Regions of Italy: Difference between revisions

The Regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state. There are 20 Regions, 5 of them are autonomous regions with a special statute.

Institutions

Each region has an elected parliament, called Consiglio Regionale (literally regional council) and a regional government, called Giunta Regionale (literally executive committee) headed by the regional president, who is elected directly by the citizens living in the region.

Types of regions

Every region has got a statute (not to confuse with status), that is a regional constitution. 15 regions have got an ordinary statute, 5 of them have got a special statute.

Regions with ordinary statute

These regions, whose statute is approved by the regional council, were created in the 1970s, even though the Italian Constitution dates back to 1948. Since the constitutional reform of 2001 they are granted an important power in terms of legislation, not only in terms of administration as previously, but financially they are still heavily depending on the central state.

Regional autonomy (Federalism) has been made an issue in Italian politics in recent years, aided^{[citation needed]} by the emergence of parties such as the Lega Nord.

In 2005 the centre-right government led by Silvio Berlusconi proposed a new reform of the constitution which would have entailed greatly increasing the powers of the regions in areas such as health and education. In June 2006, the proposals, which had been particularly associated with Berlusconi’s partners in government the Northern League, and seen by some as leading the way to a federal state, were rejected in a referendum by a margin of 61.7% to 38.3%.

Autonomous regions with special statute

Five regions (namely Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Aosta Valley established 1948 and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, created in 1963) have been granted a special status of autonomy. Their statute is a constitutional law approved by the Italian Parliament, granting very large powers in terms of legislation and administration, but also a very large financial autonomy. Consider that they keep between 60% and 100% of all taxes and decide what to do with such huge resources.

These regions became autonomous in order to take into account that some of them host linguistic minorities (German-speaking in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, French-speaking in Aosta Valley, Slowenians in Friuli-Venezia Giulia) or are geographically isolated (the two islands, but also Friuli-Venezia Giulia, which was at the border with the iron curtain).

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol constitutes an additional exception: in fact the region is nearly powerlees. Indeed the special statute more properly regards the two autonomous provinces of Trent and Bolzano. The region has more and more a coordinating role.

Subdivisions

Every region is divided into provinces and comuni. Only Aosta Valley is not divided into provinces.

Region	Capital
1. Abruzzo (formerly northern Abruzzi)	L'Aquila
2. Aosta Valley (Valle d'Aosta / Vallée d'Aoste)	Aosta (Aoste)
3. Apulia (Puglia, sometimes Puglie)	Bari
4. Basilicata	Potenza
5. Calabria	Catanzaro
6. Campania	Naples (Napoli)
7. Emilia-Romagna	Bologna
8. Friuli-Venezia Giulia	Trieste
9. Lazio (Latium)	Rome (Roma)
10. Liguria	Genoa (Genova)
11. Lombardy (Lombardia)	Milan (Milano)
12. Marche	Ancona
13. Molise (formerly southern Abruzzi)	Campobasso
14. Piedmont (Piemonte)	Turin (Torino)
15. Sardinia (Sardegna)	Cagliari
16. Sicily (Sicilia)	Palermo
17. Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol	Trento
18. Tuscany (Toscana)	Florence (Firenze)
19. Umbria	Perugia
20. Veneto	Venice (Venezia)

