Monday, May 9, 2011
Cultural Landscape of Italy, Old/New
Italy is very rich in it's culture and landmarks. This statement is supported by the fact that hasn't much changed in the overall cultural landscape of the country. Italy still holds on to it's wonderful style, culture, lifestyle, and religious beliefs. This was the primary reason for me choosing this country: It's perservation of its history, style, religion, and overall way of life. Even though this is the end of this particular project, I do intend to continue my research of this wonderful country and hopefully gain the opportunity to visit the beautiful country as well.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Urban/Economic Geography
Italy has an 68% urban population rate with an annual rate of change of 0.5%. There are approximately 610,016,804 people in Italy. The population breakdown and age structure is 0-14 years of age 13.8%, 15-64 years of ae 65.9%, and 65 years and over 20.3% of the population. The estitmated population growth rate of Italy is 0.42% and the migration rate is 4.86.
Italy's economic standpoint is very diverse and somewhat divided. Some regions are more profitable than others. According to the CIA World Factbook, "Italy has a diversified industrial economy, which is divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, welfare-dependent, agricultural south, with high unemployment. The Italian economy is driven in large part by the manufacture of high-quality consumer goods produced by small and medium-sized enterprises, many of them family owned. Italy also has a sizable underground economy, which by some estimates accounts for as much as 15% of GDP. These activities are most common within the agriculture, construction, and service sectors. Italy has moved slowly on implementing needed structural reforms, such as reducing graft, overhauling costly entitlement programs, and increasing employment opportunities for young workers, particularly women. The international financial crisis worsened conditions in Italy's labor market, with unemployment rising from 6.2% in 2007 to 8.4% in 2010, but in the longer-term Italy's low fertility rate and quota-driven immigration policies will increasingly strain its economy. A rise in exports and investment driven by the global economic recovery nevertheless helped the economy grow by about 1% in 2010 following a 5% contraction in 2009. The Italian government has struggled to limit government spending, but Italy's exceedingly high public debt remains above 115% of GDP, and its fiscal deficit - just 1.5% of GDP in 2007 - exceeded 5% in 2009 and 2010, as the costs of servicing the country's debt rose" (cia,gov).
Sources:
The World Factbook of Italy. cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 3 May 2011.
Italian Republic. atlapedia.com. Atlapedia, n.d. Web. 3 May 2011
Italy's economic standpoint is very diverse and somewhat divided. Some regions are more profitable than others. According to the CIA World Factbook, "Italy has a diversified industrial economy, which is divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, welfare-dependent, agricultural south, with high unemployment. The Italian economy is driven in large part by the manufacture of high-quality consumer goods produced by small and medium-sized enterprises, many of them family owned. Italy also has a sizable underground economy, which by some estimates accounts for as much as 15% of GDP. These activities are most common within the agriculture, construction, and service sectors. Italy has moved slowly on implementing needed structural reforms, such as reducing graft, overhauling costly entitlement programs, and increasing employment opportunities for young workers, particularly women. The international financial crisis worsened conditions in Italy's labor market, with unemployment rising from 6.2% in 2007 to 8.4% in 2010, but in the longer-term Italy's low fertility rate and quota-driven immigration policies will increasingly strain its economy. A rise in exports and investment driven by the global economic recovery nevertheless helped the economy grow by about 1% in 2010 following a 5% contraction in 2009. The Italian government has struggled to limit government spending, but Italy's exceedingly high public debt remains above 115% of GDP, and its fiscal deficit - just 1.5% of GDP in 2007 - exceeded 5% in 2009 and 2010, as the costs of servicing the country's debt rose" (cia,gov).
Sources:
The World Factbook of Italy. cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 3 May 2011.
Italian Republic. atlapedia.com. Atlapedia, n.d. Web. 3 May 2011
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