Information about Italy
Italy is a democratic republic founded on work (Art.1 of Italian Constitution)
The Italian Republic, known with the name of Italy, is located in South of Europe, it has a population of over 60 million inhabitants and Rome is capital.
Italy is mainly mountainous, Po valley is an exception: the north is bounded by the Alps, while the rest of the territory jutting into the Mediterranean Sea, including Sicily, Sardinia, Elba and about seventy other smaller islands for a total of 301.263 km².
On Italian territory there are two independent states (enclaves): the Vatican City in Rome and the San Marino Republic, while the town of Champion of Italy is an exclave located in the Italian-speaking region of Canton Ticino in Switzerland.
Italy has the highest number of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO and it is the 5th most visited country in the world.
The official currency is Euro.
The Italian Republic is classified as an industrialized country. The Italian’s economy is strongly oriented to the services sector: it is the most important source of employment (68,4% of total) than by value added (72,8%) [1]
The economy consists mainly of small and medium businesses: big company are handled by families founder and, in some cases, by foreign groups. The model of public companies, a venture capital managed by management, is not widespread.
The most important activities in Italy are tourism, trade and individuals and businesses services. This last activity is most developed in the big cities and in the economically advanced regions in the north of Italy that are among the richest in Europe in terms of unearned income.
In the economic sector a particular note should be reserved to the “Made in Italy” mark that it has brought Italian products to excel in international business competition.
“Made in Italy” represents an Italian product characterized by great build quality, attention to detail, design and shape fantasy, durability.
In 2009 a law was enacted to protect the “Made in Italy” mark: Legislative Decree n.135 of 25 September 2009, Art. 16 (Italian only).
“Made in Italy” on a product can be placed according to precise requirements, like the “CE” marking.
Note:
[1]
Rapporto sulle Economie Territoriali e il Terziario di Mercato – Confcommercio – Anno 2010
URL consulted on 17-2-2012 (Italian only)
