MOVING TO ITALY

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KEY FACTS

Official Name: Italian Republic

Capital City: Rome

Type of Government: Republic

Official Language: Italian

Area: 301,278 sq. km/116,500 sq. mi.

Population: 58 million

Religion: Roman Catholic, almost 100%

Currency: Euro (€)

Number of Time Zones: 1

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) plus 1 hr; Eastern Standard Time (EST) plus 6 hrs

Weights and Measures: Metric system

Country Domain: .it

Country Tel Code: 39

AT A GLANCE

Artistic endeavors have been a part of Italian history for hundreds of years, and Italy has preserved a great portion of its treasures. Those interested in exploring ancient churches and cathedrals, as well as palaces, have a tremendous number from which to choose.

An abundance of architectural styles exist in Italy’s cities, with Renaissance buildings side by side with modern structures. Italy’s museums house artwork from many of the world’s greatest artists. Italy has been equally prolific in literature, music, film, and theater.

Foreign residents and tourists enjoy not only what Italy’s past has to offer but also the vibrancy of the Italian people whose warmth and zest for life communicates itself without words. The Italian character displays subtle regional differences, but despite them, the Italian senses of style and humor are quite similar both in the major cities of Rome and Milan and in the villages of Tuscany.

Politics

Italian politics has been characterized by frequent changes, but Italian politics is far more stable than the frequent changes in government would indicate. Most of the government changes have been little more than cabinet reshuffling.

Under the 1948 constitution, the head of state is the president of the republic. The president is elected for seven years by an electoral college composed of both houses of parliament plus 58 regional representatives. The president appoints the prime minister and, on the recommendation of the prime minister, the Council of Ministers.

Executive power rests with the prime minister, who is usually the leader of the dominant party or coalition of parties in power. The prime minister and the Council of Ministers are subject to a vote of no confidence by parliament.

Legislative power is held by a bicameral parliament, composed of a Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The parliament is elected by universal suffrage and remains in session for a term of five years – subject to dissolution. The Senate has 326 seats allocated on a regional basis and seven life senators. The Chamber has 630 members. The two houses have equal power.

Economics

Italy has a capitalist economy which is divided between the industrialized north and the less developed, agricultural south. The economy is heavily dependent on the service sector, which accounts for nearly 68 percent of the GDP.

The country has experienced many changes, both to tighten its economy and to qualify as a member of the European Union’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The government is working to trim the country’s budget deficit and to continue privatization of state enterprises.

Italy’s government still faces numerous challenges: high inflation and up to 20 percent unemployment in the south; a burdensome social welfare system; and the continuing problem of equalizing the gap in economic opportunities between the north and the south.

UNDERSTANDING THE PEOPLE

Italy is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe with a population of approximately 58 million, and growing at a rate of just under one percent annually.

Italy is a vibrant mix of 20 different regions, each with its own food, culture, dialect, climate and sense of identity. As a result, Italians prefer to identify themselves as “Sicilians,” “Neapolitans,” “Venetians,” or “Florentines” rather than “Italians.”

Ethnic makeup

The population is almost entirely of Italian descent, although there are small groups of ethnic Germans, French, and Slovenes, as well as a few Greek- and Albanian-Italians.

North and south

The country, like many others in the world, has distinct characteristics that can be identified as Northern and Southern. Southern Italians tend to have a more leisurely attitude toward time and business; employment rates are lower than in the northern section; and incomes are not as high. Northern Italy, being more industrialized, is more conscious of time and schedules; incomes and employment rates are higher. There is some friction between the two peoples as one believes that it is taxed too highly while the other believes that it has too few economic opportunities.

Culture

Family

The Italian social culture is distinctly family oriented, and the Italian’s identity is lodged firmly in his or her provincial history. Centuries of change and turmoil have done little to shake lose the tradition of home and family. The Italians have a word for it campanilismo, love for their very own geographic and spiritual place.

Decisions are made by the individual, but only in relation to the needs of the family or organizational unit, such as the individual business. As might be expected, the extended family and friendship group are major sources of security, with the Roman Catholic church still influencing the formation of ideologies in Italy, and having an impact on business as well as everyday life.

