Country profile
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Italy

Italian Republic · Southern Europe

👥 Population
58,915,656
World Bank · 2025
🏛 Capital
Rome
🗺 Area
301,336 km²
💹 GDP (nominal)
$2.55T
World Bank · 2025
📈 HDI
0.915
UNDP · 2023
📍 Pop. density
196 /km²
💱 Currency
EUR
Euro
🗣 Languages
Italian

About Italy

Italy (officially Italian Republic) is a country in Southern Europe, with Rome as its capital. It is home to roughly 58.92 million people, giving a population density of about 196 people per square kilometre. The country covers 301,336 km² of land and shares land borders with 6 neighbouring countries. Its economy is valued at approximately $2.55T in nominal GDP (2025), and it records a Human Development Index of 0.915. The official currency is the Euro (EUR), and the main language is Italian.

How Italy is governed

🏛 Parliamentary republic
Head of State
President

Ceremonial head of state; guarantor of the constitution.

Head of Government
Prime Minister

President of the Council of Ministers; holds executive power.

Legislature
Parliament

Bicameral — Chamber of Deputies — 400 seats; Senate — 200 seats

Who holds the power?

Italy is a parliamentary republic. The President is a largely ceremonial head of state but plays a crucial role in appointing prime ministers and dissolving parliament during Italy's frequent government crises. The Prime Minister leads the government but depends on the confidence of both houses of a strongly bicameral parliament, which historically produced short-lived coalition governments.

Development profile (each axis 0–100%, higher is stronger)
WealthHealthHuman dev.InternetUrbanSurvival

Key indicators

Latest available data · World Bank & UNDP.

💹 Economy

GDP (PPP)
$3.66T
GDP/capita (PPP)
$62,014
GDP growth
0.5%
Inflation
1.5%
Unemployment
6.4%

👥 People

Life expectancy
84.0 yrs
Fertility rate
1.18
Pop. growth
-0.1%
Urban population
69.7%
Infant mortality /1k
2.3

🌍 Quality of Life

Internet users
89.2%
Literacy rate
99.3%
Physicians /1k
4.19
Renewable energy
17.5%
Italy's GDP over time (nominal, US$)
$0$669.78B$1.34T$2.01T$2.68T197019982025 Italy

Travel & practical

Capital
Rome
Currency
EUR
Dialing code
+39
Internet TLD
.it

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Fun facts about Italy

Compare Italy

Neighbouring countries

More countries in Europe