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  • Title: Republic of Italy (country profile).
    Author: Hakkert R.
    Journal: Int Demogr; 1986 Feb; 5(2):1-9. PubMed ID: 12267660.
    Abstract:
    This discussion of Italy focuses on the following: cities and regions; population growth; households and families; housing and construction; ethnicity and religion; education; economy and labor force; consumption; and transport and communications. Italy, with its total area of 116,374 square miles, is about the size of Florida and Georgia combined. Its 56.6 million people form the 2nd largest population in Western Europe, after West Germany, but slightly larger than Great Britain and France. The main administrative divisions are 20 regions, subdivided into 95 provinces. The provinces in turn are divided into 8090 "comuni" or municipalities. The 6 cities with more than 500,000 people are Roma, Milano, Napoli, Torino, Genova, and Palermo. They account for 14% of the population. The 43 cities with between 100,000-500,000 account for another 13%. There are 373 middle-sized communities with between 20,000 and 100,000 people, accounting for 26% of population. Italy has a regional problem. The line separating the regions of Emilia Romagna, Toscana, Umbria, and Lazio from the regions to the south and east is important. The regions north of it hold 62% of the population but are responsible for 73% of the gross national product (GNP) and 78% of the industrial product. The regions to the south are economically much weaker. At the time of the last Italian census on October 25, 1981, the country counted 56.6 million inhabitants. Compared to 33.5 million at the turn of the century, this implies an average annual growth rate of .61%. Between 1900-70, nearly 20 million Italians left their country. Most settled in the US, Argentina, and Brazil. Beginning in the 1960s, a new sort of migration was added as young Italians temporarily left to work in the more prosperous countries of northern Europe. The birthrate, which had declined slowly to 18/1000 during the 1960s, fell more rapidly during the 1970s, to 10.9/1000 in 1981 and 10.3 in 1984. The death rate in Italy has changed little since 1950. Presently, it hovers around 9.5/1000. With its low birthrate and outmigration of young adults, Italy is aging. The median age is about 34 years, and 13% of the population is aged 65 and older. Despite the stereotypical image of the large Italian family, household size in Italy, as in other industrialized nations, is declining, from a mean of 3.6 in 1961 to 3.4 in 1971 and 3.0 in 1981. Culturally, Italy is a homogeneous country. In 1984 there were 23 million people in Italy's work force. Among the economically inactive, 33% were younger than age 14, 30% were housewives, 23% were retired, and 11% were students. In 1984, average annual family income varied from the equivalent of about $15,900 in Emilia Romagna to $9,500 in Sicilia. Mean annual household budgets in 1983 varied from te equivalent of $11,950 in Lombardia to $7,400 in Molise, with a national average of $10,026.
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