Italian families place a great deal of importance on eating meals together, caring for grandparents, and communicating to children even adult ones that their parents are always there for support. Italians enjoy spending time with their families and participating in social activities. Sunday dinners, national holidays, and the celebration of familial religious occasions are very important. The elderly are revered and children are well loved.

The Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church is a part of daily life at all levels, and everywhere you look there is remarkable art and architecture. Art, music, and literature are largely oriented toward the Roman Catholic religion, and their origins can be found in the catacombs where the early Christians were buried. Festivals and carnivals, which generally mark a saint’s day or other religious holiday, are widespread throughout the country.

Traditions

The Renaissance not only influenced Italy during the 14th and 15th centuries, but indeed influenced the entire Western World. Poets, artists, sculptors, composers, and musicians created an incredible richness that is visible today and forms the foundation of Italian culture. Italy can boast writers such as Cicero, Virgil, and Horace before the birth of Christ, as well as Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, who left their mark on succeeding generations of writers. Equally impressive are Italy’s artists Michelangelo, Bernini, Titian, Tiepolo, and da Vinci and film directors Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio de Sica, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Federico Fellini.

Language

Although the influence of the electronic media has produced a more homogenous society of speakers of Italian, many still speak a regional dialect, especially to family members. Modern Italian, which is derived from the Roman and Florentine dialects, is spoken in all parts of the country and is taught in the schools.

In the North there are small groups that speak German or French, on the island of Sardinia there are enclaves of Catalan speakers, and in the South there are some pockets of Greek and Albanian speakers. Slovene is also spoken by some, and Ladin a Rhaeto-Romansh language can be heard in southern Tyrol. English and French are spoken at most hotels and shops in major Italian cities.

Many educated Italians are bilingual, having at least an understanding of English, but away from the major tourist centers only Italian is spoken.

Keep in mind that most Italians who speak English have learned British English, therefore American expressions and terms may be unfamiliar to them. For those whose first language is English, correspondence to an Italian should be written in English. The Italian language is more indirect than English and has more subtleties and nuances.

Italian attitudes

Toward foreigners

Italy’s public policy is to welcome foreign investment, and Italian businesspeople have developed great respect for the representatives of successful foreign business. Italy’s major trading partners are France and Germany. Italians also feel a certain kinship with Americans, possibly because of the large number of Italian-Americans in the U.S. Foreign businesspeople should keep in mind that Italians, like any other businesspeople, are sophisticated; foreigners should not assume a superior attitude or expect that they will dictate all terms of negotiation.

There may be occasional resentment shown toward African immigrants and refugees from former Eastern Bloc countries.

Toward women

Italy is a land of contrasts when it comes to women. On the one hand, women may experience assertive attention from Italian men, ranging from stares to verbal or physical contact. While it is appropriate for women to sunbathe in the nude at some beaches, it is not appropriate for a man to walk around town without a shirt. The business world still is largely dominated by men, and wives usually are not invited to business entertainment events.

On the other hand, progress has been made by women in the workforce. For example, 10 percent of the Italian Parliament members are women. In addition, in Italy there exists an aura of respect surrounding the Italian matriarch. Even though 40 percent of young Italian mothers are employed, and women’s roles and views are changing, “mamma” is still revered as the symbol of the strong family.

Toward hierarchy

Company hierarchy is strictly observed. Rarely do the top managers socialize with those below them on the company ladder, unless they have other social or family ties with the person. Family background, social connections, ties to various organizations and to the church are important to status, and status is important to the organizational chart. This attention to personal and social allegiances shows through at every level of Italian political and business life. It is in part responsible for the elaborate and entrenched patronage system in which getting a job or pension is based on whom you know.

In corporate matters, this attitude explains why titles and company organizational charts are meaningless for outsiders trying to determine who has the power or who makes decisions. At upper management levels, executives consult with people they trust or with whom they share a pre-existing bond in planning policy or taking action. Little attention is paid to conventional hierarchies or formal protocol. In fact, rules and regulations are routinely snubbed as a point of pride.