External links

Template:Europe administrative divisions

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 {{redirect|Italian region|the cultural region|Italian Region}}
 {{Politics of Italy}}
-The '''[[Region#Political regions|Regions]] of [[Italy]]''' are the first-level [[administrative division]]s of the state.  Italy was granted a degree of [[regional autonomy]] in the [[Constitution of Italy|1948 constitution]], which states that the constitution's role is: to recognize, protect and promote local autonomy, to ensure that services at the [[State]] level are as [[decentralization|decentralized]] as possible, and to adapt the principles and laws establishing autonomy and decentralization.
+The '''[[Region#Political regions|Regions]] of [[Italy]]''' are the first-level [[administrative division]]s of the state. There are 20 Regions, 5 of them are autonomous regions with a special statute.
-However, five regions ([[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]], [[Sardinia]], [[Sicily]], [[Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol]], and the [[Aosta Valley]]) have been granted a [[Autonomous regions with special statute (Italy)|special status of autonomy]] to establish their own regional legislation on some specific local matters; based on cultural grounds, geographical location and on the presence of important [[ethnic minority|ethnic minorities]]. The other 15 ordinary regions were effectively established only in the early [[1970s]].
+==Institutions==
-Each region has an elected council and a ''Giunta Regionale'' (executive committee) headed by a directly elected president. The Giunta is responsible to the council and is required to resign if it fails to retain the council's confidence.
+Each region has an elected parliament, called ''Consiglio Regionale'' (literally regional council) and a regional government, called ''Giunta Regionale'' (literally executive committee) headed by the regional president, who is elected directly by the citizens living in the region.
-The regions primarily served to decentralize the state government machinery. A constitutional reform in 2001 widened the competences of the Regions, in particular concerning legislative powers and most state controls were abolished.
+==Types of regions==
-In 2005 the centre-right government led by [[Silvio Berlusconi]] proposed a major reform of the constitution which would have entailed greatly increasing the powers of the regions in areas such as health and education. In [[June 2006]], the proposals, which had been particularly associated with Berlusconi’s partners in government the [[Lega Nord|Northern League]], and seen by some as leading the way to a federal state, were rejected in a referendum by a margin of 61.7% to 38.3%.
+Every region has got a statute (not to confuse with status), that is a regional constitution. 15 regions have got an ordinary statute, 5 of them have got a special statute.
+===Regions with ordinary statute===
-Provincial and [[comune|communal]] governments follow similar principles: councils and ''giunte'' headed by provincial presidents or communal mayors.
+These regions, whose statute is approved by the regional council, were created in the 1970s, even though the Italian Constitution dates back to 1948. Since the constitutional reform of 2001 they are granted an important power in terms of legislation, not only in terms of administration as previously, but financially they are still heavily depending on the central state.
 Regional autonomy ([[Federalism]]) has been made an issue in Italian politics in recent years, aided{{Fact|date=October 2007}} by the emergence of parties such as the [[Lega Nord]].
+In 2005 the centre-right government led by [[Silvio Berlusconi]] proposed a new reform of the constitution which would have entailed greatly increasing the powers of the regions in areas such as health and education. In [[June 2006]], the proposals, which had been particularly associated with Berlusconi’s partners in government the [[Lega Nord|Northern League]], and seen by some as leading the way to a federal state, were rejected in a referendum by a margin of 61.7% to 38.3%.
+===Autonomous regions with special statute===
+Five regions (namely [[Sardinia]], [[Sicily]], [[Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol]], [[Aosta Valley]] established 1948 and [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]], created in 1963) have been granted a [[Autonomous regions with special statute (Italy)|special status of autonomy]]. Their statute is a constitutional law approved by the Italian Parliament, granting very large powers in terms of legislation and administration, but also a very large financial autonomy. Consider that they keep between 60% and 100% of all taxes and decide what to do with such huge resources.
+These regions became autonomous in order to take into account that some of them host linguistic minorities (German-speaking in [[Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol]], French-speaking in [[Aosta Valley]], Slowenians in [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]]) or are geographically isolated (the two islands, but also [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]], which was at the border with the iron curtain).
+Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol constitutes an additional exception: in fact the region is nearly powerlees. Indeed the special statute more properly regards the two autonomous provinces of Trent and Bolzano. The region has more and more a coordinating role.
+==Subdivisions==
+Every region is divided into provinces and [[comune|comuni]]. Only Aosta Valley is not divided into provinces.
 [[Image:Italy map with regions numbered.svg|left|300px|Numbered regions of Italy]]

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