INTERESTING ITALY By Steven Grimme

ITALY’S CLIMATE, AREA, AND PHYSICAL FEATURES  Italy is approximately 116,305 square miles (301, 230 square kilometers including the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.  It is slightly larger than the U.S. state of Arizona.  Some physical features of Italy are mountains, islands, seas, rivers, and volcanoes.  The climate varies by region. In the north, winters are cold and rainy. In the middle, they are cool as in Rome and in the south, they are mild.  The temperature can get up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer.  Italy surrounds two independent nations: Vatican City and San Marino. At the left is a picture of Vatican City.

ITALY'S GEOGRAPHY AFFECTS ON THEIR LIFE AND ECONOMY  Since they have a high climate usually, they do a lot of outdoor activities and have a lot of street vendors.  Some of Italy's natural resources are fish, sulfur, natural gas, barite, marble.  Since they have natural gas, they have a lot of factories and some pollution.

ITALY’S ECONOMY  Their economy reveals that they are a developing country because their GDP is $30,100 and that is 45 th in the world. Also, their unemployment rate is 10.9% and their GDP growth rate is -2.3% which means their GDP is going down each year by 2.3%. Their standard of living is pretty well because their GDP is 45 th in the world and there are 196 countries in the whole world.  Their budget deficit is -2.9% of their GDP and their inflation rate is 3% which is 78 th in the world.  Their GDP composition by sector is services which is 74.1%, industry which is 23.9%, and agriculture which is 2%.  Their labor force by occupation is services which is 67.8%, industry which is 28.3%,and agriculture which is 3.9%. At the left is a picture of Italy’s GDP from

ITALY’S INDUSTRIES, EXPORTS, AND IMPORTS  Some of Italy's industries are tourism, ceramics, textiles, clothing, and machinery.  They spend billion dollars on exports and some exports are beverages, food, and chemicals.  Export partners- Germany which is 13.3% of where they export goods to, from, France which is 11.8% of where they export goods to, and the U.S. which is 5.9% of where they export goods to.  They spend billion dollars on imports and some imports are food, beverages, and tobacco.  Import partners- Germany which 16.5% of their imports, France which is 8.8% of their imports, and China which is 7.7% of their imports.

ITALY'S POPULATION  Italy’s population is around 58.1 million people.  Rome is the largest city in Italy and has the largest population which is about 2.5 million people.  Italy has a lot of immigrants in the past two decades. At the left is a chart of Italy’s immigration in the past 20 years.

ITALY’S LANGUAGE, RELIGION, AND FOOD  Their official language is Italian but some youth groups tend to speak English.  Most Italians are Roman Catholics.  An Italian breakfast tends to have a cup of coffee or cappuccino and a piece of bread with jam or jelly. Wine commonly accompanies meals and also is widely used in cooking.  Dinner guests usually bring a bottle of wine, a box of chocolates, or flowers.  When eating, people usually but the fork in the left hand and knife in the right.  No one leaves the table until everyone is finished.

ITALY’S ART, MUSIC, CLOTHING AND GREETINGS  Some of the greatest Western painters, architects, and sculptors are from Italy.  One thing unique about them is that Italians invented the piano, opera, and musical notation.  They usually tend to dress up for occasions as common as an evening stroll or casual visit.  Men and women usually greet each other by a simple handshake. At the left is a picture of Italy’s traditional clothing.

CURRENT EVENTS  1. A potential threat to U.S exports- More than 20% of all U.S. exports go to Europe, making it the nation's largest trading partner. Total exports to the European Union were $177 billion in the first eight months of 2011, up 15% from last year. Even so, the U.S. is running a $65 billion trade deficit with the EU. They are spending abut 150 billion dollars more than Greece, Spain, and Italy combined. That means that they are spending way too much money on exports.