Politics

Figure 1: Left: Napolitano, Right: Berlusconi

- Italy is a democratic republic with multiple parties
- Led by President Giorgio Napolitano (elected May 10, 2006) who is also the head of state
- The Prime Minister, who is picked by the President, is Silvio Berlusconi.
- Italy is a member of the G8

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People   

- Italy has a Population of 58,090,681 (July 2010 est.)
- Italy ranks 23rd on the Human Development Report in 2010.
- Unemployment is still a large concern as the unemployment rate has risen from 6.2% in 2007 to 8.4% in 2010.
- Over 70% of Italy's population live in urban environments
- 90% of Italians are Roman Catholic
- The literacy rate in Italy is 98.4%

Figure 2: The Italian Flag

Economics

- Italy has a GDP/capita of $30,700 which ranks 43rd in the world.
- The Italian economy is diverse, North is primarily industrial while the south is predominantly agricultural

Geography

Figure 3: Political Map of Italy

- Italy is a peninsula which located in Southern Europe and extends into the Mediterranean Sea
- It has an area of 301,340 sq km which is slightly larger than the state of Arizona.
- The capital is Rome
- Italy also has 2 islands: Sicily and Sardinia, both which can be seen in Figure 1

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Figure 4: Map of Italy Within the World

(CIA World Factbook)