ITALY

Take the art works of Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Tintoretto and Caravaggio, the operas of Verdi and Puccini, the cinema of Federico Fellini, add the architecture of Venice, Florence and Rome and you have just a fraction of Italy's treasures from over the centuries.
While the country is renowned for these and other delights, it is also notorious for its precarious political life and has had several dozen governments since the end of World War II.

• Capital City: Rome
  
• Population: 57.4 million (UN, 2003)
  
• Major language: Italian
  
• Major religion: Christianity
  
• Life expectancy: 75 years (men), 82 years (women) (UN)
  
• Monetary unit: 1 Euro = 100 cents
  
• Main exports: Machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, clothes, wine
  
• Average annual income: US $19,390 (World Bank, 2001)
  
• Internet domain: .it
  
• International dialling code: +39

Around 2,500 commercial radio stations broadcast in Italy. A few of them have national coverage, most are music-based. They share the airwaves with public broadcaster Rai's radio stations.

THE MEDIA

• The press
  
  • Corriere della Sera
    
  • La Repubblica
    
  • Il Messaggero
    
  • La Stampa
    
  • Il Sole 24 Ore
    
    
    
• Television
  
  • Rai - public broadcaster, stations include Rai Uno, Rai Due, Rai Tre, rolling news channel Rai News 24 and a number of cable/satellite services
    
  • Mediaset - Italy's foremost private TV broadcaster, operates Italia 1, Rete 4 and Canale 5
    
    
    
    
• Radio
  
  • Rai - public broadcaster, stations include flagship national network Radio 1, entertainment-based Radio 2, cultural station Radio 3 and parliamentary station GR Parlamento
    
  • Radio 24 - commercial network, news and business
    
  • Radio 101 - commercial network, pop music
    
  • Radio Italia - commercial network, Italian pop music

     

• News agency
  
  • ANSA