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&France

Geography
Total area: 547,030 km2; land area: 545,630 km2; includes Corsica and
the rest of metropolitan France, but excludes the overseas administrative
divisions

Land boundaries: 2,892.4 km total; Andorra 60 km, Belgium 620 km,
FRG 451 km, Italy 488 km, Luxembourg 73 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Spain 623 km,
Switzerland 573 km

Coastline: 3,427 km (includes Corsica, 644 km)

Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 12-24 nm;

Extended economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: maritime boundary dispute with Canada (St. Pierre and Miquelon);
Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands,
Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius
claims Tromelin Island;
Seychelles claims Tromelin Island; Suriname claims part
of French Guiana; territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land)

Climate: generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters
and hot summers along the Mediterranean

Terrain: mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west;
remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east

Natural resources: coal, iron ore, bauxite, fish, timber, zinc,
potash

Land use: 32% arable land; 2% permanent crops; 23% meadows and pastures;
27% forest and woodland; 16% other; includes 2% irrigated

Environment: most of large urban areas and industrial centers in
Rhone, Garonne, Seine, or Loire River basins; occasional warm tropical wind
known as mistral

Note: largest West European nation

&People

Population: 56,358,331 (July 1990), growth rate 0.4% (1990)

Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 82 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women); adjective--French

Ethnic divisions: Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African,
Indochinese, and Basque minorities

Religion: 90% Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant, 1% Jewish, 1% Muslim (North
African workers), 6% unaffiliated

Language: French (100% of population); rapidly declining regional
dialects (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)

Literacy: 99%

Labor force: 24,170,000; 61.5% services, 31.3% industry, 7.3% agriculture
(1987)

Organized labor: 20% of labor force (est.)

&Government

Long-form name: French Republic

Type: republic

Capital: Paris

Administrative divisions: metropolitan France--22 regions (regions,
singular--region); Alsace, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne,
Bretagne, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Corse, Franche-Comte, Haute-Normandie,
Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Lorraine, Midi-Pyrenees,
Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Pays de la Loire, Picardie, Poitou-Charentes,
Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Rhone-Alpes; note--the 22 regions are subdivided
into 96 departments; see separate entries for the overseas departments
(French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion) and the territorial
collectivities (Mayotte, St. Pierre and Miquelon)

Dependent areas: Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island,
French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Glorioso Islands,
Juan de Nova Island, New Caledonia, Tromelin Island, Wallis and Futuna

Independence: unified by Clovis in 486, First Republic proclaimed in 1792

Constitution: 28 September 1958, amended concerning election of
president in 1962

Legal system: civil law system with indigenous concepts; review of
administrative but not legislative acts

National holiday: Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)

Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers
(cabinet)

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Parlement) consists of an
upper house or Senate (Senat) and a lower house or National Assembly
(Assemblee Nationale)

Judicial branch: Court of Cassation (Cour de Cassation)

Leaders:
Chief of State--President Francois MITTERRAND (since 21 May 1981);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Michel ROCARD (since 10 March 1988)

Political parties and leaders: Rally for the Republic (RPR, formerly UDR),
Jacques Chirac; Union for French Democracy (UDF, federation of PR, CDS, and
RAD), Valery Giscard d'Estaing; Republicans (PR), Francois Leotard;
Center for Social Democrats (CDS), Pierre Mehaignerie; Radical
(RAD), Yves Gallard; Socialist Party (PS), Pierre Mauroy; Left Radical
Movement (MRG), Yves Collin; Communist Party (PCF), Georges
Marchais; National Front (FN), Jean-Marie Le Pen

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections:
President--last held 8 May 1988 (next to be held May 1995);
results--Second Ballot Francois Mitterrand 54%, Jacques Chirac 46%;

Senate--last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held September
1992); results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(321 total; 296 metropolitan France, 13 for overseas departments
and territories, and 12 for French nationals abroad) RPR 93,
UDF 143 (PR 53, CDS 65, RAD 25), PS 64, PCF 16, independents 2,
unknown 3;

