2.1%, other 3.2% (1996 est.)
Languages: Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority,
English most commonly used foreign language
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total
population: 95% male: 97% female: 93% (1992 est.)
Government Israel
Country name: conventional long form: State of Israel conventional short
form: Israel local short form: Yisra'el local long form: Medinat Yisra'el
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Jerusalem; note - Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital
in 1950, but the US, like nearly all other countries, maintains its
Embassy in Tel Aviv
Administrative divisions: 6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz);
Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv
Independence: 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British
administration)
National holiday: Independence Day, 14 May (1948); note - Israel declared
independence on 14 May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the
holiday may occur in April or May
Constitution: no formal constitution; some of the functions of a
constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the
Basic Laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law
Legal system: mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations,
and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems;
in December 1985, Israel informed the UN Secretariat that it would no
longer accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: President Moshe KATSAV (since 31 July 2000) elections:
31 July 1999 (next to be held NA July 2003); prime minister elected by
popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 6 February 2001
(next to be held NA November 2003); note - in March 1992, the Knesset
approved legislation, effective in 1996, which allowed for the direct
election of the prime minister, but in 2001 the Knesset voted to restore
the previous method under which the legislators will choose the next
prime minister after the next legislative elections in 2003 head of
Prime Minister Ariel SHARON (since 7 March 2001) cabinet: results:
Moshe KATSAV elected president by the 120-member Knesset with
a total of 60 votes, other candidate, Shimon PERES, received 57 votes
(there were three abstentions); Ariel SHARON elected prime minister;
percent of vote - Ariel SHARON 62.5%, Ehud BARAK 37.4%; note - after
the next legislative elections scheduled for 2003, the prime minister
will be elected by the Knesset
Legislative branch: unicameral Knesset or parliament (120 seats;
members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections:
last held 17 May 1999 (next to be held NA November 2003) election results:
percent of vote by party - One Israel 20.2%, Likud Party 14.1%, Shas 13%,
Meretz 7.6%, Yisra'el Ba'Aliya 5.1%, Shinui 5%, Center Party 5%, National
Religious Party 4.2%, United Torah Judaism 3.7%, United Arab List 3.4%,
National Union 3%, Hadash 2.6%, Yisra'el Beiteinu 2.6%, Balad 1.9%,
One Nation 1.9%, Democratic Movement NA (party formed after election,
members elected under Yisra'el Ba'Aliya list); seats by party - One Israel
24, Likud Party 19, Shas 17, MERETZ 10, Yisra'el Ba'Aliya 4, Shinui 6,
Center Party 5, National Religious Party 5, United Torah Judaism 5,
United Arab List 5, National Union 3, Hadash 3, Yisra'el Beiteinu 4,
Democratic Movement 2 (party formed after election, members elected
under Yisra'el Ba'Aliya list), Balad 2, One Nation 2
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (justices appointed for life by the
president)
Political parties and leaders: Balad or National Democratic Alliance
[Azmi BISHARA]; Center Party [Dan MERIDOR]; Democratic Movement [Roman
BRONFMAN]; Gesher [David LEVI]; Hadash [Muhammad BARAKA]; Labor Party
[Binyamin BEN-ELIEZER]; Likud Party [Ariel SHARON]; Meretz [Yossi SARID];
National Religious Party [Yitzhak LEVY]; National Union [Benyamin ELON]
(includes Herut, Tekuma, and Moledet); One Israel [Ra'anan COHEN]; One
Nation [Amir PERETZ]; Shas [Eliyahu YISHAI]; Shinui [Tommy LAPID]; United
Arab List [Abd al-Malik DAHAMSHAH]; United Torah Judaism [Meir PORUSH];
Yisra'el Ba'Aliya [Natan SHARANSKY]; Yisra'el Beiteinu [Avigdor LIEBERMAN]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Israeli nationalists advocating
Jewish settlement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Peace Now supports
territorial concessions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Yesha (settler)
Council promotes settler interests and opposes territorial compromise;
B'Tselem monitors human rights abuses
International organization participation: BSEC (observer), CCC, CE
(observer), CERN (observer), EBRD, ECE, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS (associate), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol,
IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, OAS (observer), OPCW (signatory), OSCE (partner),
PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
David IVRY consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston,
Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco FAX: [1]
(202) 364-3607 telephone: [1] (202) 364-5500 chancery: 3514 International
Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Daniel C. KURTZER embassy: 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv mailing address:
PSC 98, Unit 7228, APO AE 09830 telephone: [972] (3) 519-7575 FAX: [972]
(3) 517-3227 consulate(s) general: Jerusalem; note - an independent
US mission, established in 1928, whose members are not accredited to a
foreign government
Flag description: white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star)
known as the Magen David (Shield of David) centered between two equal
horizontal blue bands near the top and bottom edges of the flag
Economy Israel
Economy - overview: Israel has a technologically advanced market economy
with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of
crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite
limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its
agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel
is largely self-sufficient in food production except for grains. Cut
diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and
vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable current
account deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad
and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt
is owed to the US, which is its major source of economic and military
aid. The influx of Jewish immigrants from the former USSR during the
period 1989-99 coupled with the opening of new markets at the end of the
Cold War, energized Israel's economy, which grew rapidly in the early
1990s. But growth began moderating in 1996 when the government imposed
tighter fiscal and monetary policies and the immigration bonus petered
out. Growth was a strong 6.4% in 2000. But the outbreak of Palestinian
unrest in late September 2000 and the declines in the high-technology
and tourist sectors led to a 0.6% drop in GDP in 2001.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $119 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -0.6% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $20,000 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4% industry: 37% services: 59%
(1999 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 26.9% (1992)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 35.5 (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.1% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 2.4 million (2000 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: public services 31.2%, manufacturing 20.2%,
finance and business 13.1%, commerce 12.8%, construction 7.5%, personal
and other services 6.4%, transport, storage, and communications 6.2%,
agriculture, forestry, and fishing 2.6% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 9% (2001 est.)
