Italian Republic This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Italy Constitution Constitution Gazzetta Ufficiale Executive President (List) Giorgio Napolitano Prime Minister (List) Silvio Berlusconi Council of Ministers Legislature Parliament Legislatures Senate of the Republic Chamber of Deputies Judiciary Constitutional Court Court of Cassation Court of Assizes Italian Council of State Italian Criminal Procedure Judiciary of Italy Divisions Regions Politics of Aosta Valley Politics of Piedmont Politics of Lombardy Politics of Veneto Politics of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Politics of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Politics of Emilia-Romagna Politics of Liguria Politics of Tuscany Politics of Umbria Politics of Marche Politics of Molise Politics of Lazio Politics of Abruzzo Politics of Campania Politics of Apulia Politics of Calabria Politics of Sicily Politics of Sardinia Provinces Municipalities Elections General elections 1994 1996 2001 2006 2008 Referendums Political parties The People of Freedom Democratic Party Foreign policy Foreign relations European Union politics

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view · talk · The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state, constituting its first NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, of which five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes. Contents 1 History 2 Status 2.1 Regions with ordinary statute 2.2 Autonomous regions with special statute 3 Institutions 4 List of regions 5 See also 5.1 Other administrative divisions 6 References 7 External links 7.1 Italian // History Mere administrative districts of the central state during the Kingdom of Italy, Regions were granted political autonomy by the 1948 Constitution of the Italian Republic. Nevertheless, the actual implementation of regional authonomy was postponed till the first Regional Elections of 1970, as the ruling Christian Democracy party didn't want the opposition Italian Communist Party to gain government in many of them where it was historically rooted (the red belt of Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria and Marches). The regions acquired a significant level of autonomy following a constitutional reform in 2001 (brought about by a centre-left government and confirmed by popular referendum), granting them with residual policy competence. A further federalist reform was proposed by the regionalist party Lega Nord and in 2005, the centre-right government led by Silvio Berlusconi proposed a new reform of the Constitution that would have entailed greatly increasing the powers of all regions. In June 2006 the proposals, which had been particularly associated with the Lega Nord, and seen by some as leading the way to a federal state, were rejected in a referendum by 61.7% to 38.3%.1 The results varied considerably from one region to another, ranging to 55.3% in favour in Veneto to 82% against in Calabria.1 Status

Every region has a statute that serves as a regional constitution, determining the form of government and the fundamental principles of the organization and the functioning of the region, as prescribed by the Constitution of Italy (Article 123). Fifteen regions have ordinary statutes and five have special statutes, granting them extended autonomy. Regions with ordinary statute These regions, whose statutes are approved by their regional councils, were created in 1970, even though the Italian Constitution dates back to 1948. Since the constitutional reform of 2001 they have had residual legislative powers. The regions have exclusive legislative power with respect to any matters not expressly reserved to state law (Article 117).2 Yet their financial autonomy is quite modest: they just keep 20% of all levied taxes, mostly used to finance the region-based healtcare system.3 Autonomous regions with special statute Article 116 of the Italian Constitution grants to five regions (namely Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Aosta Valley and Friuli-Venezia Giulia) home rule, acknowledging their powers in relation to legislation, administration and finance. They keep between 60% (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) and 100% (Sicily) of all levied taxes.3 In return they have to finance the health-care system, the school system and most public infrastructures by themselves. Sicily gets additional resources from the Italian state in order to finance all services.3

These regions became autonomous in order to take into account linguistic and cultural differences, such as the linguistic minorities in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Aosta Valley, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sicily and Sardinia. Moreover the government wanted to prevent their secession from Italy after the end of the Second World War. Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol constitutes a special case. The region itself is nearly powerless and the powers granted by the region's statute are mostly exercised by the two autonomous provinces within the region, Trento and Bolzano-Bozen. In this case, the regional institution plays a merely coordinating role. Institutions Each region has an elected parliament, called Consiglio Regionale (Regional Council) or Assemblea Regionale (Regional Assembly) in Sicily, and a government called Giunta Regionale (Regional Junta), headed by the regional President. The latter is directly elected by the citizens of each region, with the exceptions of Aosta Valley and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, where he is chosen by the Regional Council. According to the electoral law of 1995, the winning coalition of receives the absolute majority of the Council's seats. The President chairs the Junta, nominates and dismisses its members, called assessori. If the direct-elected President resigns, new elections are immediately called.

In Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, the Regional Council is composed by the joint session of the two Provincial Councils of Trento and Bolzano-Bozen and the Regional President is one of the two Provincial Presidents. List of regions See also: Ranked lists of Italian regions Italy is subdivided into 20 regions (regioni, singular regione). The five autonomous regions are in italics. Apulia Basilicata Calabria Sicily Molise Campania Abruzzo Lazio Umbria Marche Tuscany Sardinia Emilia-Romagna Liguria Piedmont Friuli Venezia Giulia Aosta Valley Trentino Alto Adige Veneto Lombardy Adriatic Sea Ionian Sea Mediterranean Sea Tyrrhenian Sea Ligurian Sea Region Adjective Capital Area (km²) Population Abruzzo Abruzzese L'Aquila &000000000001079400000010,794 &00000000013240000000001,324,000 Aosta Valley Valdôtain Aosta/Aoste &00000000000032630000003,263 &0000000000126000000000126,000 Apulia Pugliese Bari &000000000001936200000019,362 &00000000040760000000004,076,000 Basilicata Lucan Potenza &00000000000099920000009,992 &0000000000591000000000591,000 Calabria Calabrese Catanzaro &000000000001508000000015,080 &00000000020070000000002,007,000 Campania Campanian Naples &000000000001359500000013,595 &00000000058110000000005,811,000 Emilia-Romagna Emilian - Romagnol Bologna &000000000002212400000022,124 &00000000042760000000004,276,000 Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friulian Trieste &00000000000078550000007,855 &00000000012220000000001,222,000 Lazio Latial Rome &000000000001720700000017,207 &00000000055610000000005,561,000 Liguria Ligurian Genoa &00000000000054210000005,421 &00000000016100000000001,610,000 Lombardy Lombard Milan &000000000002386100000023,861 &00000000096420000000009,642,000 Marches Marchisan or Marchean Ancona &00000000000096940000009,694 &00000000015530000000001,553,000 Molise Molisan Campobasso &00000000000044380000004,438 &0000000000320000000000320,000 Piedmont Piedmontese Turin &000000000002539900000025,399 &00000000044010000000004,401,000 Sardinia Sardinian Cagliari &000000000002409000000024,090 &00000000016660000000001,666,000 Sicily Sicilian Palermo &000000000002570800000025,708 &00000000050300000000005,030,000 Trentino-Alto Adige Trentine or South Tyrolean Trento &000000000001360700000013,607 &00000000010070000000001,007,000 Tuscany Tuscan Florence &000000000002299700000022,997 &00000000036770000000003,677,000 Umbria Umbrian Perugia &00000000000084560000008,456 &0000000000884000000000884,000 Veneto Venetian Venice &000000000001839100000018,391 &00000000048320000000004,832,000 See also Italian NUTS level 1 regions Regional Council (Italy) Presidents of Regions of Italy Flags of regions of Italy ISO 3166-2:IT Other administrative divisions Provinces of Italy Municipalities of Italy References ^ a b Repubblica.it, Outcome of the referendum ^ The Constitution of the Italian Republic ^ a b c Report RAI - Le regioni a statuto speciale (Italian), retrieved 21st Jan 2009 [1], [2] External links CityMayors article Italian Regional Governments of Italy on Italia.gov.it Regional Governments of Italy on Governo.it v · d · eRegions of Italy    

Abruzzo Aosta Valley Apulia Basilicata Calabria Campania Emilia–Romagna Friuli–Venezia Giulia Lazio Liguria Lombardy Marche Molise Piedmont Sardinia Sicily Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Tuscany Umbria Veneto v · d · eArticles on first-level administrative divisions of European countries Abkhazia3,4 · Albania · Andorra · Armenia2 · Austria · Azerbaijan3 · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus2 · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France1 · Georgia3 · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Kazakhstan2 · Kosovo4 · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Republic of Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands · Northern Cyprus2,4 · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia1 · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · South Ossetia3,4 · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey1 · Ukraine · United Kingdom 1 Has part of its territory outside Europe. 2 Entirely in West Asia, but considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons. 3 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the border. 4 Partially recognised. Table of administrative country subdivisions by country