National Assembly--last held 5 and 12 June 1988 (next to be held
June 1993);
results--Second Ballot PS-MRG 48.7%, RPR 23.1%, UDF 21%, PCF 3.4%,
other 3.8%;
seats--(577 total) PS 275, RPR 132, UDF 90, UDC 40, PCF 25, independents
15

Communists: 700,000 claimed but probably closer to 150,000; Communist
voters, 2.8 million in 1988 election

Other political or pressure groups: Communist-controlled labor union
(Confederation Generale du Travail) nearly 2.4 million members
(claimed); Socialist-leaning labor union (Confederation Francaise
Democratique du Travail or CFDT) about 800,000 members est.;
independent labor union (Force Ouvriere) about 1,000,000 members est.;
independent white-collar union (Confederation Generale des Cadres)
340,000 members (claimed); National Council of French Employers (Conseil
National du Patronat Francais--CNPF or Patronat)

Member of: ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EIB, EMS,
ESA, ESCAP, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IATP, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA,
IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Whaling
Commission, NATO (signatory), OAS (observer), OECD, SPC, UN, UNESCO,
UPU, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jacques ANDREANI; Chancery at
4101 Reservoir Road NW, Washington DC 20007; telephone [phone];
there are
French Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles,
New Orleans, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico);
US--Ambassador Walter J. P. CURLEY; Embassy at 2 Avenue
Gabriel, 75382 Paris Cedex 08 (mailing address is APO New York 09777);
telephone
 (1) 42-96-12-02 or 42-61-80-75; there are US Consulates General in
Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, and Strasbourg

Flag: three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), white, and red;
known as the French Tricouleur (Tricolor); the design and colors have
been the basis for a number of other flags, including those of Belgium,
Chad, Ireland, Ivory Coast, and Luxembourg; the official flag for all
French dependent areas

&Economy

Overview: One of the world's most developed economies, France
has substantial agricultural resources and a highly diversified modern
industrial sector. Large tracts of fertile land, the application of modern
technology, and subsidies have combined to make it the leading agricultural
producer in Western Europe. France is largely self-sufficient in agricultural
products and is a major exporter of wheat and dairy products. The industrial
sector generates about one-third of GDP and employs about one-third of the
work force. During the period 1982-86 economic growth was sluggish, averaging
only 1.4% annually. This trend was reversed by late 1987, however,
with a strong expansion of consumer demand, followed by a surge in
investment. The economy has had difficulty generating enough jobs for new
entrants into the labor force, resulting in a high unemployment rate,
but the upward trend in growth recently pushed the jobless rate below 10%.
The steadily advancing economic integration within the European
Community is a major force affecting the fortunes of the various economic
sectors.

GDP: $819.6 billion, per capita $14,600; real growth rate 3.4%
(1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.5% (1989 est.)

Unemployment rate: 9.7% (1989 est.)

Budget: revenues $197.0 billion; expenditures $213.4 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1989 est.)

Exports: $183.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals,
foodstuffs, agricultural products, iron and steel products, textiles and
clothing;
partners--FRG 15.8%, Italy 12.2%, UK 9.8%, Belgium-Luxembourg 8.9%,
Netherlands 8.7%, US 6.7%, Spain 5.6%, Japan 1.8%, USSR 1.3% (1989 est.)

Imports: $194.5 billion (c.i.f., 1989 est.);
commodities--crude oil, machinery and equipment, agricultural
products, chemicals, iron and steel products;
partners--FRG 19.4%, Italy 11.5%, Belgium-Luxembourg 9.2%, US 7.7%,
UK 7.2%, Netherlands 5.2%, Spain 4.4%, Japan 4.1%, USSR 2.1% (1989 est.)

External debt: $59.3 billion (December 1987)

Industrial production: growth rate 4.4% (1989 est.)