The foreign executive is advised to spend time untangling these intricate and often covert relationships when doing business. Finding out who the decisionmakers are may require obtaining some local advice.

Toward work

Work is important to Italians, but there is a definite separation between work and pleasure. Work generally is not done at home, on weekends, or in the evenings.

Toward religion

Most Italians are Roman Catholics, and almost every Roman Catholic accepts his or her religion as a simple matter of fact. Attendance at church services is surprisingly low, but the social and political power of the church is strong. Vatican City, the home of the pope, is located within the city of Rome.

Evidence of the Roman Catholic Church is easy to find in Italy, from Vatican City and Saint Peter’s Basilica the world’s largest Catholic Church to local celebrations of patron saints.

Although Roman Catholicism forbids the use of contraception, the country’s population declined slightly in the 1990s, and currently is growing at just under one percent annually.

Many other faiths are represented in Italy, including Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism.

CITIES

The following summaries contain general information about a few of the major cities in Italy.

Florence

The jewel of Tuscany in central Italy, the ancient city of Florence is caretaker to a huge collection of art and sculpture. From Machiavelli and Dante to Shelly and E.M. Forster, this amazing city has for centuries been home to the creative spirit. It remains a lively and contemporary place with approximately 375,000 inhabitants.

The red-tiled roofs of Florence shelter Italian art of the 13th through 16th centuries, and are crowned by the huge Duomo, with its famous baptistry doors, in the heart of the city. Artisans remain a significant part of the economy here, producing leather goods, ceramics, and wrought iron. The Ponte Vecchio, the “old bridge” over the Arno River continues to be the prime spot for the sale of these goods, as it has since 1345.

The other side of the Arno, or Oltr’arno, presents a greener and quieter side of life in Florence. Near the Piazza Santo Spirito, with its Brunelleschi designs, are many art and antique dealers along the Via Maggio.

Milan

Business center

Milan has a population of about 1.3 million people. It is home to a very lucrative fashion and furniture design industry. Most Italian advertising agencies are headquartered in Milan, as are auto, steel, and telecommunications industries.

The city of Milan is the financial and commercial center of Italy. Located in the North, near a pass through the Alps, Milan is in the heart of the Po Valley at the top of Italy’s boot, where it is often cold, foggy, and smoggy.

The pace of life is quite different from other Italian cities, and many first-time visitors to Milan wonder if they are still in Italy. Its residents are bustling and purposeful. Gleaming skyscrapers dwarf historic cathedrals. The country’s second city is second to none in matters of commerce, banking, fashion, and industry. Many feel that Milan has much more in common with Vienna than with Venice.

City layout

The center of Milan is Il Duomo, a magnificently flamboyant Gothic structure and the third-largest cathedral in the world. The Old City rings the cathedral’s piazza. Just northeast of the cathedral is the primary shopping district, marked by two parallel streets, the Via Montenapoleone and the Via della Spiga. The LaScala Opera House is on Piazza della Scala, northwest of the cathedral.

Outside the perimeter of the Old City, the architecture is strikingly modern – a sad legacy of the heavy bombing Milan endured during World War II that forced it to rebuild almost everything. Much of Milan was destroyed in the war. Consequently, Milan is a city where 18th- and early 19th-century buildings are juxtaposed with modern postwar buildings. Fortunately, the Duomo and the beautiful adjacent gallery were spared. In addition, Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous “Last Supper” painting was left intact, even though part of the church in which it was housed was bombed.

While Milan, on the surface, is not considered as beautiful as Rome, Florence, or Venice, it is a city of surprises. Much of the beauty is hidden – for example, the magnificent courtyards inside the walls that surround Milan’s houses. Throughout the city there are ancient churches with art treasures inside.

Suburban expansion

In the past 25 years, suburban areas mainly consisting of apartment complexes have been developed on the outskirts of the city. Some suburban areas, like Villaggio Ambrosiano, have been built with individual villas rather than apartment complexes. Italians initially resisted moving out of the center of Milan, but recently there has been a great exodus to the suburbs.

