Fish catch per year: 513,474 tonnes

Oil production and reserves: 103,000 b/d (reserves 600m barrels)

Estimated livestock resources: 25m turkeys, 11m sheep, 8.41m pigs, 100m chickens

Main mineral resources: Coal, oil, lignite, pyrites, fluorite, barytes, bauxite

ELECTRICITY GENERATION

Italy has very few natural resources. Its mineral assets are small and the sector contributes little to national wealth. Italy produces less than 10% of its oil needs and is highly vulnerable to both fluctuations in world prices and political instability in its traditional north African suppliers. Keen to diversify in areas of dependence, it has switched increasingly to natural gas in the last 30 years cutting its reliance on oil from 71% of its energy needs to around 50%. Nuclear power was rejected in a 1987 referendum, though there are plans to invest in overseas plants.

From "The Financial Times World Desk Reference" © Dorling Kindersley 2004