Electricity: 109,972,000 kW capacity; 403,570 million kWh produced,
7,210 kWh per capita (1989)

&Industries: steel, machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy,
aircraft, electronics, mining, textiles, food processing, and tourism

Agriculture: accounts for 4% of GNP (including fishing and forestry); one
of the world's top five wheat producers; other principal products--beef,
dairy products, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; self-sufficient
for most temperate-zone foods; shortages include fats and oils and tropical
produce, but overall net exporter of farm products; fish catch of 850,000
metric tons ranks among world's top 20 countries and is all used domestically

Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $59.8 billion

Currency: French franc (plural--francs); 1 French franc (F) = 100
centimes

Exchange rates: French francs (F) per US$1--5.7598 (January 1990),
6.3801 (1989), 5.9569 (1988), 6.0107 (1987), 6.9261 (1986), 8.9852 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications
Railroads: French National Railways (SNCF) operates 34,568 km 1.435-meter
standard gauge; 11,674 km electrified, 15,132 km double or multiple track;
2,138 km of various gauges (1.000-meter to 1.440-meter), privately owned and
operated

Highways: 1,551,400 km total; 33,400 km national highway; 347,000 km
departmental highway; 421,000 km community roads; 750,000 km rural roads;
5,401 km of controlled-access divided autoroutes; about 803,000 km paved

Inland waterways: 14,932 km; 6,969 km heavily traveled

Pipelines: crude oil, 3,059 km; refined products, 4,487 km; natural gas,
24,746 km

Ports: maritime--Bordeaux, Boulogne, Brest, Cherbourg, Dunkerque,
Fos-Sur-Mer, Le Havre, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen, Sete, Toulon;
inland--42

Merchant marine: 153 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,671,645
GRT/5,950,785 DWT; includes 10 short-sea passenger, 19 cargo, 19 container,
1 multifunction large-load carrier, 30 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 37 petroleum,
oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker,  9 chemical tanker, 6 liquefied gas,
4 specialized tanker, 17 bulk, 1 combination bulk; note--France also
maintains a captive register for French-owned ships in the Kerguelen Islands
(French Southern and Antarctic Lands) and French Polynesia

Civil air: 355 major transport aircraft (1982)

Airports: 470 total, 460 usable; 204 with permanent-surface runways; 3
with runways over 3,659 m; 34 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 133 with runways
1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: highly developed system provides satisfactory
telephone, telegraph, radio and TV broadcast services; 39,110,000 telephones;
stations--42 AM, 138 (777 relays) FM, 215 TV (8,900 relays); 25 submarine
coaxial cables; communication satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT,
3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean, EUTELSAT, MARISAT, and domestic systems

Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie

Military manpower: males 15-49, 14,285,904; 12,042,731 fit for military
service; 409,544 reach military age (18) annually

Defense expenditures: 3.8% of GDP, or $31.1 billion (1989 est.)


&Germany, Federal Republic of
(West Germany in 1990)

Geography
Total area: 248,580 km2; land area: 244,280 km2; includes West Berlin

Land boundaries: 4,256 km total; Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km,
Czechoslovakia 356 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, GDR 1,381 km;
Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Switzerland 334 km

Coastline: 1,488 km

Maritime claims:

Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 3 nm (extends, at one point, to 16 nm in the
Helgolander Bucht)

Disputes: it is US policy that the final borders of Germany have
not been established

Climate: temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers;
occasional warm, tropical foehn wind; high relative humidity

Terrain: lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south

Natural resources: iron ore, coal, potash, timber

Land use: 30% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures;
30% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes 1% irrigated

Environment: air and water pollution

Note: West Berlin is an exclave (about 116 km by air or 176 km by
road from FRG)

&People

Population: 62,168,200 (July 1990), growth rate 0.5% (1990)

Birth rate: 11 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 5 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 81 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--German(s); adjective--German

Ethnic divisions: primarily German; Danish minority

Religion: 45% Roman Catholic, 44% Protestant, 11% other

Language: German

Literacy: 99%

Labor force: 27,790,000; 41.6% industry, 35.4% services and other,
18.2% trade and transport, 4.8% agriculture (1987)

Organized labor: 9,300,000 total; 7,760,000 in German Trade Union
Federation (DGB); union membership constitutes about 40% of union-eligible
labor force, 34% of total labor force, and 35% of wage and salary
earners (1986)