Naples

The third largest city in Italy, Naples is a major seaport and an important industrial and distribution center for southern Italy. Some industries in the city are questionable. These include clothing counterfeiting and contraband cigarette smuggling, both of which are winked at by officials.

Naples’ population is nearly one million. Thousands of Americans and other foreigners live in the area, many of whom are military personnel working for U.S. Navy operations or NATO headquarters for southern Europe.

The climate is warm and sunny, the people are friendly and easygoing, and the scenery is spectacular everything one expects of an Italian city. Situated on the Golfo di Napoli – the Bay of Naples – about a third of the way up Italy’s boot, Naples is flanked by Mount Vesuvius and the Sorrento Peninsula. Offshore lie the islands of Capri and Ischia.

Naples is shaped like a narrow band that hugs the bay.

The architecture is a mixture of old and new styles that show the influence of Greek, Arab, Byzantine, and other invaders. Naples’ narrow streets are particularly prone to traffic congestion, and the city has the reputation of being one of the worst places in Italy in which to drive.

Rome

The capital city

Rome is the seat of government and of the papacy; it is here that the diplomats, civil servants, clerics and bureaucrats reside. The seven fabled hills of Rome still contain the cultural treasures of Western civilization, but they also are congested by traffic, pollution, and tourists.

Unquestionably one of the world’s most beautiful and romantic cities, Rome is, nonetheless, a frustrating metropolis to negotiate. Its streets are narrow, winding, and best traveled by foot – a feat made easier now that vehicles have been banned from the city’s main piazzas. Although cleaner than it was a decade ago, Rome continues to have problems with pollution, both noise and air, and congestion, with a population of about 2.6 million.

City layout and navigation

Rome is laid out on the famed seven hills – the tallest being Monte Mario, now site of a trendy residential district. The Tiber River bisects the city. Most of the major landmarks and government buildings lie east of the river; the Vatican is on the west bank.

There is no true business district in central Rome. Most of the international hotels and stores are found in what most Romans consider downtown – a rough circle bounded on the north by the Spanish Steps, on the east by the Termini rail station, on the south by the Forum, and on the west by a major bend in the Tiber. What’s left of ancient Rome, including the Coliseum and Circus Maximus where chariot races were held, is south of the Forum.

A good map or guidebook is helpful in working one’s way from piazza to piazza, as few streets follow an orderly grid format and many change names abruptly after a few blocks.

Vatican City

Vatican City, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church, and home of the pope, is a separate state completely surrounded by Rome. St. Peter’s Basilica and the other Apostolic buildings of the Vatican house the significant works of Michelangelo, including the Pieta, the Sistine Chapel and the basilica dome itself.

The Vatican City covers 108 acres and contains about 1,000 residents. It has its own flag and currency – although the euro can be used – and prints its own postage stamps and newspaper.

No official documents, visas, or other formalities are necessary to enter Vatican City from the rest of Rome.

Venice

Seated on the northeastern coast and influenced from the beginning by the Orient and Occident, Venice is a complex and exotic blend of cultures that floats precariously in the middle of the Adriatic sea. Nicknamed La Serenissima, the Most Serene Republic, it often seems like a small village that can be crossed with a short walk. However, it is a cosmopolitan host to over 6 million international visitors each year, and home to 272,000 people. The city’s economy is supported to a great degree by tourism.

The city is composed of 117 small islands and can boast 150 canals and more than 400 bridges. Cars are not allowed on the islands.

Its art is Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance. Much restoration is being conducted by a group of private international organizations to save Venice’s treasures from years of neglect, flood, and pollution. The thousand-year-old glass industry still produces high quality works quite different from the curios found in some tourist shops, and its textiles and laces are highly sought.

CLIMATE

Italy’s climate is mainly temperate, although, above the Alpine barrier in the north, winter is very cold and summers are cool. The Po River Valley has moderating temperatures, with rain and fog in the winter.

In the south the climate is Mediterranean. The summers are hot and dry, sometimes cooled by sea breezes; and the winters somewhat cool. Temperatures are affected by each region’s distance from the sea and the mountains.

Information provided in association with Living Abroad