Italy

Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north.
== Economical characteristics ==
* Currency: Euro (ISO code: EUR)
* Central bank discount rate: 3% (31 December 2008)
* Commercial banks lending rate: 11.34% (31 December 2008)
* is part of the Eurozone
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Italy: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21. 	1 200 820	1 097 340	1 117 360	1 218 920	1 507 170	1 727 750	1 777 740	1 863 480	2 114 470	2 303 080
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Italy: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21. 	124.544 	119.389 	118.521 	115.771 	111.353 	111.128 	112.576 	108.443 	103.933 	106.321
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Italy: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21. 	39.125 	37.159 	36.867 	36.183 	36.167 	35.675 	35.356 	36.889 	37.601 	37.490
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Italy: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.	40.449 	39.176 	39.913 	39.254 	39.518 	38.659 	39.169 	39.599 	39.365 	40.142
Debt to revenue (years) 	3.183 	3.213 	3.215 	3.200 	3.079 	3.115 	3.184 	2.940 	2.764 	2.836
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Italy on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Italy
* BBC country profile
* Mafia cash in on lucrative EU wind farm handouts - especially in Sicily Nick Squires and Nick Meo, September 2010
Category:Countries