&Government
Long-form name: Federal Republic of Germany; abbreviated FRG

Type: federal republic

Capital: Bonn

Administrative divisions: 10 states (lander, singular--land);
Baden-Wurttemberg, Bayern, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Niedersachsen,
Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein

Constitution: 23 May 1949, provisional constitution known as Basic Law

Legal system: civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial
review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court;
has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: NA

Executive branch: president, chancellor, Cabinet

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Parlament) consists of
an upper chamber or Federal Assembly (Bundesrat) and a lower chamber or
National Assembly (Bundestag)

Judicial branch: Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht)

Leaders:
Chief of State--President Dr. Richard von WEIZSACKER (since 1
July 1984);

Head of Government--Chancellor Dr. Helmut KOHL (since 4 October 1982)

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Helmut
Kohl; Christian Social Union (CSU), Theo Waigel; Free Democratic Party (FDP),
Otto Lambsdorff; Social Democratic Party (SPD), Hans-Jochen Vogel; National
Democratic Party (NPD), Martin Mussgnug; Republikaner, Franz Schoerhuber;
Communist Party (DKP), Herbert Mies; Green Party--Realos faction,
Joschka Fischer; Green Party--Fundis faction, Jutta Ditfurth

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections:
National Assembly--last held 25 January 1987 (next to be held by
18 January 1991); results--SPD 37.0%, CDU 34.5%, CSU 9.8%, FDP 9.1%,
Green Party 8.2%, others 1.4%;
seats--(497 total, 22 are elected by the West Berlin House of
Representatives and have limited voting rights) SPD 186, CDU 174,
CSU 49, FDP 46, Green Party 42

Communists: about 40,000 members and supporters

Other political or pressure groups: expellee, refugee, and veterans
groups

Member of: ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EIB, EMS, ESA,
FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American
Development Bank, IFAD, IEA, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IPU, ITC, ITU, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU,
WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jeurgen RUHFUS; Chancery at
4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington DC 20007; telephone [phone];
there are FRG Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit,
Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and New York,
and Consulates in Miami and New Orleans;
US--Ambassador Vernon WALTERS; Embassy at Deichmanns Avenue, 5300 Bonn 2
(mailing address is APO New York 09080); telephone [phone]; there are
US Consulates General in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Stuttgart

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and yellow;
similar to the flag of the GDR which has a coat of arms in the center

&Economy

Overview: West Germany, a major economic power and a leading exporter,
has a highly urbanized and skilled population that enjoys excellent
living standards and comprehensive social welfare benefits. The FRG is
poor in natural resources, coal being the most important
mineral. The FRG's comparative advantage lies in the technologically
advanced production stages. Thus manufacturing and services dominate
economic activity, and raw materials and semimanufactures constitute
a large proportion of imports. In 1988 manufacturing accounted for
35% of GDP, with other sectors contributing lesser amounts.  The major
economic problem in 1989 is persistent unemployment of over 8%.
The FRG is well poised to take advantage of the increasing economic
integration of the European Community. The dramatic opening of the
boundary with East Germany in late 1989 poses new economic challenges
that could tax even this powerful economy.

GDP: $945.7 billion, per capita $15,300; real growth rate 4.3% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.0% (1989)

Unemployment rate: 8.4% (1989)

Budget: revenues $539 billion; expenditures $563 billion, including
capital expenditures of $11.5 billion (1988)

Exports: $323.4 billion (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--manufactures 86.6% (including machines and machine tools,
chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products), agricultural
products 4.9%,
raw materials 2.3%, fuels 1.3%;
partners--EC 52.7% (France 12%, Netherlands 9%, Italy 9%, UK 9%,
Belgium-Luxembourg 7%), other West Europe 18%, US 10%, Eastern Europe 4%,
OPEC 3% (1987)

Imports: $250.6 billion (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--manufactures 68.5%, agricultural products 12.0%, fuels 9.7%,
raw materials 7.1%;
partners--EC 52.7% (France 12%, Netherlands 11%, Italy 10%, UK 7%,
Belgium-Luxembourg 7%), other West Europe 15%, US 6%, Japan 6%,
Eastern Europe 5%, OPEC 3% (1987)

