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General Information
Area: 301,338 sq km (116,346 sq miles).
Population: 57,679,895 (official estimate 1999).
Population Density: 191.4 per sq km.
Capital: Rome. Population: 2,643,581 (1999).
GEOGRAPHY: Italy is situated in Europe and attached in the north to the European mainland. To the north, the Alps separate Italy from France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. Northern Italy: The Alpine regions, the Po Plain and the Ligurian-Etruscan Appennines. Piedmont and Val d’Aosta contain some of the highest mountains in Europe and are good areas for winter sports. Many rivers flow down from the mountains towards the Po Basin, passing through the beautiful Italian Lake District (Maggiore, Como, Garda). The Po Basin, which extends as far south as the bare slopes of the Appennines, is covered with gravel terraces and rich alluvial soil and has long been one of Italy’s most prosperous regions. To the east, where the River Po flows into the Adriatic Sea, the plains are a little higher than the river itself; artificial (and occasionally natural) embankments prevent flooding. Central Italy: The northern part of the Italian peninsula. Tuscany (Toscana) has a diverse landscape with snow-capped mountains (the Tuscan Appennines), lush countryside, hills and a long sandy coastline with offshore islands. Le Marche, lying between the Appennines and the Adriatic coast, is a region of mountains, rivers and small fertile plains. The even more mountainous regioni (administrative districts) of Abruzzo and Molise are bordered by Marche to the north and Puglia to the south, and are separated from the Tyrrhenian Sea and to the west by Lazio and Campania. Umbria is known as the ‘green heart of Italy’, hilly with broad plains, olive groves and pines. Further south lies Rome, Italy’s capital and largest city. Within its precincts is the Vatican City. Southern Italy: Campania consists of flat coastal plains and low mountains, stretching from Baia Domizia to the Bay of Naples and along a rocky coast to the Calabria border. Inland, the Appennines are lower, mellowing into the rolling countryside around Sorrento. The islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida in the Tyrrhenian Sea are also part of Campania. The south is wilder than the north, with mile upon mile of olive trees, cool forests and rolling hills. Puglia, the ‘heel of the boot’, is a landscape of volcanic hills and isolated marshes. Calabria, the ‘toe’, is heavily forested and thinly populated. The Calabrian hills are home to bears and wolves.
The Islands
Sicily (Sicilia), visible across a 3km (2-mile) strait from mainland Italy, is fertile but mountainous with volcanoes (including the famous landmark of Mount Etna) and lava fields, and several offshore islands. Sardinia (Sardegna) has a mountainous landscape, fine sandy beaches and rocky offshore islands.
For more information on each region, see the Resorts & Excursions section.
Government: Unification in 1861. Republic since 1946. Head of State: President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi since 1999. Head of Government: Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi since 2001.
Language: Italian is the official language. Dialects are spoken in different regions. German and Ladin are spoken in the South Tyrol region (bordering Austria). French is spoken in all the border areas from the Riviera to the area north of Milan (border with France and Switzerland). German is spoken around the Austrian border. English, German and French are also spoken in the biggest cities and in tourism and business circles.
Religion: Roman Catholic with Protestant minorities.
Time: GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in September).
Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz.
Communications:
Telephone
Full IDD service available. Country code: 390 (followed by 6 for Rome, 2 for Milan, 11 for Turin, 81 for Naples, 41 for Venice and 55 for Florence). Outgoing international code: 00. Telephone kiosks now only accept phonecards, which can be purchased at post offices, tobacconists and certain newsagents.
Mobile telephone
GSM 900 and 1800 networks. Network operators include Blu (website: www.blu.it), Vodafone Omnitel (website: www.omnitelvodafone.it), Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) (website: www.tim.it) and Wind (website: www.wind.it).
Fax
Some hotels have facilities.
Internet
ISPs include Freenet (website: www.freenet.it), Telecom Italia Net (website: www.tin.it), Tiscali (website: www.tiscali.it) and Virgilio (website: www.virgilio.it). Public access is available in Internet Corner Kiosks operated by Telecom Italia. Kiosks have been installed at airports, major hotels and in other public places. There are also Internet cafes in all main towns.
Telegram
Both internal and overseas telegrams may be dictated over the telephone.
Post
The Italian postal system tends to be subject to delays. Letters between Italy and other European countries usually take a week to ten days to arrive. Letters intended for Poste Restante collection should be addressed to Fermo Posta and the town. Stamps are sold in post offices and tobacconists. Post office hours: Mon-Fri 0800/0830-1200/1230 and 1400/1430-1730/1800, Saturday mornings only.
Press
The main towns publish a weekly booklet with entertainment programmes, sports events, restaurants, nightclubs, etc. There are several English-language publications: monthly magazines Enigma Roma (Rome), Grapevine (on the Lucca area) and Hello Milano (Milan), as well as Wanted In Rome, (website: www.wantedinrome.com), published twice monthly. Among the most important Italian dailies are La Stampa (Turin), Corriere della Sera (Milan), La Repubblica (Rome), Il Messaggero (Rome), and Il Giorno (Milan). The Informer (website: www.informer.it) is a useful English-language online guide for expatriates living in Italy.
BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change.
BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice):
Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov):
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
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