Italy

Italy is one of the strongest European countries, one of the biggest economic powers in the cyberpunk world.

Overview
Italy is a country that has been hampered in its recent history by a great problem, the existence in the southern region, of popular criminal organisations: the Neapolitan Camorra and the Sicilian Mafia. These traditional organisations have recently made a quantitative leap forward. In an attempt to achieve local control of the federal government they have been constituted as political parties. Even though most of their businesses have been legalized (after all, the government decides what is legal or not), the access to political power enables them to perform a higher level of corrupt deal. The fact that Mafia-controlled areas seem better off than other parts of the south (sold to the corporate wolves) has strengthened and expanded their hold.

In a movement that everybody expected for years, Italy is now a federated republic, with a president, a prime minister (the real power) and a democratic parliament The main difference is the division into four states, each fairly autonomous in its interior politics.

North Italy
Includes Lombardy, Veneto, Genua, Piemonte, Ernilia-Romagna and Tuscany. The richest state. Capital: Milan. Ruled by a centrist-corporate coalition, it also controls the National Congress

Central Italy
Rome, Lazio, Marche and Umbria. Capital: Rome. The centrist(!) government

South Mia
Formed by Naples, Apulia and Basilicata. Capital: Naples. Ruled by the Camorra, but with many corporate exclu- sion areas, where the corps have absolute rule.

The Insular Region
Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia. Capital: Palermo. Mafiacontrolled.

Italy Territory Details
The north is the richest and most industrialized part of Italy, trying to get their rightful place in Euroheaven. They embrace many of the German ideals. The centrist-corporate coalition that is the real power in the country is controlled by Biotechnica and Montedison, the foremost Italian corporations. The general feeling is that their work keeps the Mafia rich, and their lazy Neapolitan cousins, fed. Milan is one of the richest, most expensive and most secure cities in the world, but due to the terrorist threat, the police presence is suffocating the rich intellectual and social life.

Their neighbors of the central region are an extension of the North, but with a more moderate viewpoint on everything, due to their longer contact with the south. Here is Rome, a world in itself, and capital of the Republica. The government is usually a puppet of the north, but a strong display of public agitation by the Romans can change almost any political decision.

The south is the worst off. Full of resentment against the north and the corporations, and with the worst unemployment problem in the EEC, it is not strange that institutionalized crime is well-developed. Despite their social support, the Camorra, controlling power in the state, has betrayed its people, selling itself to the megacorps that control the land and the industry. The popular resistance movements have coalesced into the Nuovu Mutia, a mix of criminal organisation and political movement. They are secretly supported on occasion by the Mafia and the Camorra so long as the targets are corporations and the central government As a result, there are more deaths during a bad week-end in Naples than in the London combat zone, and the violence is spreading throughout Italy. A corporate in this area would do well to restrict themselves to corporate-secure areas.

Geography
Italy is located in southern Europe and comprises the long, boot-shaped Italian Peninsula, the southern side of Alps, the large plain of the Po Valley and some islands including Sicily and Sardinia. Corsica, although belonging to the Italian geographical region, has been a part of France since 1769.

Milan
The capital of Lombardy, now controller of the North state. Although overshadowed by Rome, the new kings, corporate movers and shakers, are here. It is the economic center, the controller of the banks, trade and industry of the whole country. Unlike most Italian cities, it is a secure place.

Terrorists have learned the risks of preparing a strike here. This blanket of security hampers most corporate-deniable work as well. Netwatch and Interpol have a high presence here. The visitor will bore herself to death if she has not come here to wheel and deal in the corridors of power

Naples
South state capital, it is the most dangerous city in Italy, and possibly in continental Europe. Robberies and assaults are commonplace, and caution is recommended. Don't forget that the main income of the Nuovu Mafia is kidnapping. The Camorru government is trying to secure the streets, but has only man- aged to turn them into a battlefield.

Since 2019, there has been a curfew from 22:OO to 5:00, but nobody respects it After losing the fishing income, sea trade is the main industry of the city. you can get a ship willing to go anywhere and to do almost anything, if you have enough money. Europa Sur has a strong presence in the docks, but their relationship with the Camorra is strained, and violence may flare.

Palermo
Power center of the Italian Mafia, the city is quiet No illegal actions are allowed unless government-sanctioned, and then they are not illegal. Foreigners will be distrusted, not spoken to, and probably harassed by young toughs.

Venice and Florence
All the monumental Italian cities are kept just-so by huge subsidies form the EC and the work of Wortrac Consortium, con- trolling almost all tourism in continental Italy.

Rome
Capital of the Central State and of all Italy. A professional work now in decadence, The Eternal Civ is everything a city can be. All ways go to Rome, but our Rome is not what it was. Dirty and chaotic, nevertheless tourism is one of its main sources of income. All visitors will be awed by monuments of all times. History weighs heavily here.

However, Romans seem immune to it If Italians are an extroverted and open people, Romans are such, but squared. you will meet hospitable, friendly persons wherever you go. It is easy to meet new people, but hard to form great friendships. It is usual to be approached by a stranger that stops and begins to tell you his life, speaking so fast that it is doubtful he even speaks in Italian.

Rome has no traffic rules. Italian traffic control (and respect for regulations) is scarce, but in Rome it is ignored. It is normal to see cars taking a roundabout both ways at the same time. Taking a taxi is not recommended for the weak hearten, but it is the only way besides walking to get where you want to go. Rome is nevertheless weathering well the threat to its supremacy presented by Milan, and it is still the most important city in Italy, combining the rigid and laborious people of the North and the relaxed attitude of the South.

In the center of the city are the Vatican States, focal point for Catholicism and the site of the Pope's temporal power. Catholics from all around the world congregate here to see the heir of St Peter. Besides the greatest concentration of religious art in the world, there are many other treasures, as well. But don't be deceived by the apparent lack of security. Besides the fellows With the halberds, the Swiss Guard is one of the best-prepared military forces in the world.