External debt: $500 million (June 1988)

Industrial production: growth rate 3.3% (1988)

Electricity: (including West Berlin) 110,075,000 kW capacity; 452,390
million kWh produced, 7,420 kWh per capita (1989)

&Industries: among world's largest producers of iron, steel, coal, cement,
chemicals, machinery, ships, vehicles, and machine tools; electronics,
food and beverages

Agriculture: accounts for about 2% of GDP (including fishing and forestry);
diversified crop and livestock farming; principal crops and livestock
include potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbage, cattle, pigs,
poultry; net importer of food; fish catch of 202,000 metric tons in 1987

Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $60.0 billion

Currency: deutsche mark (plural--marks);
1 deutsche mark (DM) = 100 pfennige

Exchange rates: deutsche marks (DM) per US$1--1.6918 (January 1990),
1.8800 (1989), 1.7562 (1988), 1.7974 (1987), 2.1715 (1986), 2.9440 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications
Railroads: 31,443 km total; 27,421 km government owned, 1.435-meter
standard gauge (12,491 km double track, 11,501 km electrified); 4,022 km
nongovernment owned, including 3,598 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (214 km
electrified) and 424 km 1.000-meter gauge (186 km electrified)

Highways: 466,305 km total; 169,568 km primary, includes 6,435 km
autobahn, 32,460 km national highways (Bundesstrassen), 65,425 km state
highways (Landesstrassen), 65,248 km county roads (Kreisstrassen); 296,737
km of secondary communal roads (Gemeindestrassen)

Inland waterways: 5,222 km, of which almost 70% are usable by
craft of 1,000-metric ton capacity or larger; major rivers include the
Rhine and Elbe; Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic
Sea and the North Sea

Pipelines: crude oil, 2,343 km; refined products, 3,446 km; natural gas,
95,414 km

Ports: maritime--Bremerhaven, Brunsbuttel, Cuxhaven, Emden, Bremen,
Hamburg, Kiel, Lubeck, Wilhelmshaven; inland--27 major

Merchant marine: 422 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,436,568
GRT/4,297,520 DWT; includes 2 passenger, 7 short-sea passenger, 218 cargo,
4 refrigerated cargo, 95 container, 20 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 railcar
carrier, 7 barge carrier, 2 multifunction large-load carrier, 12 petroleum,
oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 21 chemical tanker, 15 liquefied gas,
5 combination ore/oil, 13 combination bulk

Civil air: 194 major transport aircraft

Airports: 466 total, 457 usable; 240 with permanent-surface runways; 3
with runways over 3,659 m; 41 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 55 with runways
1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: highly developed, modern telecommunication service
to all parts of the country; fully adequate in all respects; 40,300,000
telephones; stations--87 AM, 205 (376 relays) FM, 300 (6,400 relays)
TV; 6 submarine coaxial cables; satellite earth stations operating in
INTELSAT (12 Atlantic Ocean, 2 Indian Ocean), EUTELSAT, and domestic
systems

Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force

Military manpower: males 15-49, 16,006,352; 13,883,536 fit for military
service; 326,666 reach military age (18) annually

Defense expenditures: 2.9% of GDP (1989 est.)


&Italy

Geography
Total area: 301,230 km2; land area: 294,020 km2; includes Sardinia
and Sicily

Land boundaries: 1,902.2 km total; Austria 430 km, France 488 km,
San Marino 39 km, Switzerland 740 km, Vatican City 3.2 km, Yugoslavia
202 km

Coastline: 4,996 km

Maritime claims:

Continental shelf: 200 m or to depth of exploitation;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: South Tyrol question with Austria

Climate: predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry
in south

Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands

Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling
natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal

Land use: 32% arable land; 10% permanent crops; 17% meadows and pastures;
22% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes 10% irrigated

Environment: regional risks include landslides, mudflows, snowslides,
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, pollution; land sinkage in Venice

Note: strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as
well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe

&People

Population: 57,664,405 (July 1990), growth rate 0.2% (1990)

Birth rate: 10 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 81 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Italian(s); adjective--Italian

Ethnic divisions: primarily Italian but population includes small clusters
of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians
in the south; Sicilians; Sardinians

Religion: almost 100% nominally Roman Catholic

Language: Italian; parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly
German speaking; significant French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region;
Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area

Literacy: 93%

Labor force: 23,670,000; 56.7% services, 37.9% industry, 5.4% agriculture
(1987)

Organized labor: 40-45% of labor force (est.)

