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-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile
Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic
Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants
Geography - note:
strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as
southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
People Italy
Population:
58,057,477 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 14% (male 4,181,946; female 3,935,565)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 19,590,497; female 19,256,747)
65 years and over: 19.1% (male 4,608,479; female 6,484,243) (2004
est.)
Median age: total: 41.4 years male: 39.8 years female: 43 years (2004 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.09% (2004 est.)
Birth rate:
9.05 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)