Department of Business & Economics
International Business
Dr. Kisner
Country Profile:
ITALY

7/17/2013

Country Facts:
Full Country Name: Italian Republic
Area: 116,400
Population: 61, 261, 254
Capital City: Rome
Language: Italian
Religion: Christian 80% (overwhelming Roman Catholic with very small groups of Jehova Witnesses and Protestants), Muslims NEGL (about 700,000 but growing), Atheists and Agnostics 20%
Currency: Euro
Climate: The Northern part of Italy has hot summers and cold winter, although the temperature rarely drops below freezing during the daytime. The South enjoys mild winters and long, dry, hot Summers. Mountain areas such as the Alps and the Apennines have long, cold winters long and short, cool summers
Government: Formally called the Italian Republic, Italy is a parliamentary, democratic republic with a multi-party system. The president of the Council of Ministers, known as the Prime Minister, exercises the executive power. The Council of Ministers, along with the two houses of Parliament (the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic) make up the Legislative branch. The president of Italy is elected by the parliament and is the head of state. The president’s roles include commander-in-chief, president of the judiciary, and appointer of the executive.
Legislature: It is a bicameral legislature with 945 elected members. It is composed of the Chamber of Deputies, with 630 members, and the Senate of the Republic, with 315 members.
Head of State: Giorgio Napolitano
Economy:
GDP: $1.98 trillion (2012 est.)
GDP Per Capita: $30,100 (2012 est.)
Inflation: 1.20%
Major Industries: tourism; iron and steel; machinery; chemicals; textiles; food processing; motor vehicles; footwear; clothing; and ceramics
Agriculture Products: fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives, beef, dairy products, fish
Exports: $483.3 billion (2012 est. )
Export Commodities: engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals, and nonferrous metals
Export Partners: Germany 13.3%, France 11.8%, US 5.9%, Spain 5.4%, Switzerland 5.4%, UK 4.7%
Imports: $469.7 billion (2012 est.)
Import Commodities: Engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing, food, beverage, and tobacco
Import Partners: Germany 16.5%, France 8.8%, China 7.7%, Netherlands 5.5%, Spain 4.7%

History:
Italy is a country in south-western Europe. It is comprised largely of a boot shaped peninsular that extends out into the Mediterranean, as well as a region on the core landmass of the continent. Italy is surrounded by Switzerland and Austria to the north, Slovenia and the Adriatic Sea to the east, France and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, and the Ionian Sea and the Mediterranean to the south. Sicily and Sardinia is also included in the country of Italy.
Italy’s history is normally characterized as two periods of unity separated by a millennia and a half of division. In the sixth to third centuries BCE the Italian city of Peninsular Italy was conquered by Rome; over the next few centuries this empire spread to dominate the Mediterranean and Western Europe. Italy was the target of several invasions once the Italian part of the Roman Empire declined and “fell” in the fifth century, and the previously united region broke apart into several smaller bodies, including the Papal States, governed by the Catholic Pope. A number of powerful and trading orientated city states emerged, including Florence, Venice and Genoa; these incubated the Renaissance. Italy, and its smaller states, also went through stages of foreign domination.
Independence movements and unification for Italy developed ever stronger voices in the nineteenth century after Napoleon created a short lived Kingdom of Italy. A war between Austria