&Government

Long-form name: Italian Republic

Type: republic

Capital: Rome

Administrative divisions: 20 regions (regioni, singular--regione);
Abruzzi, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia,
Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna, Sicilia,
Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Valle d'Aosta, Veneto

Independence: 17 March 1861, Kingdom of Italy proclaimed

Constitution: 1 January 1948

Legal system: based on civil law system, with ecclesiastical law
influence; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court;
has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946)

Executive branch: president, prime minister,

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Parlamento) consists of
an upper chamber or Senate (Senato) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies
(Camera dei Deputati)

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale)

Leaders:
Chief of State--President Francesco COSSIGA (since 3 July 1985);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Giulio ANDREOTTI (since 22 July 1989,
heads the government for the sixth time); Deputy Prime Minister Claudio
MARTELLI (since 23 July 1989)

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Party (DC), Arnaldo
Forlani (general secretary), Ciriaco De Mita (president); Communist Party
(PCI), Achille Occhetto (secretary general); Socialist Party (PSI), Bettino
Craxi (party secretary); Social Democratic Party (PSDI), Antonio Cariglia
(secretary); Liberal Party (PLI), Renato Altissimo (secretary general); Italian
Social Movement (MSI), Giuseppe (Pino) Rauti (national secretary); Republican
Party (PRI), Giorgio La Malfa (political secretary); Italy's 49th postwar
government was formed on 23 July 1989, with Prime Minister Andreotti,
a Christian Democrat, presiding over a five-party coalition consisting of the
Christian Democrats, Socialists, Social Democrats, Republicans, and Liberals

Suffrage: universal at age 18 (except in senatorial elections, where
minimum age is 25)

Elections:
Senate--last held 14-15 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992);
results--DC 33.9%, PCI 28.3%, PSI 10.7%, others 27.1%;
seats--(320 total, 315 elected) DC 125, PCI 100, PSI 36, others 54;

Chamber of Deputies--last held 14-15 June 1987 (next to be held by
June 1992);
results--DC 34.3%, PCI 26.6%, PSI 14.3%, MSI 5.9%, PRI 3.7%, PSDI 3.0%,
Radicals 2.6%, Greens 2.5%, PLI 2.1%, Proletarian Democrats 1.7%,
others 3.3%;
seats--(630 total) DC 234, PCI 177, PSI 94, MSI 35, PRI 21, PSDI 17,
Radicals 13, Greens 13, PLI 11, Proletarian Democrats 8, others 7

Communists: 1,673,751 members (1983)

Other political or pressure groups: Vatican City; three major
trade union confederations (CGIL--Communist dominated, CISL--Christian
Democratic, and UIL--Social Democratic, Socialist, and Republican);
Italian manufacturers association (Confindustria); organized farm groups
(Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura)

Member of: ADB, ASSIMER, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ECOWAS, EIB,
EMS, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American
Development Bank, IFAD, IEA, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO,
UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Rinaldo PETRIGNANI; Chancery at
1601 Fuller Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone [phone];
there are Italian Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Houston, New Orleans,
Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Consulates in Detroit and
Newark (New Jersey);
US--Ambassador Peter F. SECCHIA; Embassy at Via Veneto 119/A, 00187-Rome
(mailing address is APO New York 09794); telephone ╒39σ (6) 46741; there are
US Consulates General in Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, and Palermo (Sicily)

Flag: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red;
similar to the flag of Ireland which is longer and is green (hoist side),
white, and orange; also similar to the flag of the Ivory Coast which has
the colors reversed--orange (hoist side), white, and green

