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: 98.6%
male: 99%
female: 98.3% (2003 est.)
Government Italy
Country name:
conventional long form: Italian Republic
conventional short form: Italy
local long form: Repubblica Italiana
local short form: Italia
former: Kingdom of Italy
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name: Rome
geographic coordinates: 41 54 N, 12 29 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last
Sunday in October
Administrative divisions:
15 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 5 autonomous regions*
(regioni autonome, singular - regione autonoma); Abruzzo,
Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia
Giulia*, Lazio (Latium), Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise,
Piemonte (Piedmont), Puglia (Apulia), Sardegna* (Sardinia),
Sicilia*, Toscana (Tuscany), Trentino-Alto Adige* (Trentino-South
Tyrol), Umbria, Valle d'Aosta* (Aosta Valley), Veneto
Independence:
17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally
unified until 1870)
National holiday:
Republic Day, 2 June (1946)
Constitution:
passed 11 December 1947, effective 1 January 1948; amended many
times