*Italy, Economy

Overview:
Since World War II the economy has changed from one based on agriculture
into a ranking industrial economy, with approximately the same total and per
capita output as France and the UK. The country is still divided into a
developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and an
undeveloped agricultural south, dominated by large public enterprises.
Services account for 48% of GDP, industry 35%, agriculture 4%, and public
administration 13%. Most raw materials needed by industry and over 75% of
energy requirements must be imported. After growing at an annual average
rate of 3% in 1983-90, growth slowed to about 1% in 1991 and 1992. In the
second half of 1992, Rome became unsettled by the prospect of not qualifying
to participate in EC plans for economic and monetary union later in the
decade; thus it finally began to address its huge fiscal imbalances. Thanks
to the determination of Prime Minister AMATO, the government adopted a
fairly stringent budget for 1993, abandoned its highly inflationary wage
indexation system, and started to scale back its extremely generous social
welfare programs, including pension and health care benefits. Monetary
officials, who were forced to withdraw the lira from the European monetary
system in September 1992 when it came under extreme pressure in currency
markets, remain committed to bringing the currency back into the grid as
soon as conditions warrant. For the 1990s, Italy faces the problems of
refurbishing a tottering communications system, curbing pollution in major
industrial centers, and adjusting to the new competitive forces accompanying
the ongoing economic integration of the European Community.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $1.012 trillion (1992)
National product real growth rate:
0.9% (1992)
National product per capita:
$17,500 (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.4% (1992)
Unemployment rate:
11% (1992 est.)
Budget:
revenues $447 billion; expenditures $581 billion, including capital
expenditures of $46 billion (1992 est.)
Exports:
$168.8 million (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
textiles, wearing apparel, metals, production machinery, motor vehicles,
transportation equipment, chemicals, other
partners:
EC 58.3%, US 6.8%, OPEC 5.1% (1992)
Imports:
$169.7 million (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
petroleum, industrial machinery, chemicals, metals, food, agricultural
products
partners:
EC 58.8%, OPEC 6.1%, US 5.5% (1992)
External debt:
$42 billion (September 1992)
Industrial production:
growth rate -0.5% (1992 est.); accounts for almost 35% of GDP
Electricity:
58,000,000 kW capacity; 235,000 million kWh produced, 4,060 kWh per capita
(1992)

*Italy, Economy

Industries:
machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor
vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics
Agriculture:
accounts for about 4% of GDP and about 10% of the work force;
self-sufficient in foods other than meat, dairy products, and cereals;
principal crops - fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets,
soybeans, grain, olives; fish catch of 525,000 metric tons in 1990
Illicit drugs:
increasingly important gateway country for Latin American cocaine entering
the European market
Economic aid:
donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $25.9 billion
Currency:
1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi
Exchange rates:
Italian lire (Lit) per US$1 - 1,482.5 (January 1993), 1,232.4 (1992),
1,240.6 (1991), 1,198.1 (1990), 1,372.1 (1989), 1,301.6 (1988)
Fiscal year:
calendar year

*Italy, Communications

Railroads:
20,011 km total; 16,066 km 1.435-meter government-owned standard gauge
(8,999 km electrified); 3,945 km privately owned - 2,100 km 1.435-meter
standard gauge (1,155 km electrified) and 1,845 km 0.950-meter narrow gauge
(380 km electrified)
Highways:
298,000 km total; autostrada (expressway) 6,000 km, state highways 46,000
km, provincial highways 103,000 km, communal highways 143,000 km; 270,000 km
paved, 23,000 km gravel and crushed stone, 5,000 km earth
Inland waterways:
2,400 km for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited
overall value
Pipelines:
crude oil 1,703 km; petroleum products 2,148 km; natural gas 19,400 km
Ports:
Cagliari (Sardinia), Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Naples, Palermo (Sicily),
Taranto, Trieste, Venice
Merchant marine:
536 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,788,938 GRT/10,128,468 DWT;
includes 15 passenger, 36 short-sea passenger, 87 cargo, 4 refrigerated
cargo, 21 container, 69 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 8 vehicle carrier, 1
multifunction large-load carrier, 138 oil tanker, 34 chemical tanker, 45
liquefied gas, 10 specialized tanker, 9 combination ore/oil, 57 bulk, 2
combination bulk
Airports:
total:
137
usable: 133
with permanent-surface runways:
92
with runways over 3,659 m:
2
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
36
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
39
Telecommunications:
modern, well-developed, fast; 25,600,000 telephones; fully automated
telephone, telex, and data services; high-capacity cable and microwave radio
relay trunks; broadcast stations - 135 AM, 28 (1,840 repeaters) FM, 83
(1,000 repeaters) TV; international service by 21 submarine cables, 3
satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT with 3 Atlantic Ocean
antennas and 2 Indian Ocean antennas; also participates in INMARSAT and
EUTELSAT systems

*Italy, Defense Forces

Branches:
Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 14,898,913; fit for military service 12,989,142; reach
military age (18) annually 425,286 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $24.5 billion, 2% of GDP (1992)

*Jamaica, Geography

Location:
in the northern Caribbean Sea, about 160 km south of Cuba
Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean, North America, Standard Time Zones of the
World
Area:
total area:
10,990 km2
land area:
10,830 km2
comparative area:
slightly smaller than Connecticut
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
1,022 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes: none
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior
Terrain:
mostly mountains with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
Natural resources:
bauxite, gypsum, limestone
Land use:
arable land:
19%
permanent crops:
6%
meadows and pastures:
18%
forest and woodland:
28%
other:
29%
Irrigated land:
350 km2 (1989 est.)
Environment:
subject to hurricanes (especially July to November); deforestation; water
pollution
Note:
strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea
lanes for Panama Canal