&Economy

Overview: Since World War II the economy has changed from one based on
agriculture into a ranking industrial economy, with approximately the same
total and per capita output as France and the UK. The country is still
divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by large private
companies and state enterprises and an undeveloped agricultural south.
Services account for 58% of GDP, industry 37%, and agriculture 5%.
Most raw materials needed by industry and over 75% of energy requirements
must be imported. The economic recovery that began in mid-1983 has continued
through 1989, with the economy growing at an annual average rate of 3%.
For the 1990s, Italy faces the problems of refurbishing a tottering
communications system, curbing the increasing
pollution in major industrial centers, and adjusting to the new
competitive forces accompanying the ongoing economic integration of the
European Community.

GDP: $803.3 billion, per capita $14,000; real growth rate 3.3% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.6% (1989 est.)

Unemployment rate: 11.9% (1989)

Budget: revenues $355 billion; expenditures $448 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)

Exports: $141.6 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--textiles,
wearing apparel, metals, transportation equipment, chemicals;
partners--EC 57%, US 9%, OPEC 4%

Imports: $143.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--petroleum,
industrial machinery, chemicals, metals, food, agricultural products;
partners--EC 57%, OPEC 6%, US 6%

External debt: NA

Industrial production: growth rate 2.9% (1989)

Electricity: 56,022,000 kW capacity; 201,400 million kWh produced,
3,500 kWh per capita (1989)


&Industries: machinery and transportation equipment, iron and steel,
chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles

Agriculture: accounts for about 5% of GNP and 5% of the
work force; self-sufficient in foods other than meat and dairy products;
principal crops--fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets,
soybeans, grain, olives; fish catch of 554,000 metric tons in 1987

Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $18.7 billion

Currency: Italian lira (plural--lire); 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100
centesimi

Exchange rates: Italian lire (Lit) per US$1--1,262.5 (January 1990),
1,372.1 (1989), 1,301.6 (1988), 1,296.1 (1987), 1,490.8 (1986), 1,909.4 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications
Railroads: 20,011 km total; 16,066 km 1.435-meter government-owned
standard gauge (8,999 km electrified); 3,945 km privately owned--2,100 km
1.435-meter standard gauge (1,155 km electrified) and 1,845 km 0.950-meter
narrow gauge (380 km electrified)

Highways: 294,410 km total; autostrada 5,900 km, state highways 45,170
km, provincial highways 101,680 km, communal highways 141,660 km; 260,500 km
concrete, bituminous, or stone block, 26,900 km gravel and crushed stone,
7,010 km earth

Inland waterways: 2,400 km for various types of commercial
traffic, although of limited overall value

Pipelines: crude oil, 1,703 km; refined products, 2,148 km; natural gas,
19,400 km

Ports: Cagliari (Sardinia), Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Naples,
Palermo (Sicily), Taranto, Trieste, Venice

Merchant marine: 547 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,871,505
GRT/10,805,368 DWT; includes 6 passenger, 41 short-sea passenger, 100 cargo,
5 refrigerated cargo, 22 container, 72 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 4 vehicle
carrier, 1 multifunction large-load carrier, 2 livestock carrier, 147
petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 37 chemical tanker,
29 liquefied gas, 8 specialized tanker, 16 combination ore/oil,
55 bulk, 2 combination bulk

Civil air: 132 major transport aircraft

Airports: 143 total, 138 usable; 88 with permanent-surface runways; 2
with runways over 3,659 m; 35 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 42 with runways
1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: well engineered, constructed, and operated;
28,000,000 telephones; stations--144 AM, 54 (over 1,800 repeaters) FM,
135 (over 1,300 repeaters) TV; 22 submarine cables; communication satellite
earth stations operating in INTELSAT 3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean,
INMARSAT, and EUTELSAT systems

Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force

Military manpower: males 15-49, 14,721,704; 12,855,022 fit for military
service; 430,782 reach military age (18) annually

Defense expenditures: 2.4% of GDP, or $19 billion (1989 est.)