Location: Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia.
Land Area: 301,230 sq km ( 116,305 sq. miles)
Coastline: 7,600 km (4,723 miles)
Highest Point: Mont Blanc de Courmayeur 4,748 m (15,573 ft)
Lowest Point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m (0 ft)
Notable Landmarks: Take a peek...

Italy has a more diversified industrial economy with roughly the same total and per capita output as France and the United Kingdom. The capitalistic economy remains divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed, welfare-dependent agricultural south, with 20 percent unemployment. Most raw materials needed by industry and more than 75 percent of Italy's energy requirements are imported. Over the past 10 years, Italy has pursued a tight fiscal policy in order to meet the requirements of the Economic and Monetary Unions and has benefited from lower interest and inflation rates. The current government has enacted numerous short-term reforms aimed at improving competitiveness and long-term growth. Italy has moved slowly, however, on implementing needed structural reforms, such as lightening the high tax burden and overhauling Italy's rigid labor market and over-generous pension system, because of the current economic slowdown and opposition from labor unions.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): $1.698 trillion (2005 est.)
GDP Per Capita: $29,200 (2005 est.)
Number of Workers: 24.49 million (2005 est.)
Unemployment Rate: 7.7% (2005 est.)
Industries: Tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear and ceramics.
Currency: euro (EUR)  formerly the Lira
Note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries.

Type of Government: Republic
Chief of State: President Giorgio NAPOLITANO (since 15 May 2006)
Head of Government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the president of the Council of Ministers) Romano PRODI (since 17 May 2006)
Capital City: Rome
Legal Age to Vote: 18
Flag Design: Three vertical bands of green (hoist side), white and red; similar to the flag or Ireland, which is longer and is green (hoist side), white and orange; also similar to the flag of the Cote d'Ivoire, which has the colors reversed - Orange(hoist side), white and green. The flag was inspired by the French flag brought to Italy by Napoleon in 1797.
Official Language: Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German-speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (minority in the Triest-Gorizia area).
Religions: Predominantly Roman Catholic, with mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community.

Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor Emmanuel II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito Mussolini established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replace the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of the European economic and political unification, joining the European Monetary Union ion 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north.