Position Paper Guideline

 A position paper is sometimes referred to as a working paper. The format is generally the same regardless of the
title given to the paper.
 Always check the conference webpage for the paper format. Some conferences split the information in Part C
into two parts.
 The paper should be typed and double-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins unless otherwise noted.
 All position papers should be 1000 words or more per topic not including the works cited.
 You must complete a separate Part A, B, and C for each topic you have been assigned.
 Include a cover page, containing committee name, topic, and country
 All papers must be submitted to turnitin.com and emailed to your committee chair (“cc” your teacher on the
email)
 Papers without a works cited will receive an automatic zero and a referral.
 Papers with works cited not in correct MLA format will receive automatic 50% grade reduction.
 Country profile should be single-spaced, outline format. Parts A,B, and C should be written in paragraph
format.

PART 1. COUNTRY PROFILE - Single-spaced, to be completed in outline format.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
1. Official name of country- Italian Republic.
2. Climate (major types of climate, rainfall, vegetation)
a. major types of climate: predominantly Mediterranean; alpine in far north; hot, dry in south.
b. Average rainfall: Southeastern Coast, Sicily, and Sardinia: 20 in (508 mm) Alps: 80 in (2,032
mm).
c. vegetation: 47.1% agricultural land, 22.8% arable land, 8.6% permanent crops, 15.7%
permanent pasture, 31.4% forest, 21.5% other (2018 est)
3. Map
a. Location absolute (latitude and longitude) and relative (in relation to
physical features and other nations)- 42 50 N, 12 50 E.
b. Physical features (what one would see in the country i.e. mountains,
deserts, plains, major rivers, coast lines, etc.) – is a peninsula that extends to the center of the
Mediterranean Sea, Southern Europe, and northeast of Tunisia.
c. Note the size of the country in square mi/km in the map key.

MAP KEY: 301,340 sq km or 187,243.995 miles

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
4. Type of government, names of government officials, and political parties
a. Parliamentary Republic.
b. chief of state (President Sergio MATTARELLA (since February 3, 2015)), head of government
(Prime Minister Mario DRAGI (since February 13 2021)), cabinet (Matteo Salvini (L) and Luigi Di Maio
(M5s) (since June 1, 2018)).
c. Governing Coalition: Five Star Movement (M5S). left-center-right opposition: Democratic
Party (PD), Forza Italia (FI), Brothers of Italy, Free and Equal, More Europe (+EU), Popular Civic List
(CP).
 5. Capital -Rome
6. International organization affiliations- ABD (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Artic
Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU,
FAO, FATF, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA,
IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, OIC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO,
ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINUTRSO, MINUSMA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS, (observer),
OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), Schengen Convention, SELEC
(observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMOGIP,
UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC.
7. Size of armed forces- The Italian Armed Forces, which includes an estimated 170,000 active personnel,
consist of the Army (about 100,000), Navy (30,000), Air-Force (40,000), and the Carabinieri (about 107,000)
8. Important historical events – focus on events after 1980 (1945-present) – 1981- Republican Party leader
Giovanni Spadolini becomes the first non-Christian Democratic prime minister in postwar history, 1983 – Bettino
Craxi takes office as Italy’s first Socialist prime minister, 1984 – the Southern Development Fund is abolished,
1989- Christian Democratic leader Giulio Andreotti becomes prime minister, 1999- Giuliano Amato becomes prime
minister, 2002- the euro replaces the lira as Italy’s currency, 2009- a 6.3 earthquake strikes central Italy near the
capital of the Abruzzo region, 2016- civil unions between same sex-couples wins parliamentary approval, 2020-
eases the nationwide lockdown on May 4

CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
9. Official language, other languages spoken, ethnic composition and major
Religions
a. Official language- Italian
b. Other languages spoken- German, French, and Slovene
c. Ethnic composition- Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians
in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)
d. Major Religions- Christian (80.3%), Muslim (4.9%), unaffiliated (13.4%), and other (0.9%)
10. Population, population growth rate, and population distribution
a. Population- 62,390,364 (July 2021 est.)
b. Population growth rate- 0.09% (2021 est.)
c. Population distribution- despite a distinctive pattern with an industrial north and an agrarian
south, a fairly even population distribution exists throughout most of the country, with coastal areas, the Po River
Valley, and urban centers (particularly Milan, Rome, and Naples), attracting larger and denser populations
11. Major cities- 4.278 million ROME (capital), 3.144 million Milan, 2.183 million Naples, 1.795 million
Turin, 900,000 Bergamo, 850,000 Palermo (2021)
12. Infant mortality rate and average life expectancy
a. 3.14 deaths per 1,000 live births
b. 82.67 years
Male- 80.01 years, Female: 85.49 (2021 est.)
13. Teachers and doctors per population-
a. 7.17 per 1,000
b. 4 per 1,000

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
14. GNP or GDP (total and per capita)
15. % of land that is arable used for agriculture- 22.8% (2018 est.)
16. Natural resources – coal, antimony, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorspar,
feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land
17. Major agricultural and industrial products
a. milk, grapes, wheat, maize, tomatoes, apples, olives, sugar, beet, oranges, rice
b. tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles,
clothing, footwear, ceramics
18. Major exports and imports
a. Exports- packaged medicines, cars and vehicle parts, refined petroleum, valves, trunks/cases,
wine (2019)
b. Imports- crude petroleum, cars, packaged medicines, natural gas, refined petroleum (2019)
19. Currency (include current exchange rate)
a. Currency- euro, 0.85 euro = 1 US dollar
 b. Current Exchange rate- 0.82771 (2020 est.) (euros per US dollar)
20. Balance of trade (exports minus imports) Also include amounts in U.S.
currency of total exports and imports)- $40.282 billion (2019 est.) trade balance, Exports total in USD=
$803.98, Imports total in USD=$756.86 (2019 est.)
21. Environmental issues and challenges- air pollution from industrial emissions such as sulfur dioxide;
coastal and inland rivers polluted from industrial and agricultural effluents; acid rain damaging lakes; inadequate
industrial waste treatment and disposal facilities

Committee Name
Committee Topic
Country Name

(Must be written in paragraph form)

(A) BRIEF BACKGROUND OF THE TOPIC

 Historical background and causes of the problem.
 What nations are directly involved with or affected by the issue?
 What effect does this problem have on the international community?

(B) UNITED NATIONS INVOLVEMENT

 How is the UN involved, how did it originally become involved and what actions has the UN taken on this
issue (i.e. resolutions, conferences, aid contributed, etc.)
 Organs, NGOs and other UN affiliated groups which are involved in the situation.

(C) COUNTRY POLICY AND INVOLVEMENT

 Your nation’s involvement (if any) with the topic.
 Your nation’s position and policy on the topic and opinion on the UN’s actions regarding the topic.
 Your nation’s past actions regarding the topic (i.e. voting records, resolutions sponsored, conferences
attended and conventions signed.)
 Possible solutions your country plans to propose.

MLA WORKS CITED PAGE & INTERNAL CITATIONS

Your paper must include an MLA works cited page and internal citations (consult your MLA handbook or
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/).

Suggested Rubric (actual points may vary)

Country Profile: 20 points
Part A: 20 points
Part B: 20 points
Part C: 30 points
Works Cited 10 point – must be MLA format

TOTAL: 100 points