 27th
Silvio Berlusconi loses his seat in the Senate when a majority of the senators vote to exclude him from the House. The reason is that he was convicted of a tax offense (see August 2013).
The right is split
November 15
Berlusconi’s party splits when Berlusconi re-launches Forza Italia (Hello Italy). Berrlusconi’s intended successor as party leader, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, refuses to enter Forza Italia, and instead forms a new party called Nuovo centrodestra (New Center Right). All ministers from Berlusconi’s old party follow Alfano, as does a long line of parliamentarians. The new group promises to support the Prime Minister of Latvia, even if Berlusconi is voted out of the Senate (see October 2013).
Protest against garbage dumping
Nearly 100,000 people are demonstrating in Naples against the mafia dumping of industrial waste and garbage that pollutes the environment.
October
The string is tightened around Berlusconi
Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is banned from serving in the public service for two years because he was convicted of tax offenses (see August 2013). The decision is made by a Milan court and will only take effect if Berlusconi is deprived of his seat in the Senate.
Refugee disaster at Lampedusa
At least 365 refugees and migrants from Africa and the Middle East are killed when their boat catches fire and drops off the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Italian government demands increased EU support for the reception of the tens of thousands of boat refugees who reach Italy across the Mediterranean in a battle. A week later, Italy decides to triple its sea and air patrol in the southern Mediterranean, the project is called Mare Nostrum. According to Foreign Minister Emma Bonino, the aim is rather to rescue migrants at sea than to try to stop them. Another boat has capsized following the major shipwreck, with many deaths as a result.
The Senate pressures Berlusconi
A committee in the Senate votes for Silvio Berlusconi to lose his seat in the Senate because of the prison sentence against him for tax violations (see August 2013). The decision must be confirmed by the Senate.
September
Revolt against Berlusconi
The senators in Berlusconi’s party declare that they will resign if Berlusconi is voted out of parliament (see August 2013). A first vote on the issue will be held in October. Due to the threat of the senators, Prime Minister Letta announces a vote of confidence in Parliament, but Berlusconi appears to him and orders his five ministers to leave the government. However, the ministers are proving reluctant to resign and when it is clear that a group of parliamentarians from the Berlusconi’s party intends to vote for the government, Berlusconi completely reverses and supports Prime Minister Letta, who is thus stepping out of the political crisis.
August
Compromise on tax
Following pressure from Berlusconi and his party to abolish the property tax, the government decides on a compromise which means that the tax will be lowered and replaced in the coming years with a municipal fee.
Jail finally established
The Supreme Court decides on a four-year prison sentence against former Prime Minister Berlusconi for tax offenses (see October 2012). The part of the verdict that prohibited Berlusconi from holding public office for five years wants the court to investigate further. The imprisonment is shortened and transformed into house arrest or community service. Berlusconi declares himself innocent, but the Democratic Party urges Berlusconi to step down from the Senate and leave politics for good.
July
Berlusconi’s aides are sentenced
Three aides to Berlusconi are sentenced to prison for between five and seven years for providing prostitutes to the former Prime Minister’s parties.
Black minister is offended
Two representatives of the Confederation of North raise outrage through racist statements, both directed at the country’s first female minister of African birth. A female local politician is sentenced to 13 months in prison and three years suspended from public service for calling for rape against the minister, while Senator Roberto Calderoli rejects the requirement that he resign to resemble her at an orangutan.
June
Berlusconi convicted of sex purchases
A court finds Berlusconi guilty of having bought six of a minor and abusing his power to have the girl released from custody following a suspected theft. He is sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and life imprisonment for holding public office, which is a harsher sentence than the prosecutor has requested. Berlusconi appeals against the verdict and it may take several years before it possibly gains legal force.
May
Jail is set
May 22
The October 2012 verdict against Berlusconi for tax offenses is set after the appeal. The punishment is imprisonment and a five-year ban on holding political office. The case is appealed to the Supreme Court.
April
Assembly government approved
April 28
After Pier Luigi Bersani, after various adversities, announced his departure as leader of the Democratic Party, President Napolitano gives the party’s vice-president Enrico Letta the task of forming a new government. Letta becomes prime minister for a broad coalition government with the left, right and center and is approved in parliament with 453 votes against 153.
The President re-elected
Parliament elects President Giorgio Napolitano for a second term in office; He gets 738 votes out of 1007 possible, after the people elected in five votes failed to appoint another candidate. This is the first time an Italian president has been re-elected.
March
Senator mafia convicted
Former Senator Marcello Dell’Utri of the People of Liberty is sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiring with Sicilian mafia Cosa Nostra.
Failed probing
President Napolitano assigns Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani to form a new government but Bersani fails, partly because he does not want to cooperate with Berlusconi.
New prison sentence
March 7
Berlusconi is sentenced to one year in prison for illegally intercepting a political rival’s phone in 2005.
February
The protest party gets the most votes
February 24th
The election will be a protest against the Monti government’s austerity measures. Populist Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement becomes by far the largest single party in terms of votes. The five-star movement wins votes from both left and right and gets 25.6 percent of the vote, while the Democratic Party reaches 25.4 percent and the People of Freedom gets 21.9. Democratic Party Left Alliance Italy. The common good (Italia. Bene Comune), however, will be the largest total with 29.5 percent of the vote. Berlusconi’s right alliance comes second with 29.1 percent. Monti’s central alliance receives only about one-tenth of the vote. In the Senate, the left alliance will also be the largest with 123 of 315 elected seats, but the right alliance will be almost equal to 117. None of the alliances thus obtains a majority in the Senate where Grillo’s movement becomes the tongue on the scales. 31 percent of the members of the newly elected parliament are women.
Scandals characterize the election campaign
Corruption scandals have made a mark on the campaign before the parliamentary elections. A fraud deal in Italy’s third largest bank Monte dei Paschi creates problems for the opinion-leading Democratic Party, which had close ties to the bank. The giant group and arms manufacturer Finmeccanica, which has about 60,000 employees, is suspected of bribery in an Indian large business that is thus threatened.
January
Berlusconi gives up
Berlusconi succumbs to the demands of the Confederation of the North and says that he will not stand as prime ministerial candidate in the parliamentary elections in February. Thus, Nord Nord joins in collaboration with Berlusconi’s party Freedom’s People after the election.