Country Presentation
Area: 301,230 km2
Population: 60 870 745 ab. (2012)
Area Land: 294 020 km2
Coast Line: 7 600 km
Climate: Predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south.
Ethnic groups: Italian (includes small clusters of German, French, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)
Religions: Mainly Roman Catholic
Languages : Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region), French (small minority in Valle Aosta region), Slovene (minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
Capital: Rome
Currency: Euro
International dialing code: 0039
Entry documents: Identity Card or Passport
Holiday: Anniversary of the Republic is 2 June (1946), Liberation Day (WWII) is 25 April
Principal cities : Rome (2.641.930); Milan (1.245.956); Naples (960.521); Turin (872.158); Palermo (655.604); Genoa (583.089); Florence (362.389); Venice (259.771)
Government: Parliamentary Democracy
Head of State: President Giorgio Napolitano
Head of government: Prime Minister Matteo Renzi
Cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the Prime Minister and approved by the President
President Elections: President elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives for a seven-year term; election last held 22 April 2013; Prime Minister appointed by the President and confirmed by Parliament
Legislative branch: Bicameral Parliament, or Parlamento, consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica, (315 seats elected by popular vote of which 232 are directly elected and 83 are elected by regional proportional representation; in addition, there are a small number of senators-for-life including former presidents of the republic; members serve five-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies, or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; 475 are directly elected, 155 by regional proportional representation; members serve five-year terms)
Elections: Senate - last held 24-25 February 2013; Chamber of Deputies - last held 24-25 February 2013. Judicial branch: Constitutional Court, or Corte Costituzionale (composed of 15 judges: one-third appointed by the President, one-third elected by Parliament, one-third elected by the ordinary and administrative Supreme Courts)
Administrative divisions: 15 regions: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Toscana, Umbria, Veneto 5 autonomous regions: Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sardegna, Sicilia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Val d’Aosta