Budget: revenues: $40 billion expenditures: $42.4 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries: high-technology projects (including aviation, communications,
computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics), wood and
paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco,
caustic soda, cement, diamond cutting
Industrial production growth rate: -4.5% (2001)
Electricity - production: 38.876 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 99.89% hydro: 0.11%
other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 34.897 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 1.27 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 12 million kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry,
dairy products
Exports: $26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds,
agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel
Exports - partners: US 37.4%, Benelux 6%, Germany 4.8%, Hong Kong 4.4%,
UK 4.3%, Netherlands 2.8% (2000)
Imports: $30.6 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: raw materials, military equipment, investment
goods, rough diamonds, fuels, consumer goods
Imports - partners: US 17.8%, Benelux 10%, UK 7.6%, Germany 7.5%,
Switzerland 5.4%, Italy 4.8% (2000)
Debt - external: $42.8 billion (2001 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: NA
Currency: new Israeli shekel (ILS)
Currency code: ILS
Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.2757 (December
2001), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494
(1997)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Israel
Telephones - main lines in use: 2.8 million (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.5 million (1999)
Telephone system: general assessment: most highly developed system in
the Middle East although not the largest domestic: good system of coaxial
cable and microwave radio relay; all systems are digital international:
3 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic
Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios: 3.07 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 17 (plus 36 low-power repeaters) (1995)
Televisions: 1.69 million (1997)
Internet country code: .il
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 21 (2000)
Internet users: 1.94 million (2001)
Transportation Israel
Railways: total: 647 km standard gauge: 647 km 1.435-m gauge (2001)
Highways: total: 15,965 km paved: 15,965 km (including 56 km of
expressways) unpaved: 0 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: none
Pipelines: crude oil 708 km; petroleum products 290 km; natural gas 89 km
Ports and harbors: Ashdod, Ashqelon, Elat (Eilat), Hadera, Haifa,
Tel Aviv-Yafo
Merchant marine: total: 16 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 595,319
GRT/704,544 DWT ships by type: container 15, roll on/roll off 1
(2002 est.)
Airports: 54 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 29 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047
m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 5 (2001) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 25 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to
1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2001)
Heliports: 3 (2001)
Military Israel
Military branches: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (includes ground, naval,
and air components with Air Defense Forces), Pioneer Fighting Youth
(Nahal), Frontier Guard, Chen (women); note - historically there have
been no separate Israeli military services
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,542,835 females
age 15-49: 1,499,830 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 1,262,973
females age 15-49: 1,223,939 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 51,666
females: 49,207 (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $8.866 bilion (FY01)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 8% (FY01)
Transnational Issues Israel
Disputes - international: West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied
with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement
- permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Golan
Heights is Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of
Golan Heights)
Illicit drugs: increasingly concerned about cocaine and heroin abuse;
drugs arrive in country from Lebanon and increasingly Jordan
This page was last updated on 1 January 2002
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Italy
Introduction
Italy
Background: 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. 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 replaced 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 European economic and political unification, joining the European
Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration,
the ravages of organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, and the
low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the
prosperous north.
