COUNTRY OVERVIEW
President: Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (since 1999)
Prime Minister: Silvio Berlusconi (since June 2001)
Location/Size: Southern Europe/301,230 sq km (116,305 sq mi, slightly larger than Arizona)
Major Cities: Rome (capital), Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Genoa
Languages: Italian, 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)
Ethnic groups: Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)
Religion: predominately Roman Catholic with established Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community
Population (10/02): 57.9 million
Defense (8/98): Army, 165,600; Navy, 40,000; Air Force, 63,600; Paramilitary forces, 255,700; Conscripts, 134,100

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
Minister of Economy and Finance: Giulio Tremonti
Currency: Euro - On January 1, 2002, the Euro became the single currency of the 12 member states. After that date, the Lira existed as legal tender until February 28, 2002.
Market Exchange Rate (03/05/03): US$1= .91870 Euro
Nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP, 2002E): $1,777 billion (2003F): $1,302 billion
Real GDP Growth Rate (2002E): 0.4%; (2003F): 1.4%
Unemployment Rate (2001E): 9.5%; (2002E): 9.1%
Inflation Rate (consumer prices, 2002E): 2.4%; (2003F): 2.4%
Major Export Products: Textiles, clothing, machinery, transportation equipment
Major Import Products: Crude oil, other fuels, machinery, transport equipment
Major Trading Partners: Germany, France, Netherlands, United States, United Kingdom

ENERGY OVERVIEW
Minister of Productive Activities: Antonio Marzano
Proven Oil Reserves (1/1/03E): 621 million barrels
Oil Production (2002E): 149,000 barrels per day (bbl/d), of which 84,700 bbl/d is crude oil
Oil Consumption (2002E): 1.87 million bbl/d
Net Oil Imports (2002E): 1.69 million bbl/d
Crude Oil Refining Capacity (12/1/02E): 2.30 million bbl/d
Natural Gas Reserves (12/1/02E): 8.0 trillion cubic feet (Tcf)
Natural Gas Production (2001E): 550 billion cubic feet
Natural Gas Consumption (2001E): 2.5 Tcf
Net Natural Gas Imports (2000E): 2.0 Tcf
Recoverable Coal Reserves (2000): 37 million short tons (Mmst)
Coal Production (2001E): 0.02 Mmst
Coal Consumption (2001E): 22.4 Mmst
Electric Generation Capacity (1/1/01): 69 million kilowatts
Electricity Generation (2001E): 203.4 billion kilowatthours
Electricity Consumption (2001E): 289.1 billion kilowatthours

ENVIRONMENTAL OVERVIEW
Minister of Environment: Altero Matteoli
Total Energy Consumption (2000E): 7.96 quadrillion Btu* (2% of world total energy consumption)
Energy-Related Carbon Emissions (2001E): 121.5 million metric tons of carbon (1.9% of world total carbon emissions)
Per Capita Energy Consumption (2000E): 138.3 million Btu (vs U.S. value of 351 million Btu)
Per Capita Carbon Emissions (2000E): 2.0 metric tons of carbon (vs U.S. value of 5.6 metric tons of carbon)
Energy Intensity (2000E): 6,603 Btu/ $1990 (vs U.S. value of 10,918 Btu/ $1990)**
Carbon Intensity (1999E): 0.1 metric tons of carbon/thousand $1990 (vs U.S. value of 0.17 metric tons/thousand $1990)**
Fuel Share of Energy Consumption (2000E): Oil (48.7%), Natural Gas (32%), Coal (6.2%), Hydro (5.7%), and other Renewables (1.58%)
Fuel Share of Carbon Emissions (2000E): Oil (57.5%), Natural Gas (31.4%), Coal (11.1%)
Renewable Energy Consumption (1998E): 560 trillion Btu* (1% increase from 1997)
Status in Climate Change Negotiations: Annex I country under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (ratified April 15th, 1994). Under the negotiated Kyoto Protocol (signed on April 29th, 1998, and ratified the Treaty on May 31st, 2003), Italy, as a member of the European Union, has agreed to reduce greenhouse gases 8% below 1990 levels by the 2008-2012 commitment period.
Major Environmental 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.
Major International Environmental Agreements: A party to Conventions on Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands and Whaling.  Has signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

* The total energy consumption statistic includes petroleum, dry natural gas, coal, net hydro, nuclear, geothermal, solar, wind, wood and waste electric power. The renewable energy consumption statistic is based on International Energy Agency (IEA) data and includes hydropower, solar, wind, tide, geothermal, solid biomass and animal products, biomass gas and liquids, industrial and municipal wastes. Sectoral shares of energy consumption and carbon emissions are also based on IEA data.
**GDP based on EIA International Energy Annual 1999.

ENERGY INDUSTRY
Oil and Gas Company: Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI); Chief Subsidiaries: Agip (hydrocarbons exploration and production), Snam (gas supplies and hydrocarbon transportation), ENIchem (petrochemicals)
Major Pipelines (gas): TransMed, Trans-Austria Gasleitung
Major Ports: Cagliari (Sardinia), Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Naples, Palermo, Trieste, Venice
National Electricity Company: Ente Nazionale per l'Energia Elettrica (ENEL, undergoing privatization)

Sources for this report include: CIA World Factbook; Dow Jones; Economist; Economist Intelligence Unit; ENEL; ENI; European Union; Financial Times; Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity and Gas; La Stampa; Petroleum Economist; U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base; U.S. Commerce Department; U.S. Energy Information Administration; U.S. State Department; WEFA; World Gas Intelligence.