Geography Italy
Location: Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central
Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
Geographic coordinates: 42 50 N, 12 50 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 301,230 sq km note: includes Sardinia and Sicily water:
7,210 sq km land: 294,020 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Arizona
Land boundaries: total: 1,932.2 km border countries: Austria 430 km,
France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia
232 km, Switzerland 740 km
Coastline: 7,600 km
Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of
exploitation territorial sea: 12 NM
Climate: predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry
in south
Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point:
Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) de Courmayeur 4,748 m (a secondary peak of
Mont Blanc)
Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, natural gas and
crude oil reserves, fish, coal, arable land
Land use: arable land: 28% permanent crops: 9% other: 63% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 26,980 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches,
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice
Environment - current issues: air pollution from industrial emissions
such as sulfur dioxide; coastal and inland rivers polluted from
industrial and agricultural effluents; acid rain damaging lakes;
inadequate industrial waste treatment and disposal facilities
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur
94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic
Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed,
but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note: strategic location dominating central Mediterranean
as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
People Italy
Population: 57,715,625 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 14.1% (male 4,198,569; female 3,954,159) 15-64
years: 67.3% (male 19,334,208; female 19,492,048) 65 years and over: 18.6%
(male 4,436,073; female 6,300,568) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.05% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 8.93 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 10.13 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06
male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over:
0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 5.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: 82.63 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility
rate: 1.19 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.35% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 95,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 1,000 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Italian(s) adjective: Italian
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: predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and
Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community
Languages: Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige
region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking
minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority
in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total
population: 98% (1998) male: NA% female: NA%
Government Italy
Country name: conventional long form: Italian Republic conventional
short form: Italy local long form: Repubblica Italiana former: Kingdom
of Italy local short form: Italia
Government 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; Italy was
not finally unified until 1870)
National holiday: Republic Day, 2 June (1946)
Constitution: 1 January 1948
Legal system: based on civil law system; appeals treated as new trials;
judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal (except in senatorial elections,
where minimum age is 25)
Executive branch: chief of state: President Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI
(since 13 May 1999) 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 13 May 1999 (next to be held
NA May 2006); prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed
by Parliament head of government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy
as the president of the Council of Ministers) Silvio BERLUSCONI (since
10 June 2001) cabinet: the president election results: Carlo Azeglio
CIAMPI elected president; percent of electoral college vote - 70% note: a
five-party government coalition includes Forza Italia, National Alliance,
Northern League, Democratic Christian Center, United Christian Democrats
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 13 May 2001
(next to be held NA 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 13 May 2001
(next to be held NA 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote
by party - NA%; seats by party - House of Liberties 177 (Forza Italia
82, National Alliance 46, CCD-CDU 29, Northern League 17, others 3),
Olive Tree 128 (Democrats of the Left 62, Daisy Alliance 42, Sunflower
Alliance 16, Italian Communist Party 3, independents 5), non-affiliated
with either coalition 10, senators for life 9; Chamber of Deputies -
percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - House of Liberties 367
(Forza Italia 189, National Alliance 96, CCD-CDU 40, Northern League 30,
others 12), Olive Tree 248 (Democrats of the Left 138, Daisy Alliance
76, Sunflower Alliance 18, Italian Communist Party 9, independents 7),
non-affiliated with either coalition 15
Judicial branch: Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (composed
of 15 judges: one-third elected by the ordinary and administrative
Supreme Courts)
Political parties and leaders: Center-Left Olive Tree Coalition
[Francesco RUTELLI] - Democrats of the Left, Daisy Alliance (including
Italian Popular Party, Italian Renewal, Union of Democrats for Europe,
The Democrats), Sunflower Alliance (including Green Federation, Italian
Democratic Socialists), Italian Communist Party; Center-Right Freedom
House Coalition [Silvio BERLUSCONI] (formerly House of Liberties and
Freedom Alliance) - Forza Italia, National Alliance, The Whiteflower
Alliance (includes Christian Democratic Center, United Christian
Democrats), Northern League; Christian Democratic Center or CCD [Marco
FOLLINI]; Communist Party or PdCI [Oliviero DILIBERTO]; Democrats of
the Left or DS [Piero FASSINO]; Forza Italia or FI [Silvio BERLUSCONI];
Green Federation [Alfonso Pecoraro SCANIO]; Italian Communist Party
or PdCI [Oliviero DILIBERTO]; Italian Popular Party or PPI [Pierluigi
CASTAGNETTI]; Italian Renewal or RI [Lamberto DINI]; Italian Social
Democrats or SDI [Enrico BOSELLI]; Socialist Movement-Tricolor Flame
or MS-Fiamma [Pino RAUTI]; National Alliance or AN [Gianfranco FINI];
Northern League or NL [Umberto BOSSI]; Southern Tyrols People's
Party or SVP (German speakers) [Siegfried BRUGGER]; Sunflower Alliance
(includes Green Federation, Italian Social Democrats); The Daisy Alliance
(includes Italian Popular Party, Italian Renewal, Union of Democrats
for Europe, The Democrats); The Democrats [Arturo PARISI]; The Radicals
(formerly Pannella Reformers and Autonomous List) [Marco PANNELLA];
The Whiteflower Alliance (includes Christian Democratic Center, United
Christian Democrats); Union of Democrats for Europe or UDEUR [Clemente
MASTELLA]; United Christian Democrats or CDU [Rocco BUTTIGLIONE]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Italian manufacturers and
merchants associations (Confindustria, Confcommercio); organized farm
groups (Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura); Roman Catholic Church; three
major trade union confederations (Confederazione Generale Italiana del
Lavoro or CGIL [Sergio COFFERATI] which is left wing, Confederazione
Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL [Savino PEZZOTTA] which is
Roman Catholic centrist, and Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL [Pietro
LARIZZA] which is lay centrist)